Miller Magazine Issue: 147 March 2022

74 COVER STORY MILLER / march 2022 duction process, to display production parameters in real time remotely and to provide automated control of the com- plete plant process. Different modules then automatically control different aspects of production, including recipe management, maintenance, warehouse management, food safety or the data analysis. Mercury MES gives the producer control of the whole production process in terms of the composition of differ- ent raw materials and the ability to monitor the quality and quantity of raw materials being added at all stages. Sampling is a key part of the quality process. Mercury MES allows the seamless incorporation of sampling at all different stages and the automatic storage of historical data for both food safety and client auditing. This, both cuts the time-consuming labor of manual data collec- tion and provides more precise and speedier laboratory analysis. Bühler Insights Bühler Insights is a flexible digital platform that pro- vides customers with Internet of Things connectivity while connecting with a range of modular digital systems that monitor different aspects of the production process. Customized dashboards then present this real time data remotely and store all data in the cloud for further anal- ysis and historic retrieval. By ensuring all key data can be accessed across a business in real time, customers are able to make far more informed and faster produc- tion decisions. Greater transparency also allows Bühler to help make industry-specific recommendations to im- prove productivity. Analyzing historic data means the customer can detect trends and set up benchmarks across multiple plants or production lines. Complex algorithms facilitate machine learning, predict production outcomes and provide proactive recommendations about optimizing produc- tion parameters. Bühler Insights is a dynamic platform through which clients are able to access a growing port- folio of digital services designed to increase and fine tune product quality and food safety. Bühler Insights and Mercury MES are both comple- menting each other in order to create a complete digital portfolio. BÜHLER’S DIGITAL SOLUTIONS Silo Monitoring All food production starts with a raw material and the silo is where it is typically stored. Bühler Insights Silo Monitoring enables the food producer to see what is happening in the silo at any moment and to have that data presented in real time on Bühler Insights. Sensors attached to cables are dropped through the silo, feeding data to Bühler Insights for every storage segment. By setting alerts it is possible to instantly know when, for example, the temperature is too high in any silo seg- ment so the operator can start an aeration or cooling process. By being able to store and analyze data his- torically it is possible to pick up on trends and see how silo conditions change depending on variables such as climate, filling level or raw material moisture content. Thresholds can then be set, including temperature in- creases over time, depending on the raw material being stored. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) OEE is designed to provide operating transparency