Food and beverage production needs automation

Edited by the Processingtalk editorial team Oct 31, 2006

Many of the leading food manufacturers recognize the need for a vastly improved and more global automation infrastructure than currently exists in even their most automated facilities

Many of the leading food manufacturers recognize the need for a vastly improved and more global automation infrastructure than currently exists, even in their most automated facilities.

This is requiring a paradigm shift in the design, selection, and deployment of process automation systems, from automation software, to plant floor control hardware, to the use of more international automation standards and best practices.

Recent and continuing consolidation in the food manufacturing industry has placed initial emphasis on standardising common, enterprise-wide financial systems with global deployment of these business systems from both large and small technology suppliers.

Many of the larger food and beverage manufacturing companies are specifying adherence to the ANSI/ISA-95 (ISO/IEC 62246) standard for enterprise to control system integration.

This is also important in the design of factory floor controls because it helps define the types of data to be exchanged between the business and production systems.

Both the ANSI/ISA-95 (ISO/IEC 62246) and the ANSI/ISA-88 (ISO/IEC 61512) must be considered as the factory floor level automation is "built-out" to support a more highly automated and information driven system requiring minimal manual data entry.

"Food manufacturing firms are able to use this new automation to meet the changing demands of a growing and increasingly diverse population and consumer demands for pre-processed foods," according to Asish Ghosh, author of the new ARC 'Food and Beverage Industry Automation Worldwide Outlook'.

Food safety has always been and continues to be the top priority of food manufacturers.

Many companies have well documented food safety programmes that include good manufacturing practices, good sanitation and pest control practices, HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) protocols, personnel qualification and awareness training, process validation, change management, and an effective product recall system.

Manufacturers need to beef up their food security programmes, including increased plant security measures and anti-counterfeit packaging activities.

Packaging operations have a vital role in ensuring food quality, safety, and security.

While most packaging line machinery is highly automated, most labeling and inspection operations remain manual and semi-manual open loop systems.

As a result, allergen mislabeling and non-readable date and bar codes still occur all too often.

However, an increasing number of these systems are being replaced with more automated closed loop systems that ensure accuracy, reduce returns and recalls, and improve the assurance of food quality, safety and security.

"Continuous quality verification" systems in packaging operations are becoming a business and regulatory requirement.