Smart Manufacturing

Applications and Case Studies

Masoud Soroush, Michael Baldea, Thomas F. Edgar, Masoud Soroush, Michael Baldea, Thomas F. Edgar

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780128203811
• Topic: Technik & Maschinenbau
• Subtopic: Chemie- & Biochemietechnik

Research efforts in the past decade have led to considerable advances in the concepts and methods of smart manufacturing. Smart Manufacturing: Applications and Case Studies includes information about the key applications of these new methods, as well as practitioners' accounts of real-life applications and case studies.

Written by thought leaders in the field from around the world, Smart Manufacturing: Applications and Case Studies is essential reading for graduate students, researchers, process engineers and managers. It is complemented by a companion book titled Smart Manufacturing: Concepts and Methods, which describes smart manufacturing methods in detail.

• Includes examples of applications of smart manufacturing in process industries
• Provides a thorough overview of the subject and practical examples of applications through well researched case studies
• Offers insights and accounts of first-hand experiences to motivate further implementations of the key concepts of smart manufacturing

Chapter 1: Smart manufacturing in the food industry

Jim Wetzel^a; Chris Damsgard^{b a} Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute, Los Angeles, CA, United States
^b General Mills Inc., Minneapolis, MN, United States

Abstract

This chapter explores the current and future states of smart food manufacturing. Food manufacturers have common challenges and pressures in both their industry and their day-to-day operations. Opportunities abound to improve quality and decrease waste or downtime losses, but smarter use of the information available will be required across the supply chain. Previous methods and concepts have been useful but did not result in the common platform needed to span the supply chain. Recent case studies applying the principles of smart manufacturing include “field-to-fork” traceability, product weight control, and a demand-driven supply chain. Future opportunities include dynamic processing that adapts to ingredient variability and treating energy as an ingredient.

Keywords

Field-to-fork; Traceability; Product weight control; Demand-driven supply chain; Energy as an ingredient; Continuous improvement; Compliance; Food safety; Smart manufacturing platform

Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Overview of the food processing industry in the United States, challenges and pressures
• 3. Manufacturing process
• 4. Prior methods and concepts, their benefits and disadvantages
  • 4.1 ISA-88
  • 4.2 ISA-95
  • 4.3 ISA-TR88.00.02-2015 (PackML)
  • 4.4 Industrial Internet Reference Architecture v 1.8 (IIRA)
  • 4.5 Platform Industrie 4.0 Reference Architecture Model Industrie 4.0 (RAMI 4.0)
  • 4.6 Various commercial control and information platforms
• 5. Smart manufacturing concepts and methods, and their benefits
• 6. Case studies
  • 6.1 Traceability
  • 6.2 Machine learning for improved product weight control
  • 6.3 Demand-driven supply chain
• 7. Future opportunities
  • 7.1 Dynamic processing of variable inputs
  • 7.2 Energy as an ingredient
  • 7.3 Continuous improvement
• 8. Conclusion
• References

1: Introduction

The food processing industry is providing the world one of life's basic necessities. Being tied to human consumption has been a driver for all of the strategies in the industry. Demographic trends of population and income growth are key in establish marketing, research/development, and supply chain investment. In addition, there is a wide range of segments for food companies to participate in, from commodities to value-added/ready-to-eat products. Due to the vast differences in these products, it is difficult to simply identify all of the challenges manufacturers face in this industry into a universal list, but we will develop a comprehensive set that covers the major elements.

Food processing can be defined as the transformation of agricultural products into food that can be eaten. There are three classifications for this transformation: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary food processing turns agricultural products into something that can eventually be eaten. Examples of this are milling grain, shelling nuts, butchering animals for meat, deboning, smoking fish, extracting oils, and pasteurizing milk. Secondary food processing is creating food from ingredients that are ready to use. Examples of this are baking bread, making wine, forming sausages, etc. Tertiary food processing is the commercial production of food that is ready to eat or heat-and-serve foods. This chapter will focus more heavily on secondary and tertiary food processing.

The cost of goods sold and the quality of the product are always of importance. Input costs typically fluctuate with the market. In times of inflation, higher prices for ingredients or fuel can substantially affect the profit margins for the food processor. In times of deflation, companies typically try to hold onto the retail price to support profitability. This is done through value-added producers creating strong brands with consumer loyalty. Since the product is consumed, quality and safety are critical and required to meet both government and company specifications.

In this industry the size of the company determines its strategy and approaches to manufacturing. From the relationships with suppliers, to the distribution network needed to get product to market, to the technology being applied for a competitive advantage, all of these are driven by size. However, since there is a movement to make and buy local, there is a strong record of successful small businesses as well as large businesses. What tends to be common among them all is that the more robust, unique capabilities that can create preferred products that are not easily duplicated and, at an economic advantage, will be an equation for success.

Smart manufacturing has the opportunity to enable the food process industry to solve these challenges and enable differential capabilities.

2: Overview of the food processing industry in the United States: Challenges and pressures

The food processing industry in the United States consists of a very diverse set of manufacturers, processing and packaging technologies, and markets that are served. Companies can be very small with a few employees and manual processes to large companies that have high volume, automated mass production, and extensive marketing and distribution networks. Large companies have over half of all available revenue, but small companies compete effectively through product innovation and locality.

The figures in the succeeding text show the diversity in the segments of products, relative size of the markets, diversity in manufacturing locations, and employment size.^a There are over 30,000 manufacturing plants employing over 1.5 million workers (about 14% of all US manufacturing employment) serving a market of approximately $750 billion in revenue.

These manufacturers represent small, medium, and large organizations and facilities. Many are wholly owned and vertically integrated, and others focus on the supply chain and manufacture their products through independent contract manufacturing companies. (These companies will manufacture food to the customer requirements.)

Typically, food products are created by transforming ingredients and raw materials into products that are either ready to eat or heat-and-serve foods (tertiary food processing). Consumer demand for these products is driven by population growth, income trends, social and environmental changes, and demographics. The US market is dynamic but with overall slow growth. Companies pick their market segments and channels to best meet their strategic mission.

Since processed food is created through ingredients and raw materials that come from the earth, input costs for the manufacturer can be volatile. M...