Food and beverage makers grow appetite for wireless

Mark McCormick of Siemens Industry Automation and Drive Technologies (IA&DT) explains why many food and beverage manufacturers and breweries are investing in the technology and the efficiency advantages it can bring them:

Birmingham, UK – In recent years wireless technology has come a long way. For food and beverage manufacturers it can be a particularly beneficial technology to employ, offering many advantages that can lead to operations being made more efficient. 

One such area where it is increasingly being used is where rotating machinery is in operation, such as commonly found in breweries, drinks-bottling plants and dairies. In each of these applications, rotating carousels are utilised. For example, in a brewery they are used to wash and fill kegs and drinks bottling plants and dairies, they will perform similar tasks with bottles or cartons.

Due to the nature of the equipment, the cables must run underground and up the middle of the carousel via a slip ring. Unfortunately this can lead to several problems. Firstly, constant mechanical wear and tear of the ring means that the system is often subject to breakdowns.

For a manufacturer, this can be a significant issue as it means that during the downtime, production levels are compromised and revenue lost. Additionally, whilst the system is down and being repaired, staff costs are likely to remain despite the lack of work, meaning further money is wasted.

One brewery that made use of wireless technology was Plze?ský Prazdroj in Poland. The brewery was looking to improve its productivity and operations and so invested in Siemens wireless technology for its kegging line, which it believed would help it to achieve this goal.

A system comprising Profinet and an Industrial Wireless Local Area Network (IWLAN) was installed to provide seamless connection of the ProfiNet network, controllers and I/O modules.

The existing Siemens S5 software was also converted to S7 software and re-engineered to provide the functionality required to accommodate the upgraded system, with HMIs throughout upgraded to OPs to provide enhanced operator control. 

These changes provided the brewery with a more efficient control system. Furthermore, all existing equipment, which was to remain on the line, was converted so that it to could be connected through the wireless network.

The technology has enabled the brewery to reduce breakdowns, but when breakdowns do occur it is easier to find the fault, which can be resolved more quickly than previously experienced.

In addition to rotating carousels, wireless technology can also be particularly useful in the warehouse of a food manufacturing plant.

Where dry food is manufactured, large warehouses are utilised in order to store the completed product on pallets. Traditionally these pallets will be transported from the factory floor to the warehouse manually using a forklift truck. Although this works fine, it is not the most efficient method and leaves the process open to the possibility of a great deal of human error.

By installing wireless technology into the factory and warehouse, transportation of completed goods from one area to the other can be carried out by a plant operator from a control room.

Using an industrial computer, the operator can instruct a robot to pick up the pallet and deposit it in the correct location. The robot can be told how many pallets to pick up at once and the exact location in the warehouse to take them to.

The plant operator can thereby be confident that finished product is stored in the right place and that if necessary, the product is arranged by date so that the oldest product can be taken first for distribution.

When it comes to distribution,  wireless technology will come into play again. The plant operator can use the industrial computer to select the correct amount of products and the correct type, based on an order. It can then be delivered to the door of the warehouse and loaded on to the van, set for delivery to the customer. 

Although some food manufacturers had previously tried to automate and make warehouses wireless before through the use of power tracks on the floor, the system often proved unsuccessful and was subject to much down time as the communication system struggled to get through via the tracks.

With recent advances and the increased availability of robots, this is no longer a problem, with the wireless technology operating smoothly and providing food manufacturers with improved efficiency within their warehousing system, reduced staff costs and a greater level of accuracy due to reduction in the risk of human error.

With the increasing sophistication and availability of wireless technologies, it is important for food manufacturers to consider them as a possibility for their plant. Although they may seem like an expensive investment at first, the advantages that such technologieswill bring can yield a quick payback period and an excellent return on investment.