Digitalization of dairies

The Central Bavarian dairy was able to achieve the greatest effects of digitalization in the value-adding departments of its production. The visualization of its systems and their automated monitoring enabled the dairy to control and visualize processes on site, detect anomalies and record them digitally. elunic used suitable hardware and software solutions for the targeted production-related evaluation and improvement of production processes in order to measure and specifically monitor changes in production. All of the dairy's operating data was first recorded and then evaluated in order to gain indications of certain operating parameters that could be used for predictive maintenance, for example. As a result, production errors, operational anomalies and raw material losses were avoided in advance, production costs and complaint rates were reduced and the dairy's efficiency was consistently increased.

Energy, both fossil and electrical, is required in the production of the traditional dairy, for example to heat and cool the milk. The production of its dried milk products is also a highly energy-intensive process. However, due to the current gas shortage, energy has become a limited commodity and presents all dairies with another major challenge; there is a threat of production stops, plant closures and higher prices for the end products. It was therefore essential for the dairy in central Bavaria to have a well thought-out energy monitoring system that would serve as the basis for operational energy management and regular energy audits.

As part of the digitalization of dairy operations, elunic was able to use its Industry 4.0 technologies, such as the shopfloor.io software module, to monitor the dairy's electrical infrastructure and make energy data transparent.

Special energy monitoring and anomaly analysis systems were initially implemented for this purpose. Since then, optimally coordinated hardware and software solutions have been able to permanently record energy data during operation, visualize all energy flows and detect anomalies at an early stage. This is because detecting anomalies is a crucial step in ensuring high product quality. Various sensors record the energy consumption of the machines in real time, detect and analyze anomalies in use and ultimately inform the operator of deviations in production via their end device.

The new energy monitoring system allows the traditional dairy from Bavaria to create transparency across all of its energy flows. Now that it has an overview of its consumption, it can identify potential energy savings, derive appropriate efficiency measures and consequently use energy resources efficiently and reduce its energy costs.

elunic has been developing tailor-made Industry 4.0 and IoT solutions for over 15 years and supports machine manufacturers and operators in networking their machines and production. This step enables machine data to be recorded and evaluated and work processes to be digitalized.

Dairy product manufacturers benefit from the digitalization of their processes to the extent that they can continue to grow as a company in times of price wars, energy shortages and competition from substitute products, ensure the quality of their dairy products, consistently increase their efficiency and avoid errors in advance. elunic accompanies you step by step in your digital transformation process so that you can concentrate on your core business.