PROCESS TECHNOLOGIES
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
ABB
DIGITALIZATION AND THE FOOD
AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY
Wikipedia, the world’s largest free-content
encyclopedia, now has over 41,000,000
articles in 294 languages. If printed, the
English articles alone would form an
impressive, but unrealistic 2,512 volumes.
Without digitalization and the widespread
use of computers, this amazing wealth of
knowledge would be impossible. Here,
Robert Glass, global food and beverage
communications manager at ABB, explains
the opportunities digitalization presents for
the food and beverage industry.
Digitalization encompasses a transformation
in the way industrial environments work.
For the food and beverage industry, this
means companies can better comply
with legislation through a transformation
in areas including connectivity, smart
sensors, traceability, cloud computing and
monitoring.
LEGISLATION
The Centre for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) estimates that one in six
Americans suffer with a food-borne disease
each year, and 3,000 deaths are attributed
to food-borne illness. When people’s lives
are at stake there is no room for error.
Therefore, one of the largest concerns for
the food and beverage industry is using
technology to find the best method to
keep well maintained traceability records,
which show the journey of food from farm
to fork.
SMART SENSORS
Well-kept traceability records and sensor
data can increase transparency between
businesses, producers and consumers. This
allows plant managers to respond faster in
emergencies and use evidence to rebuild
public trust following recalls.
The processed and raw data can be stored
and recalled if there are any issues further
along in production. Cloud technology
has made it easy to store and analyze data,
removing any potential for human error by
raising alerts and red flags immediately.
Sensors can aid traceability in two ways:
they improve the accuracy of automated
processes and they can track and store
a variety of manufacturing data. Time-
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temperature history, physical shocks
and other important credentials can be
continuously measured and synchronized
across the factory thanks to the IIoT.
Sensors used during food production
can monitor products throughout the
manufacturing and distribution supply
chain. Sensors can form part of a device
such as a smart container, or act standalone,
depending on the needs and conditions of
the manufacturing process.
CONNECTIVITY
For the first time in 2016, over half of the
world’s developing population had internet
access. As internet access widens and the
price of networked devices drops, the volume
of network traffic will rise.
Alongside this, the falling cost of producing
devices such as WiFi-enabled temperature
sensors mean they will become ubiquitous
in industrial environments. However, more
sensors lead to more raw data. This higher
rate of data production presents issues of
how to store and use the data.
CLOUD
Although almost sixty per cent of US food
and beverage manufacturers use the
Internet of Things (IoT) to track and trace
ingredients, less than half are using the
advanced analytics the IoT makes possible.
Cloud analytics, real-time monitoring, virtual
commissioning and digital twinning — the
ability to recreate the plant virtually — are
just some of the techniques now helping
plant managers in the food sector reduce
unplanned downtime, improve safety and
mitigate food emergencies.
MONITORING
The huge amount of data produced by the
connected factory can be used for many
purposes in the food and beverage sector.
For example, understanding why one
machine is running hotter than another, or
why one is not picking as many products,
can help operators understand the
efficiencies of each machine, data that can
be used to improve plant maintenance.
Many plants are using their own mobile
networks to take monitoring to the next
level. For example, on farms, sensors are
used to monitor soil conditions, using the
data to predict when animals are in heat and
text the farmer with the information.
Although many businesses will be wary of
the perceived complexity of undergoing
digital transformation, it can bring about a
true competitive advantage. Plant managers
of the future should not only recognize the
trend toward digitalization, but they should
embrace the opportunities it brings, just as
approximately 70,000 active contributors
have wholeheartedly adopted Wikipedia,
an opportunity produced by consumer
digitalization.