Modernizing Food and Beverage Manufacturing

IIoT integration can take many forms, and manufacturers have several options to choose from based on their specific needs. For example, variable-speed drives—such as Schneider Electric’s Altivar Series—now feature embedded intelligence to monitor external conditions, which can help predict failures before major disruptions occur. These predictive maintenance capabilities alone can save manufacturers thousands of dollars in machine repair, replacement costs, and downtime. Many drives generate QR codes to help guide operators to the correct support documentation when an error is detected.

For some manufacturers still reliant on traditional processes, full IIoT integration might not be the right choice. In these cases, they should concentrate on digitizing as many processes as possible and moving away from paper documentation. One simple step is adopting digital recording devices, which allow operators to record individual batches via a start-and-stop button on a screen or through an external output.

The food and beverage industry is currently growing at 8.7% and is projected to be worth $8.9 trillion by 2026, according to Research and Markets’ 2022 report on the global food and beverage market. This growth presents opportunities and challenges for manufacturers, many of which must modernize production lines within the next three years to remain competitive and compliant.

When choosing the right recording product for the food and beverage industry, there are a few things to keep in mind. Due to the health-sensitive nature of these products, food and beverage manufacturers must comply with a variety of standards and regulations, including ISO 2200, FSSC 22000, and Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations. These governing bodies require that recording systems save information in a way that can’t be altered. Some recorders, such as standard PLCs, save data in a CSV file that, while easy to import into a spreadsheet, isn’t tamperproof and has no way of logging that changes occurred. Others record the data over communication lines rather than directly onto a product. So, if communications capabilities are lost for any reason, the data would also be lost.

Data acquisition and analysis is a must for modern food and beverage manufacturing systems. The best way for manufacturers to satisfy this growing need is to leverage affordable industrial internet of things (IIoT) technologies capable of collecting data from legacy systems and feeding them into a seamless digital ecosystem centered around improving efficiencies, machine reliability and, most importantly, operator and equipment safety.


Schneider Electric’s PacDrive 3 automation solution has a centralized system architecture that’s ideal for controlling a broad range of servo-driven production and packaging machines, as well as material-handling equipment and robotics.

Luckily, with so many advanced products and proven strategies that manufacturers can adopt, they have the opportunity to dive headfirst into a digital transformation that will drastically increase efficiencies, improve product quality, and in the long term reduce costs and maximize profit margins—all without losing sight of the priorities they must maintain to succeed.

To ensure regulatory compliance and prevent data loss, use recording devices that save data in a secure, uneditable file format that has built-in data storage capabilities.

Embrace ESG initiatives

Innovation

Modernizing Food and Beverage Manufacturing

Four ways manufacturers can kick-start their digital transformation

This means packaging processes offer the greatest potential for automation-related cost savings and profitability. But meeting modern demands requires faster processing capabilities, several varieties of robots and sequenced motion axes, and more advanced control capabilities than traditional PLCs can provide.

Such manufacturers will have competing priorities, ranging from product diversification to product quality and ingredient traceability, as well as output efficiency and conformance to an evolving environmental, social, and governance (ESG) regulatory landscape. It’s a lot to manage for companies of any size.

On one hand, we can view this trend with a massive sigh of relief, considering the challenges the industry faced in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, it poses a variety of challenges for food and beverage manufacturers that aren’t ready to take advantage of these opportunities.

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IIoT integration is also beneficial for regulatory compliance. In the food and beverage industry, every piece of relevant information about products, ingredients, processes, and proof of regulatory food-safety compliance must be properly identified and recorded. The most effective way to capture and record all of these vital data is to adopt IIoT-enabled, track-and-trace technology that delivers information to a central hub from which operators can monitor and improve processes as well as comply with audits. This can drastically reduce the risk of expensive and reputation-damaging outcomes like product recalls.

Digitize data

To modernize robotic and machine controls in less complex food and beverage automation applications, manufacturers can upgrade their current PLCs with supplementary solutions such as expansion modules and smart relays, which provide economical, user-friendly alternatives to solutions based on cabled logic or specific cards.

Leverage IIoT technologies

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Published: Monday, August 14, 2023 – 12:03

Although there are a ton of opportunities for process modernization in the food and beverage industry, manufacturers at the beginning of their transformational journey can focus on four points to start making serious headway toward remaining competitive and compliant. They can update their robotic and machine controls, leverage IIoT technologies, digitize their data, and embrace ESG initiatives.

First published June 19, 2023, on engineering.com; submitted by RS.