Page 28 - RHP IT

MACHINE BUILDING

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

FOOD & BEVERAGE

MAKING A MAJOR
INVESTMENT IN YOUR BUSINESS,
PARTICULARLY WHEN IT INVOLVES TRANSFORMATIVE
TECHNOLOGIES, CAN BE DAUNTING. ANDY MACPHERSON,
INDUSTRY MANAGER FOR FOOD AND BEVERAGE AT FESTO,
OFFERS SOME ADVICE FOR KEY DECISION-MAKERS WISHING TO
IMPLEMENT A SMART FACTORY STRATEGY.

usinesses need regular investment to thrive and monitoring of parameters such as vibration, noise, reducing ‘give away’, eliminating overfill and underfill, by
survive. But budgets are finite and trading temperature and energy consumption, providing just 1% mean to your bottom line?
conditions are always fluctuating, so deciding invaluable insights to make your plant more reliable and l Improve agility: automation digitalisation keeps you
Bwhere and when to inject the cash is a tough less costly to run. Production lines can therefore run ahead of your competitors and makes you more responsive
call. This applies in any industry: but within the food and effortlessly at higher performance levels for longer periods to changes in demand. For example, automation
beverage sector, two key drivers are the looming skills of time with less human interaction. digitalisation makes it easier to increase production
shortage, particularly for manual tasks, and the constant l Optimise production: digitalisation enables continuous efficiency, enabling the business to adapt to seasonal
pressure to produce high quality, reliable and healthy improvements that enhance production cycle times, demand spikes without the need to buy more processing
foods with total traceability. optimising daily output. More accurate and streamlined plant that sits idle out of season. It offers the potential to
Automation digitalisation does not just improve production results in less wastage, improving the bottom increase agility to reconfigure processes more quickly and
production and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), it line. offer flexible ‘individualisation’ of products.
also has numerous ways of giving you a good return on l Enhance quality: automation digitalisation reduces l Retain staff: It sounds counter-intuitive, but
investment. All these factors should be considered when human error. Recipes and processes are pre-determined, automation digitalisation provides the opportunity to up-
making the business case to invest. and processes are monitored as they pass through each skill your staff. It frees them to learn more value-added
l Increase uptime: digitalisation reduces unplanned stage so that any deviation can be assessed and corrected tasks, contributing to staff wellbeing and career
downtime by predicting device failures before they immediately. The ability to deliver consistent, traceable satisfaction, as well as reducing the exposure to injuries
happen. This can save up to 20% in maintenance time as product is a key success factor for major food retailers and through repetitive movements, or inattention due to
errors are identified faster. It also reduces consequential will therefore affect your ability to secure future contracts. boredom. Engaged and motivated employees are an
losses due to unplanned stoppages. With open l Reduce waste: Using automation digitalisation, invaluable business asset.
communication protocols this can also save time product defects can be identified quickly and rectifications
installing, commissioning, and adapting production made before packaging. Identifying defects early, before Adopting automation digitalisation
processes. Complex plant is easier to use and can be more value has been added, reduces waste, avoids recalls and One of the most common barriers to adoption of the smart
easily networked with other equipment. maximises profits. Automation digitalisation reduces factory approach is based on the misconception that ‘we
l Improve reliability: digitalisation enables the waste right through to final packaging. What would can’t afford a new factory’. You don’t need to build a new

28 INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY • June 2021