Tailoring machines to the needs of food and beverage

Today, food and beverage sector manufacturers face a number of existential challenges, particularly in the UK, where supermarkets wield huge influence in the cost, delivery and ultimate success of consumables. In their turn, supermarkets are influenced by the buying decisions of an increasingly savvy consumer, who is not only buying based on price, but will make informed decisions based on a variety of other factors such as perceived health benefits and ethical or ecological credibility.

Add to this growing consumer expectations of new products, flavours, and package sizes, alongside increasingly stringent regulations, and it’s clear that when it comes to remaining competitive, modern F&B manufacturers must sprint to stand still.

Such market pressures mean that Digital Transformation (DX) is vital for manufacturers. The promise of product traceability, reduced waste, improved efficiency, quicker product development, smoother supply chain logistics and the flexibility to adapt more quickly to trends and regulations, means that manufacturers can set a path to thriving in a challenging market. Implementing a successful DX strategy in a complex environment like a food manufacturing plant however, is not a simple process and cannot be taken lightly.

Apart from creating machines that are digitally enabled, flexible and ‘smart’ enough to meet the needs of manufacturers, one often overlooked responsibility of the OEM in enabling digital transformation is to make sure that their technologies do not introduce software or integration barriers.

Manufacturers in the F&B sector often work with a multitude of OEMs in their complex and varied production and packaging processes. As standard, the software environment for the assets is provided by the OEM. While such software benefits from being designed specifically for the sector, including to required industry standards, it isn’t always tailored for the end user’s onsite integration needs. Moreover, further along the supply chain, retailers will require manufacturers to work with their software ecosystem to streamline logistics and supply, and data that reaches all the way back to the production machinery is increasingly important.

The plethora of software environments that manufacturers need to navigate doesn’t lend itself to the rapid and uninhibited movement of data that is the backbone of digital transformation. It also creates a time-consuming challenge for enterprises of any size when onboarding new OEMs, adding products, or entering a new retail environment.

OEMs looking to differentiate themselves in a crowded market can do so by their choice of DX software. By choosing a software that is agnostic to hardware and other software environments, OEMs can help resolve this challenge and pre-package this important piece of the digital transformation puzzle. By effectively removing the need for manufacturers to purchase and employ multiple software environments, there is a cost saving for the end user as well as efficiency gains associated with reduced training.

The benefits of agnostic software capabilities reach to the other side of the supply chain as well, with OEMs able to offer peace of mind that their products will integrate with their current retailer and any others they introduce in the future. With the right choice of agnostic software, OEMs will be future-proofing operations while adhering to the strict standards of the sector. Engaging with a digital transformation partner like SolutionsPT not only delivers the agnostic capabilities through world-class AVEVA software, but creates an extended team to ensure smooth scalability, whether a manufacturer is introducing one new machine or building an entirely new facility.

Future-proofing operations applies to both the end user and the OEM. It doesn’t matter if a customer is a small business with a specialist product looking to grow over time and add new flexibility, or a global enterprise with multiple facilities replicating their success in a new country. The OEM may be entering an existing facility with a range of assets from multiple providers, or a greenfield site where their product is part of a complex process. In all instances agnostic capabilities ensure their product won’t disrupt operations but can seamlessly integrate with existing assets.

The OEM is also future proofed against the changing nature of the food and beverage sector, as their customer’s needs change, they can offer their products without any barriers to implementation.

Another approach made possible by digital transformation is the ‘as-a-service’ option, too often this is seen as only possible from software vendors, but again, there is a valuable opportunity for the OEM. By adopting a ‘machine-as-a-service’ approach, the OEM can include cloud-based monitoring that acts as a value-add for the customer by accessing data from products in situ, not just testing conditions. This is beneficial for the customer who will have access to a support system that is just as focused on keeping the asset running as they are. It is also beneficial for the OEM who can take that data and use it in the development of future products.

Servitisation creates peace-of-mind for the end user. Onsite operators may have access to the same information, but the OEM (as the expert that created the asset) has an in-depth, on-demand, knowledge of the status of their product. Any small spikes in temperature, increased vibration, or changes in any other of the monitored variables within an industrial environment can be examined and actioned before snowballing into larger issues, avoiding the dreaded costly unplanned downtime.

OEMs and manufacturers are both in crowded markets and both looking to reach their target customers who have constantly changing requirements. Just like the consumer of food and beverage products making purchasing decisions based on a company’s ethos, manufacturers will make purchasing decisions based on an ability to consistently improve, which goes hand in hand with advancing a digital transformation journey. Where OEMs have the advantage is that they can offer the capacity for continuous improvement by removing barriers and supporting the end user with their goals.

As manufacturers push to make their operations more efficient and remain agile to the needs of the market, an agnostic OEM will be an OEM of choice, one that can adapt to customers wishes as they take steps on their digital transformation journeys. OEMs are free to focus on their expert offering and create bespoke products, manufacturing operators are all also free from drowning in a sea of software systems, while business owners can rest-easy knowing their OEM can provide cost-effective solutions that integrate with the entire enterprise.