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Digitalisation - taking stock in the beverage industry
Where does the industry find itself at all? The current situation in the brewing and beverage industry is that the use of Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) has established itself as a link between the various production and SCADA systems (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) on the one hand and ERP systems (Enterprise Resource Planning) on the other.
Historically grown isolated solutions, often accompanied by departmental or silo thinking, are being replaced by better integrated solutions in terms of system technology and organisation - sometimes also with the goal of full integration towards the smart factory.
At the same time, however, many companies still lack the necessary digitalisation strategy along which they can develop in a targeted manner. This is also shown by the fact that in many companies "MES" does not stand for a seamless flow of information, but must be translated as "Many Excel Sheets", as Excel is often still the tool used to manage inventories and plan and document production.
Not surprising at all: digitalisation has a significant impact on CO2 emissionsCO2 neutrality and digitalisation
Which role can and perhaps even must digitalisation play in the future in achieving CO2 neutrality? This particular aspect of digitalisation in our industry is the subject of an article published in BRAUWELT as part of the series of articles on "CO2 neutrality in the brewing industry".
No leverage for process optimisation without digitalisation
Digital monitoring of consumption data and processes is just the essential basis. Things only get exciting when you link a wide variety of data sources and thus build up a real technical controlling. Such a procedure for the systematic analysis of one's own company is called business intelligence. Huge amounts of data come together, and Microsoft BI is the ideal tool for visualising this data and making it interactively available to users for evaluation.
Digital capture of production provides transparent tracking of operations across more than a single siteWhether large or small - the challenges are the same
No matter whether you manage a global company or are a local specialist producer. The challenges of digital transformation are the same. What you definitely have to keep in mind is your profit and the quality of your products. Not only has the global pandemic put a strain on the beverage sector, but the resulting fluctuating customer demands, closed borders, an accident involving a cargo ship in the global logistics bottleneck ... these have all pushed supply chains to their limits. One way to cope with these changing demands is through digitalisation: It is about developing flexible systems, designing transparent process flows and developing consistent data strategies.
"What are you waiting for?" is what people want to shout at small, traditional companies. The Corona crisis in particular has mercilessly shown the advantages of digitalisation - and at the same time the weak points in Germany. In this environment, it is important to tackle the challenges ahead. Especially for small traditional companies like family breweries, the topic of digital transformation is crucial for their future viability.
Processes and recipes can be created and tested virtually, and only the data needs to be imported into the fully installed system before commissioningDigital twins long before production starts
Things have to go faster and faster, flexibility in filling has to increase, the variety of products is growing, and the construction of a new production plant has to consume fewer and fewer resources. These demands make it necessary to rethink long before production starts. One approach is called Module Type Packages. By means of a digital twin, a high degree of standardisation and modularisation of the process steps, the complete process control can be implemented long before construction begins. All that remains to be done is to import the data into the finished plant before production begins. The first "plug and produce" plants are already in successful operation.
Pioneer in the industry
A state enterprise leads the way: The State Hofbräuhaus in Munich feels a special obligation to the environment and its customers to take responsibility for better climate protection. In order to identify and realise potential savings in steam, water and compressed air consumption in accordance with the environmental goals, an energy monitoring system was installed that consistently relies on digitalisation.
Neumarkter Lammsbräu has recognised the potential of complete digital production data acquisition. With the help of Microsoft Power Business Intelligence (see above), the organic brewers created the necessary data basis. Now, for example, an exact quantity of raw and auxiliary materials can be assigned to each individual pressure tank and the associated costs can be calculated precisely.
The Pyraser Brewery also relies on complete production data acquisition and digitised all trades. Where not yet available, sensors and control systems were retrofitted. The Middle Franconians relied on a smart cloud solution with which the existing infrastructure could still be used and the expansion created a network of individual components.
Heineken, one of the world's largest brewers, understands all too well that agility is an absolute necessity in a market where consumer preferences can change rapidly. Especially when it comes to successfully linking 350 global and local brands in more than 190 countries. As part of its EverGreen strategy, the brewing group is focused on becoming the best connected brewery.
Digital empties management can be done conveniently with a mobile phoneAI in empties management
Smartphones have become an indispensable part of our private lives: we surf, stream, shop, learn and communicate with them. The handy all-rounders are also increasingly conquering important functions in the professional environment. There, they facilitate data exchange, documentation, processes or all of the above, such as the recording of empty bottles and beverage crates.
Digital trade documents
After a successful practical test, the German Logistics Association (BVL) and GS1 Germany are planning to roll out the central Cloud4Log platform by the end of 2022, via which digital delivery notes and, in the future, other transport documents can be exchanged. This will eliminate the time-consuming handling of paper delivery notes along the supply chain.
