Milk powder manufacture is a simple process now carried out on a large scale. It involves the gentle removal of water at the lowest possible cost under stringent hygiene conditions while retaining all the desirable natural properties of the milk - colour, flavour, solubility, nutritional value. Whole (full cream) milk contains, typically, about 87% water and skim milk contains about 91% water. During milk powder manufacture this water is removed by boiling the milk under reduced pressure at low temperature in a process known as evaporation. The resulting concentrated milk is then sprayed in a fine mist into hot air to remove further moisture and so give a powder. Approximately 13 kg of whole milk powder (WMP) or 9 kg of skim milk powder (SMP) can be made from 100 L of whole milk.

The milk powder manufacturing process is shown in the following schematic and is described in detail below.