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Food Business Review | Wednesday, March 02, 2022
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Bakery production processes must be robust, stable, and reliable with artificial intelligence.
FREMONT, CA: Industry 4.0 is introduced into the food and drinks industry. The focus is on intelligent production processes, new automation technologies, and the assurance of Germany as a production center. Smaller and medium-sized operations need to set themselves apart from the competition. New sales concepts, greater flexibility in production, and responsiveness to customer requirements are essential. With the help of ideas in terms of Industry 4.0, these targets are in sight.
State-of-the-art technologies, together with so-called Cyber-physical Systems, deliver faster, more flexible, and more complex production processes, permit personalization from one unit to a whole batch, and increase the transparency of all processes by storing data in the cloud. Furthermore, the information must be exchanged and made available on secure networks in real-time. Therefore, research and development, including using model and simulation methods for risk assessment, is required in all relevant areas. Any companies which ignore this technological revolution place their futures at risk.
Here is a simple example of Industry 4.0 in the production process: At the batch kneading stage, the system calculates which compartment of the deck oven will be free for the next batch and at what temperature. Local I/Os, RFID, and Fieldbus systems may better track products at individual stages.
Robots in the Production Area
The installation of robots may also be useful to increase system flexibility and availability. For example, suppose several products are manufactured, packed, or manipulated on one line. Then production cycles can be faster and more cost-efficient with space-saving robotic and camera systems.
Robots can be ideal, for instance, in Pick-and-Place applications. For example, in one biscuit production line in the USA, daily production was increased from 12 to 20 tonnes of biscuits with the help of robotic technology. In addition, gentle handling by the robots reduced waste and improved quality by 20 percent.
Stay Future-Proof
The baked product's manufacturer faces major challenges. These are increasing product diversity, rapid new developments and product change-overs on the line, fluctuating order quantities, shorter product life cycles, stricter statutory regulations, particularly concerning hygiene directives, and increasing cost pressure.