The Future of Food and Beverage Manufacturing: Plantwide Optimisation

As demand increases and consumers are becoming more sophisticated in their buying habits, there is a need to invest in manufacturing facilities that can match these changing demands.

Manufacturers are looking to optimise their assets as they take on the challenges of demand for a wider range of products. These manufacturers are faced with global competition and sustainability in difficult economic times, and are looking for solutions that can overlay existing infrastructure, delivering immediate short-term benefits, while still providing a transition path to a single platform in the longer-term.

These challenges are drawing the focus of food and beverage manufacturers towards optimisation. But what does this really mean in terms of changes in the operation?

There are three areas in which food and beverage manufacturers typically address when thinking about optimisation:

- How do I enhance performance?
A few ideas could be integrating process control and packaging without replacing equipment; or implementing new safety solutions to meet legislation requirements without increasing costs and reducing output; or improving quality and consistency without huge capital outlay.

- How can I reduce costs?
It’s sometimes as simple as standing back and looking at where the costs are highest and thinking about ways to reduce them. If manufacturers are spending time and money managing and maintaining control Platforms, then outsourcing asset management contracts could help significantly reduce invested capital. If a manufacturer is constantly having to modify recipes to meet ever changing and diverse customer demands, then an integrated plantwide quality assurance could help deliver significant savings.

- How can I improve energy consumption?
Manufacturers know how much their monthly electricity bill is but often have no idea where the costs are coming from. With energy costs increasing, consumers demanding more sustainable production, and legislation driving businesses to reduce energy consumption, there are many reasons to manage energy consumption more effectively. With intelligent energy management advances, it is possible to identify where energy is being wasted and help reduce that waste.

Food and beverage manufacturing can now deploy one control platform using a common control engine with a common development environment, expressly designed to help deliver more optimised manufacturing.