Trends affecting the food and beverage industry

MAD130C-0100-SA-S2-AG1-05-V1 Automation and digital technologies are profoundly changing the food and beverage industry, affecting every link from farm to fork. The main impacts include:

Improve food safety: Monitor and track food with automated systems and digital technologies to improve food safety and reduce the risk of contamination.

Streamline production processes: Automated systems optimize food production processes, reduce waste, and increase efficiency and productivity.

Personalized food and beverage products: Technology enables food and beverage companies to provide personalized products based on consumer preferences and needs.

Reduce costs: Reduce labor costs and increase productivity through automation and technology, thereby helping companies reduce costs and increase profitability.

Enhance the customer experience: Technology has changed the way consumers interact with companies, making orders and deliveries faster and easier.

Improve sustainability: Automation and digital technologies optimize operations, reduce waste, and increase environmental sustainability.

MAD130C-0100-SA-S2-AG1-05-V1 Retrofit of production facilities: By retrofitting existing production facilities for cost-effective business growth, protocol gateways enable new and old machines to communicate effectively.

Overall, technology and automation are enabling companies in the food industry to produce high-quality products more efficiently, reduce costs, and improve the user experience. In a rapidly changing market, companies that invest in these technologies will gain a competitive advantage, making it easier to stand out.

Challenges facing the food and beverage industry

Food and beverage companies face challenges when it comes to food contamination, cross-contamination and quality control, but they are addressing these challenges by:
1. Deploy HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) system: identify potential food safety hazards and take control measures to mitigate the impact of hazards and ensure food safety.
2. Enhance traceability: Use RFID and barcode technology to track food in the supply chain and quickly locate the source of contamination or quality problems.
3. Improve sanitation: Implement stricter cleaning standards and use chemical disinfectants to reduce the risk of contamination.
4. Employee training: Strengthen food safety training for employees to ensure that they have the skills to prevent contamination and maintain quality control.

5. Strengthen testing: Improve the frequency and rigor of food testing to ensure compliance with high quality standards.
6. Implement automation: Use automation to improve efficiency and reduce the risk of contamination, such as reducing manual handling in food processing and reducing the risk of cross-contamination.
7. Adjusting to price disruptions: With data collection technology, companies can better understand production processes and increase flexibility, so that they can respond more quickly to market trends.

MAD130C-0100-SA-S2-AG1-05-V1 Together, these measures help food and beverage companies minimize the risk of contamination, improve quality control, and ensure product safety.

Ewon Flexy 205 IIoT and Remote Access Gateway

“Prices are now at an all-time high. Electricity prices, workers’ wages and raw material prices are all going up. This situation is making it very difficult for us.”

A leading food producer, March 2022

In-depth analysis of the benefits of digitization

MAD130C-0100-SA-S2-AG1-05-V1 Maximize uptime and reduce total cost of machine ownership

Production facilities around the world are prone to machine failures, resulting in the high cost of sending repair crews and significant losses from downtime. With remote access, no matter where the machine is located, maintenance personnel can quickly resolve any issues via a secure Internet connection.

For example, Packaging Automation Ltd (PA) in the United Kingdom utilizes remote access technology to minimize machine failures and downtime. They diagnose and resolve machine problems remotely for customers around the world over secure broadband connections. HMS offers Ewon iot routers and cloud solutions that make this possible.

The challenge for food and beverage Oems is to create machines that are both reliable and flexible, capable of rapid production and cost savings. Since the end user’s production line runs all year round, the downtime of the machine results in a significant loss of revenue. Machines need to adapt to rapid changes in production capacity, and ease of use and maintenance of machines becomes even more important in the face of labor shortages. HMS’s Ewon products allow users, engineers, and designers to quickly access machine data, increase equipment efficiency, easily track maintenance, and improve overall health.

However, the survey shows that only 15% of machine manufacturers are able to provide services to users remotely, with the main barriers being limited resources and concerns about security issues.