Miller Magazine Issue: 147 March 2022

76 COVER STORY MILLER / march 2022 that the right composition is in place to achieve the desired end product. Visualized data at the digital dashboard help achieve optimum moisture content and provide insights when devia- tions from the drying curve are likely to result in structural de- fects. Again, digitalization means being able to assess historical production data to inform future pasta making processes. Digitalization in the feed sector Feed mills operate in a very similar way to flour mills. Raw materials are stored and then a recipe is applied to optimize animal nutrition and the ingredients are added together to produce animal feed in pellet form. The same digital plat- forms exist in the feed industry with Bühler Insights provid- ing the analytics and Mercury MES providing the automation. Similar to the food industry Bühler offers feed mill op- erators the same support through its Companion Service when transitioning into digitalization or to achieve opti- mum production once digitalized. One digital service that is generating interest is Bühler Insights Replay. This service allows the customer to record all their production data and display it visually and then re- play production parameters to see exactly what happened historically. This replay function allows faster diagnosis when problems arise as well as the ability to analyze past production to optimize processes. It also provides a record of historical scale data so the producer can look back and see where there has been an overdosing or underdosing of an ingredient. Scales have to be operating at optimum efficiency to ensure the right quantity of ingredients are in the product. Overdosing of expensive ingredients will have a detrimental impact of the plant’s bottom line. Companion Service Bühler realizes that it is creating services that may be complete- ly new for its customers, so it has created the Companion Service to make sure every business receives the right level of support while making the transition to digital solu- tions. Bühler also offers a service that provides In- sight Reports created by an industry specialist to help customers interpret the significance of the data being provided on dashboards. These reports can be produced monthly and are used as the ba- sis for person-to-person support either through a site visit or virtually. CONCLUSION Cheaply available sensor technology along with ev- er-increasing processing power, data storage and com- munication capacity have facilitated a fourth industrial revolution. Like other industries, the food sector is hav- ing to adapt to a changing technological landscape and Bühler, with its years of industry experience, is on hand to help guide the transition. Commercial pressures along with challenges around climate change require consistent control and exact composition of materials to maintain profit margins and cut food waste. Machine automation, data harvesting from the Internet of Things and specific digital solutions are all key to helping address food industry challenges around skill shortages, profitability, traceability, machine integrity and sustainability.