Developments

The critical role of IIoT in the future of food processing

Michael Cahill, Rockwell MES Technical Consultant As the old adage goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. New Zealand food companies, that often produce high value-add product that is exported around the globe, value their brand and reputation. Things are changing. Customer expectations for food safety and quality are unprecedented. Expectations from regulatory authorities are increasing to meet ever growing market regulation. Demand for high safe products is driving growth at an unprecedented rate. The reality is the number of food recalls has been steadily increasing over the last decade, according to FSANZ’s 2009-2018 reporting. The lack of visibility in the early stages of production is leading to an increased amount of inedible product and is posing serious food safety compliance risks. With headline after headline, product traceability from paddock to plate is becoming more and more important. Any deviation in quality in the product line will involve significant wastage and financial burden on the organisation. A sustainable approach to maintain the highest standard of production quality is sought to meet these customer, regulator and growth challenges. Connecting the dots The rise of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has emerged as a solution to this problem. IIoT platforms and advanced analytics now enable users to fuse multiple data sources to provide contextually relevant historical and real-time data. Add in AI and machine learning and food manufacturing is more predictive and intelligent than ever before, giving workers uncanny insight into how to solve issues and predict problems before they happen. The problem isn’t a lack of data but a lack of connectivity from food companies. IIoT has provided the tools to better verify quality, establish batch genealogy and capture meaningful processing data from beginning to end. It’s now the job of manufacturing plants and farms to […]

What do your motors really do?

In 1969, the first home security system was born, consisting of four peepholes and a camera that could be moved to look through any of them, broadcasting the images to a monitor. Nowadays, we can now stream and view a feed of our home security cameras on our mobiles, giving homeowners greater piece of mind. Here, Markus Brettschneider, of ABB’s food and beverage program, explains how food plant managers can add a similar level of connectivity to retrofit most motors with smart sensors to bring their plants to the digital age. Industry as a whole is utilising technologies and solutions enabled through the industrial internet of things (IIoT). Gartner predicts that 25 billion devices will be connected to the internet of things by 2020, with some agencies predicting even double this amount. This presents plant managers with a conundrum. Most food manufacturing and processing plants currently have motors powering essential equipment such as mixers, conveyors and packaging machines. These motors are just motors and do not play in the same league as the other intelligent devices in their factories. With years of service often left in the motors, it’s difficult for plant managers to justify replacing motors that work effectively for the sake of an upgrade with any smart features. However, there are alternatives to a complete overhaul in order to connect motors to the IIoT. Instead of investing in new, more intelligent or smart equipment, plant managers should invest in sensors that provide similar functionality to connected devices. For example, ABB offers smart sensors, which can be fitted to almost any standard low voltage induction motor. The pocket-sized sensor, dubbed ABB Ability Smart Sensor, is directly attached in a couple minutes to the motor’s frame, without wiring. By using sensors that feed performance data to the cloud through a […]

Synlait embarks on business transformation for growth and diversification

Synlait has chosen Infor CloudSuite Food & Beverage to support its supply chain and manufacturing operations and growth as part of a five-year business transformation plan. The goal is to modernise and streamline operations for the integrated dairy business, one with over 150,000 metric tonnes of annual sales volumes across domestic and international markets including Asia, Africa, Middle East, and Australasia. An existing Infor customer, Synlait is looking to improve employee engagement and increase operational efficacy and efficiency by aligning to best dairy industry practices. This will be facilitated and enabled by Infor’s food and beverage dairy industry specialised CloudSuite software-as-a-service (SaaS) enterprise solution. “The foundation of our business is all about partnering with other businesses and people who share our passion and commitment to excellence, integrity, and quality,” said Chris France, director of strategy and business transformation, Synlait. “Infor is a strategic partner for our business transformation plan with its ability to help us leverage dairy industry expertise, data insights and real-world knowledge via its innovative Infor CloudSuite F&B solution.” “Infor understands the unique challenges of the food and beverage industry in the Australia and New Zealand markets, and is committed to continue delivering finely-tuned industry-specific solutions in the cloud to help our customers maximise efficiencies and accelerate growth,” said Helen Masters, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Infor Asia Pacific and Japan.

Fonterra to recognise high performing farms

In line with key themes emerging from its new strategy, Fonterra today announced details of its new approach to sustainability on farm. The Co-operative Difference will make it easier for farmers to know what is expected today and in the future, as well as recognise those farmers who are taking steps to produce high quality milk in a more sustainable way. The farmer-owned Co-operative has signalled its new strategy will put sustainability at the heart of everything it does, empower the Co-op to maximise its New Zealand heritage and uniqueness, and help it to remain a globally competitive New Zealand co-operative. Co-operative Affairs Managing Director Mike Cronin says, “Sustainability for our Co-op is about more than the environment. It’s about looking after our people, caring for animals, adapting to changing customer and consumer expectations, and respecting the communities and land where we live and work. “We are proud of the global reputation Fonterra farmers have for producing high quality milk. Farmers have made tremendous progress on farm to date and The Co-operative Difference will help us take that good work to the next level so we can continue to create goodness for generations to come.” The Co-operative Difference will support the Co-op’s emerging strategy direction by: recognising farmers who go beyond the minimum requirements to supply high-quality milk, care for their animals, protect the environment, support their people and community, and engage in their Co-operative; helping other farmers follow suit by making existing on-farm requirements easier to understand and by providing tailored, industry-leading support services to those who want to improve;providing more information and advance notice to farmers about our future aspirations so they can plan and progress towards our shared ambitions; streamlining reporting and auditing to save farmers’ time and energy, and help the Co-op protect its market position, […]

PCE report reinforces methane not the same global warming impact as carbon dioxide

DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle has welcomed the report released today by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, recommending methane should be treated differently to carbon dioxide and doesn’t need to be reduced to net zero. “This work adds to the growing evidence base developed over the past few years about how methane, a biological emission from animals, differs from carbon dioxide in terms of its impact on global warming,” says Dr Mackle. “The paper states that methane needs to be reduced and stabilised in order to achieve no additional warming, rather than go to net zero. This is consistent with the international science. “Mr Upton also recommends that nitrous oxide does not need to be reduced to net zero. We would welcome further research into this approach. “This paper demonstrates again how the science around the impact of biological gases on global warming is continuing to develop. This is why the implications of any policy decisions for dealing with these gases needs to be carefully considered. But it is clear that total emissions must reduce.” The science to date has supported methane being treated differently to both nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide. A split gas approach, under consideration for the Zero Carbon Bill, could recognise the differences between the gases by providing a separate target for methane. “We agree forestry and planting will be vital to helping New Zealand meet our greenhouse gas reduction targets,” says Dr Mackle. “Many of our farmers are already planting for other environmental reasons, and often with trees and species currently excluded from the greenhouse gas inventory. It would be great to see them recognised for the carbon sinks existing on their dairy farms. “While Mr Upton proposes forest offsets be used only for biological emissions, we think there is a role for forestry […]

Partnership farm trials show GHG possibilities

An 18-month long project to understand how changes on farm to reduce greenhouse gas emissions may impact a farms profitability and productivity has come to fruition, with the results for the Owl demonstration farm in Cambridge released today by DairyNZ. “Our aim was to model and apply practical measures to see how we can adapt New Zealand’s highly efficient pastoral farm systems to meet New Zealand’s climate change goals,” says DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle. “The outcome of this project is important to helping us understand the impact of making improvements or changes to how a farm operates in order to reduce emissions and nitrogen leaching.” Twelve farms across New Zealand took part in the Partnership Farm Project, modelling 44 different farm systems. The Owl Farm results are the first of a series that will be launched over the coming weeks. The farmers who took part in this project are now looking closely at the changes that have been recommended to them to decide whether they implement these on their farm. “One clear message from the work is that every farm is different and there isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’ package of changes that every farmer can use,” says Dr Mackle. “But they can learn from these case studies to compare against their own farm and see what might be possible.” “The other clear message is to measure, or estimate, biological greenhouse gas emissions – to know your numbers – as that is the first step to knowing how to manage them.” On Owl farm, one of the modelled farm management changes involved reducing feed use and lowering the stocking rate. This is expected to result in a 21 percent increase in profitability alongside a 14 percent reduction in nitrogen leaching and 13 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Mitigations modelled on […]

Dairy plays a key role in latest economic success

The dairy sector is thrilled to see that its significant contribution to the New Zealand economy is affirmed in the latest Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries 2019 report. “It is great to see this acknowledgement of the huge part that the dairy sector plays in the economy,” DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle says. The Ministry for Primary Industries March 2019 report says dairy export revenue is forecast to rise 5.5 percent to $17.6 billion for the year ending June 2019, up from 13.3 billion in 2016, 14.6 billion in 2017 and 16.7 billion in 2018. Increased milksolids production translated into higher export volumes; and a reversal of declines in key dairy commodity prices at the end of 2018 continued into 2019. Total dairy exports for the six months ended December 2018 grew 3.8 percent to $8.7 billion compared to the previous year. There continues to be strong international demand for dairy, including from China. Dairy exports to China, as our largest trading partner, are up 16.6 percent to $3.2 billion for the six months ended December 2018 compared to the previous year. “For New Zealand’s dairy farmers, the strong production, a recovery of export commodity prices, and a weaker NZD should help ease downward pressure on farm level profitability for the current season. We have accordingly adjusted our all company average farm gate milksolids payout forecast for the 2018/19 season upwards to $6.41 (including dividend),” the MPI report says. Dr Mackle says the dairy sector contributes to national and regional economic development, supports New Zealanders’ wellbeing and employs more than 46,000 workers nationwide. The latest dairy achievements align with the dairy sector’s strategy, Dairy Tomorrow, which has an aspiration to improve the lives of New Zealanders with every drop of milk, Dr Mackle says. “The continuing success of […]

The Instagram effect

How social media is changing the food and beverage plant Starbucks recently sold a limited edition unicorn frappuccino for five days. Companies wouldn’t expect such a short timespan to have a significant impact on their customers, but the brightly colored beverage had more than 1.3 billion impressions on Twitter and 150,000 posts were tagged with #unicornfrappuccino on Instagram. Here, Darcy Simonis, ABB’s food and beverage industry network leader, looks at how the impact of social media is changing the priorities of food and beverage managers. Anyone who uses social media will know how prevalent pictures of food are. With 178 million photos tagged with #food on Instagram and research showing that a third of millennials regularly post pictures of their food on social media, food and beverage companies are waking up to the idea that the aesthetic of their food counts. Taco Bell’s chief innovation officer Liz Matthews says that now, when considering a new menu item, the food development team considers how the item will look in photos. With trends such as freakshakes — milkshakes with obscene amounts of cakes and cookies on the top — spreading across many restaurants, the more Instagram-friendly the item, the better it is for the promotion of the company. This change in the food and beverage industry is not only having an impact in cafes and restaurants, but also in the factory. More and more food and beverage manufacturers are now considering the social media aesthetic of their products. While they may not be mass producing rainbow bagels to sell at supermarkets, manufacturers may now be reconsidering the visual appeal of their products, including the packaging products are sold in, to promote more images on social media. As manufacturers start to reconsider their approach to the appearance of their products, they will expect […]

Agricultural pests a symptom, not a problem

Farmers should stop treating agricultural pests as a problem, and instead realise they are a symptom of an unsustainable farming method, says a visiting expert in regenerative agriculture. Dr Jonathan Lundgren, founder of Ecdysis Foundation and Blue Dasher Farm, was in New Zealand for an international workshop on conservation biological control of invertebrate pests, hosted by the Bio-Protection Research Centre, at Lincoln University. He told workshop participants that healthy ecosystems did not have the pest problems that were present in monoculture agriculture. “If you have a pest problem in your field, that’s your field telling you that something is out of whack. If all you are doing is reacting to a pest problem, then you are never going to get ahead – you’ve got to solve the underlying problem, not just the symptoms.” The underlying problem was lack of biodiversity, Dr Lundgren said. “The way we approach our food production is way too simplified.” Instead, he said regenerative agriculture not only solved pest problems, but was also more profitable. Regenerative agriculture goes beyond sustainable agriculture, by trying to regenerate degraded land and ecosystems, rather than simply sustaining what is left. Farmers who follow regenerative methods use few if any pesticides, don’t till the land, practise crop and stock rotation that mimic natural processes, and encourage biodiversity. Dr Lundgren said one study of the insect communities in cow dung found more diverse and more populous insect communities in the cow dung from regenerative farms – including more predators of pest species (mostly flies). It also found that that the dung from cattle farms using common avermectin pesticides to control parasites had twice as many maggots as were found in the dung from regenerative cattle farms. In another study researchers found conventional corn farms using pesticides had more than 10 times the […]

CRC launches new food grade bio-degreaser

CRC Industries has introduced a new NSF A1-rated CRC Food Grade Bio Degreaser which expands its leading CRC Greenlight Food Safe Program range. The degreaser is an extra heavy-duty cleaner formulated to penetrate and dissolve tough grease, oil and contaminants for easy removal – safely. CRC Industries Australia Managing Director, Shona Fitzgerald, said the product had been scientifically formulated for use in food processing applications. Biodegradable, non-toxic, non-hazardous, non-flammable, pH balanced and water soluble; the degreaser’s advanced formula is powerful but non-abrasive, non-corrosive and solvent-free. The product can be used confidently on all metals and alloys and will not damage bright metals including aluminium and brass. It is safe for use on fibreglass, glass, plastics, rubber, painted surfaces and laminates. It is also gentle on the environment with all ingredients readily decomposable. “This product has been specially formulated to penetrate and dissolve tough grease, oil and contaminants for easy removal – with a focus on personal and environmental safety,” Mrs Fitzgerald said. “These properties make it ideal for use in many applications especially where there are regulations or restrictions in place concerning the types of products that can be safely used or allowed. “It can be used to quickly and effectively clean mechanical equipment motors, tools, benches, walls, floors, filters, grills, drills, grinders, rollers, dies, moulds (injection, plastic, steel, aluminium), chains, conveyers, wire rope, robotics, hoists and more.” CRC Food Grade Bio Degreaser is available in 5L and 20L bulk containers as well as a 750mL trigger pack. “The launch our new CRC Food Grade Bio Degreaser is an important milestone for CRC as we remain focussed on adding customer value through extensive research and development, anticipating demand and delivering the right solutions in an ever-changing market, whilst adhering to the strictest protocols for food safety,’’ Mrs Fitzgerald said.

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