Food and beverage manufacturers are accelerating the adoption of remote services and monitoring. According to the Trends in Remote Services and Monitoring research, released in January 2024, “remote support is used by the highest number of end-users, with 55.1% of respondents employing it at their plants.” This research, based on insights from VPs, CEOs and engineers at CPG companies, reveals that “remote support is the service with the clearest value to end-users and, with skills gaps worsening, it is expected that they will continue to rely on it.”
Food and beverage companies have been modernizing and moving to digital-based tools to implement remote support. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have made a substantial move to assist end users with connected-worker digital tools. The addition of asset management software is also in full swing for end users and lays the foundation for exploring generative AI strategies.
At the IFT Food conference in July, Michael Warter, SVP and CIO at Ruiz Foods Products, Inc., addressed generative AI demands. "We have an (upcoming) meeting, and our board is dead set that we need AI, and I'm behind," says Warter. "They can't define what I'm behind on, so one of the first steps is to get people to understand what AI is in its various facets."
While companies want generative AI strategies, they are seeing the fruits of their initial digital investments, such as computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS). End users are driving continuous improvement for maintenance and operations and moving away from reactive maintenance routines.
"You're talking about 25-year-old assets that have pieces of hardware that are obsolete. Almost every CPG company is in that position, and they are replacing assets because of the lifecycle, which is a lot of what we're doing."
However, barriers still exist to adopting remote services or predictive maintenance technology. The 2024 remote services survey shows that consumer packaging goods end-users are hesitant to move forward due to the cost of service, the limited IT skills of their staff to maintain and update systems, and the risk of cybersecurity. But, companies are adding new equipment due to lifecycle issues.
"You're talking about 25-year-old assets that have pieces of hardware that are obsolete," says an end-user in the 2024 remote service survey. "Almost every CPG company is in that position, and they are replacing assets because of the lifecycle, which is a lot of what we're doing."
So, what is the next step with digital transformation for end users? Many point to system software integration and connecting these platforms to share manufacturing data easily. With this underway, engineering departments and plant managers are accelerating integration pilots projects, such as connecting CMMS platforms to quality software, manufacturing execution systems (MES), enterprise resource planning platforms and more. The race is on to lay down the foundation for AI-based strategies.
Image courtesy of JLS Automation
A Predictive Maintenance Journey for Perth County Ingredients
Perth County Ingredients (PCI), based in Ontario, Canada, supplies dried egg products for food, beverage and sports nutrition markets in Canada and worldwide. As growth continued, the formulation company added equipment to meet the demands of greater volume. However, maintenance resources were being exhausted due to its reactive maintenance approach. Accurate overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) metrics were nonexistent for PIC, so the company adopted Rockwell Automation's Fiix CMMS software.
With CMMS software in place, PCI installed WiFi across the first plant and added equipment assets to the maintenance management platform. With a mobile strategy in place, the maintenance staff used the Fiix app with tablets and smartphones and scanned QR codes for equipment information during maintenance routines. With the CMMS software, maintenance workers accessed standard operating procedures (SOPs), old work orders, pictures, equipment and the building automation system (BAS) in seconds.
After the successful pilot, Tom Dufton, maintenance and project manager at PCI, extended the CMMS platform to seven other L.H. Gray facilities across Canada. "The automation within our facility has allowed us to run multiple operations from one location," says Dufton. "Putting in these measures for automation has allowed us to bring down the number of people who need to be in one place at one time."
The results have been substantial for PCI:
- 54% decrease in reactive maintenance
- 47% reduction in after-hours maintenance calls
Dufton's next step was moving to a condition-based maintenance strategy, which meant connecting the company’s plants' programmable logic controllers to the new CMMS platform. With this move, maintenance could begin to visualize data and track vibration, temperature and other machine information.
To do this, PCI chose to connect the systems with Fixx's system integration partner, Majik Systems. "We now warn operators that if action isn't taken or maintenance isn't contacted, it could shut them down," says Dufton. "The plant runs 24/7, but maintenance is only here Monday to Friday so it's important that we're capturing all this information."
Tom Dufton, maintenance and project manager at Perth County Ingredients, implemented Fixx's Asset Risk Predictor (ARP) technology that uses sensor data to identify anomalies that are fed to multiple types of dashboards and to different groups within the company.
Image courtesy of Rockwell Automation
During the first nine months with the connected systems—PLC and CMMS—PCI cut costs by $40,000 and decreased unnecessary maintenance work from the team's to-do list. Overall, PCI earned a 300% return on investment (ROI) with the entire pilot project.
The next step was a predictive maintenance approach using Fixx's Asset Risk Predictor (ARP) technology. The APR technology uses sensor data to identify anomalies that are fed to multiple types of dashboards and to different groups:
- High-level overview
- Detailed risk data for a single asset
- One comprehensive view for troubleshooting a single asset
PCI's sensors feed equipment data, such as pump current and torque, into CMMS software to find premature pump failure, excessive seal wear or make educated decisions based on data.
“We’ve had great success so far (with our equipment),” says Dufton. “Unfortunately, we haven’t had a failure yet, but we have seen some of that data trend upwards to a yellow alert via APR technology.”
Image courtesy of Key Technology
Workforce Tools Connect OEMS
While asset management strategies are moving forward, new digital tools are pushing remote services forward, too. OEMs are using augmented reality (AR), headset cameras, online libraries with instructional videos and more to help troubleshoot machine issues.
"Food processors want to address any questions or concerns as quickly as possible, and many are willing to move to automated self-help tools if it means faster resolution and improved uptime," says John Pulliam, technical support manager/lifecycle services at Key Technology. Key Technology delivers remote services to its customers on various issues, including machine calibrations, step-by-step diagnostic measures and instructions for component replacement. In 2024, the company also introduced a product knowledge database available through its digital service desk.
Maple Leaf Foods, based in Ontario, Canada, is a top-tier food manufacturer that produces prepared meats and poultry and uses AR technology to improve operations. In a pilot project, the company rolled out AR technology for its high-volume Harpak-ULMA packaging machines. The goal was to achieve an 80% or greater OEE metric.
While the pilot at Maple Leaf Foods targeted OEE, the company also found that AR can handle simple tasks in the area of maintenance. The company uses AR for its inspection compliance checklist regarding the sanitization of its equipment. "Usually, companies want to use AR technology for complicated tasks," says Alexander Ouellet, innovation engineer at Harpak-ULMA Packaging in a recent case study video. "But AR is effective with straightforward tasks that are extremely important and always be done correctly."
JLS Automation, a system integrator based in York, Pa., provides integration solutions for vision-guided primary and secondary robotic packaging applications for food packagers. For remote troubleshooting, the company released JLS View approximately a year ago. JLS View includes a Real Wear headset, the XM Reality App and a smartphone. Customers can purchase the Real Wear headset, or JLS Automation can provide the hardware.
The Real Wear "smart" headset allows an operator to share the "whole picture" with a remote technician, such as a machine cell, HMI screen or any other equipment component. The connected technology and interface for the JLS View include accessing Zoom or Microsoft Teams meetings for a technician call. The XM app allows support engineers to interact with streaming information or images on the plant floor.
"As JLS View has evolved, we use it not only one-on-one with a customer for troubleshooting but also as a group effort with our engineers and programmers," says Gabe Escobar, director of aftermarket sales & service at JLS. "JLS View has been invaluable in the area of after-hours support."
Recently, Fluke Reliability invested in connected worker technology. In July 2024, the company entered a formal partnership to integrate Augmentir's connected worker platform into its AI-powered enterprise asset management solution. Augmentir offers a connected worker solution that focuses on skills management, training and collaborative digital workflows by digitizing frontline work processes.
Fluke's eMaint CMMS mobile platform provides an automated workflow and allows maintenance teams to reduce data entry time and repairs. The partnership will focus on worker training and integration of the two products. "Augmentir's solution is aimed squarely at solving manufacturing's biggest challenge, the skilled labor crisis—helping operators onboard workers faster, enabling targeted reskilling and upskilling of their current staff and supporting workers with individual guidance," says Russ Fadel, CEO and cofounder of Augmentir.
As shown in the 2024 remote services survey, food and beverage manufacturers are replacing legacy equipment and workers are embracing digital tools. The explosion of data and cybersecurity concerns will keep growth in check, but the path to generative AI needs a digital foundation.
