innovative ways to differentiate their businesses in the future. Data may be the key to delivering long-term competitive advantage. Jan De Roeck, marketing director, Industry Relations & Strategy, Esko, supports this view. “To manage operational efficiency, quality and costs means converters require dedicated and professional software tools to accurately collect and collate information to inform decision making in automated workflows. An important component of such software technology is the ability to connect different software tools with each other and reduce data duplication in the process.”
Visions of the future Tetra Pak has recently shared its vision of the factory of the future. Its key development areas made possible by new solutions to managing production data are the connected workforce and advanced analytics. Empowered with wearable technology, local Tetra Pak service engineers at customer sites are now able to connect directly with Tetra Pak specialists around the globe wherever they are, providing real-time, expert support to customers. When it comes to advanced analytics, data from filling lines around the world is collected into a central database from where it can be accessed and analysed by a team of Tetra Pak’s global experts. The robust database means that advanced analysis can be used to predict issues and optimise machine performance. Mattias Johansson explains, “Our solutions to managing production data have been enabled through our collaboration with partners. By connecting packaging lines to Microsoft Azure, Tetra Pak collects operational data to help predict informed maintenance timing. If repairs are needed, Tetra Pak service engineers use Microsoft HoloLens headsets to diagnose and fix machine issues, even in remote locations.” In the factory of the future, machines will be able to communicate with each other as well as with the digital systems of the entire operation, automatically taking on tasks such as diagnosing problems, ordering and delivering parts, | 36 | Packaging Europe
and looking for an engineer who is most suitable for the service needed. The technology builds on previous measures to bring the benefits of digitisation to the food and beverage industry, such as the launch of Tetra Pak Plant Secure and condition monitoring. Siemens has brought to the table its cloud-based, open IoT operating system: MindSphere. It connects products, plants, systems, and machines, enabling customers to harness the wealth of data generated by the Internet of Things with advanced analytics. MindSphere connects real things to the digital world and provides powerful industry applications and digital services to help drive business success. In turn, the digital twin of performance is constantly fed with operational data from products or the production plant. This allows information like status data from machines and energy consumption data from manufacturing systems to be constantly monitored – making it possible to perform predictive maintenance to prevent downtime and optimise energy consumption. At the same time, data-driven knowledge about systems like MindSphere can be fed back into the entire value chain all the way to the product system. This generates a completely closed decision-making loop for a continuous optimisation process.
Beyond the data The future of packaging is digital, according to Mattias Johansson: “Driven by the trends behind Industry 4.0, and with code generation, digital printing and data management at its core, the connected packaging platform will also bring new benefits to food producers and retailers.” The packaging industry has surely adopted managing production data, and the full scale potential of a more connected supply chain and integrated factories remains to be seen once all the dots have been connected. We are left with a stark warning from Esko’s Jan De Roeck, “Industry 4.0 is here – those companies that fail to embrace software and technology will be unable to compete in what is an ever more complex packaging and print industry.”