The label Industry 4.0 is a confirmation of the trends we see in connecting various networked sensors and systems vertically within the business and horizontally through the supply chain.

The concept of networked machines is not new to food and beverage processing. We’ve had programmable logic controllers networked together to ensure smooth start-ups, balances, and shutdowns for many years. We’ve had manufacturing execution systems integrated into the PLCs for many years.

What has changed is the ease with which to make all of this technology work together. 

We can now capture nearly unlimited channels of data including real-time sensing of work in process attributes, environmental measures, machine downtime, etc. We can integrate this data above the MES layer to provide meaningful insight into how to improve production processes and how to use real-time information to construct new process control algorithms.

Our recipes can include set points for small, medium, large batches that can be downloaded into the control systems. Our executive teams can see real-time our progress to schedule, which machines are continually problematic, where the material choke points are, etc.

Shipments can now be tracked in real-time across the globe and our customers can see within a few feet where their orders are, the temperature and humidity history, etc. 

This enables much tighter planning for logistics, which means much less production scheduling and much less inventory in the pipeline etc.

Industry 4.0 is a confirmation of the evolution occurring within cold chain logistics.

Within agriculture, we can cost-effectively position environmental, pest, disease, and soil sensors and correlate them back to field areas, seed lots, etc.  It is feasible to record key readings and metrics to the lot record and have that information travel with the lot forward in the food chain via blockchain.

Our team at Adroit has tracked these trends for years and we can help you to make sense out of them and determine where there is value for your processes and products to improve your costs, product quality, and ultimately customer satisfaction.