Ah, yes. The topic of automation vs manual labor has been around since the invention of key technologies like the conveyor belt. Along with this digital transformation, if you will, is always a question of whether or not automated systems are going to make your product better, smooth out the manufacturing process, harm your team, or stunt your growth in the future. In a nutshell, will the key benefits outweigh the costs or is it just another industry trend to ignore?
We’ve worked with more clients than even we thought possible, and we’re grateful for the experience that we’ve gained from each one. Thanks to our many years of hard work, we know just how to strike a balance for you when it comes to food and beverage automation.
We will need some collaboration, though. We know you want the standard things, like consistent quality and an easier time meeting regulatory compliance, but we need to understand you, your products, and your business to have a deep understanding of what’s going on. Relationships are a two-way street, though, right? We want to know where you’re at, so allow us to tell you where we’re at, how our services work, and where you fit into it all.
Before we ever open the programming, we need to be looking at layout, zones, drains, cleaning processes (we’ll talk about Clean-In-Place another day), raw material handling, even HVAC. If the physical setup of your food and beverage manufacturing facility doesn’t work as it is, adding automation into the mix will only make things messier.
If we don’t have to update every one of your industrial computers and control panels before we get moving, we don’t want to.
The actual control system itself is a whole other conversation. By taking a look at your system, we can help you choose the right fit. PLC, PAC, HMI, SCADA systems are all on the table. The choice that’s best for you depends on your I/O, line speed, system performance, reporting requirements, and any other pressing metrics you have.
Any PLC system programming in the food industry needs to be very organized and easy to upgrade for when the time comes. That may include ladder logic, structured text, sequential function charts, programmable logic controllers, or function block diagram programming. It all depends on what the system design needs to accomplish in your food processing plant.
Specifically for food manufacturing, recipe management is a huge part of this conversation. If we’re adding automation, we don’t want a bunch of human error. We want the same recipe done the same way every time.
Food production plants deal with washdowns, moisture everywhere, cleaning chemicals, extreme temperatures (both hot and cold), and a myriad of other factors. What this means is that even the smart sensors, fittings, vision systems if you have them, and wiring that you choose have to be picked with food safety in mind. These automated processes we’re talking about can’t stop at only giving you operational efficiency. They have to reach all the way into cleanable, repeatable, verifiable systems. If we can get that kind of consistent product quality without having to have human workers keeping their eyes on every detail every minute of every day, we’ll be doing some grand work.
We’re talking about real-time production data for food plants in general, but we need to just take one second to talk about beverage automation specifically. When you’re dealing with beverages, you come across a lot of things to consider, and every one of them has to work seamlessly together.
One small timing issue can mess up the supply chain all day. We can help tie packaging signals back into the PLC so that automated monitoring keeps the production line on track and lets you know of any problems before they become massive.
It usually starts with seconds here and there, then all at once, you find yourself fighting against losing minutes. Those minutes are quickly turning into dollar signs, and you don’t know how to stop it without lowering your product quality. We can either personally look for those blips on the radar, such as a sticking valve or a drifting sensor, that you might have otherwise missed, or we can build automation in that will do that for you. No matter what, the end looks like a better system and less downtime. In our estimation, that’s hard to beat.
The goal of automation systems is to make your plant easier to run. Our team at HMS utilizes this tool to help you improve efficiency, reduce costs, increase productivity, and finally take control of your production process. If you want to kick your business up a notch, this is the way.
Explain your Engineering Challenges and We’ll have a Team Member Connect!
HACCP, SQF & regulatory-aligned from day one.
We modernize old factories or design from scratch.
Nationwide sanitary welding & commissioning support.
