Miller Magazine Issue: 128 August 2020

67 ARTICLE MILLER / August 2020 harf, plant manager and member of the family that owns the mill. “We are a very lean business, fast and flexible. We provide excellent quality at competitive prices.” SCALES MAKE THE DIFFERENCE Quality, price and automation are the main ingredients for a successful milling operation. Managing the flow of produce accurately plays an important part in operating the mill efficiently, maintaining high quality standards and reducing cost. Detecting changes, understanding yields, and identifying and rectifying problems quickly is essential. “This is where precise and reliable weighing comes in,” says Scharf. “Improving the accuracy of our scales is one of the main levers we have in the mill to increase profitability. The Scharf family has always embraced technology. The introduction of Bühler’s Tubex Pro scales marks an impor- tant step towards the digitization of production processes. The data provided by the system is extremely accurate, al- lowing for precise control over the production process and optimized profitability. SAVING ENERGY Key indicators such as kilowatts of electricity consumed per ton of milled flour provide robust figures on the overall energy balance of the mill. Breaking energy consumption down to each individual unit delivers a full picture. The old pneumatic scales at the Otto Crienitz Mill were operated with pressurized air to move the scales’ cylinders. “We use pressurized air in many ways, it’s common prac- tice,” says Scharf. “But this practice is costly. By avoiding pressurized air, we save a lot of energy, both in comparison to the machinery we used before and in terms of what we see from the competition.” As an industry pioneer, Bühler has completely elimina- ted the compressed air dependency by introducing energy efficient servo drives with Tubex Pro. These feature super- capacitors that collect and reuse part of the energy, redu- cing consumption by more than 90% when compared with pneumatic drives. This means annual savings of up to 5000 USD per scale. HYGIENE, RELIABILITY, AND LOW MAINTENANCE The mill’s customers demand excellent food quality and a commitment to highest food safety standards is essential. One key question when it comes to hygiene and mainte- nance is the required manpower. Every system needs cle- aning. It depends on the design of machinery where and how much deposits build up. Materials used also play an important role. The new scales use high-grade stainless steel and fo- od-approved materials. The lean system design minimizes the amount of deposits and reduces maintenance efforts and downtime. By avoiding small mechanical parts, such as screws, getting into contact with the produce, the risk of contamination is eliminated. At the Otto Crienitz Mill product changeovers are less of an issue. But the system is designed to facilitate changeovers with minimal downtime. Reliability is also a key factor. “We have had the Tubex Pro scales in operation for three months and they are still in perfect condition,” says Scharf. “Achieving maintenance cycles of three months is a good result.” MOVING TO MILLING 4.0 Six Tubex Pro scales are in operation at the mill, one for input and five for output. Their precise load cells work in conjunction with intelligent algorithms providing accurate measurements on each cycle. The scales are already set up to connect to Bühler Insights, a cloud-based platform that includes a growing portfolio of digital services. Through Bühler Insights, process data like real-time tracking of the scale condition, current and historic throughputs, alarms, warnings, recipes and jobs, is transformed into reports to aid decision-making. The Yield Management System (YMS), one of the digi- tal services available on Bühler Insights, combines the data captured by input and output scales, and measures not only the overall yield but also the yields at subprocess levels, gi- ving the customer the information needed to fine tune the operation. Scharf looks forward to moving operations to the next le- vel: “We are about to start a test phase with Bühler Insights. This is an interesting project requiring input from both sides to train the system for best results,” he says. “But the most important factor for us is the trustful collaboration. We are actively involved in the setup, so our specific requirements are considered. We set targets together with the Bühler team and share our knowledge and findings. Our common goal is to improve the end-product – that’s what matters.” Tubex Pro available in 6 sizes