Food and Beverage Industry News Aug 2018

AUG/SEPT 2018

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AUG/SEPT 2018

Embracing the Internet of Things Why the food industry has to get on board PLUS: Viticulture | Cloud Solutions | Food & Beverage Industry Awards Preview

WELCOME

Why embracing the IoT is a must

A

Managing Director: John Murphy Publisher: Christine Clancy Managing Editor: Syed Shah Editor: Mike Wheeler Ph: (02) 9439 7227 mike.wheeler@primecreative.com.au

Journalist: Miri Schroeter Ph: (02) 9439 7227 miri.schroeter@primecreative.com.au

Art Director: Michelle Weston michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au

Editor: Mike Wheeler

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Copyright Food & Beverage Industry News is owned by Prime Creative Media and published by John Murphy. All material in Food & Beverage Industry News is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical including information and retrieval systems) without written permission of the publisher. The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information, Prime Creative Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequences arising from reliance on information published.

The opinions expressed in Food & Beverage Industry News are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by the publisher unless otherwise stated. © Copyright Prime Creative Media, 2018 Articles All articles submitted for publication become the property of the publisher. The Editor reserves the right to adjust any article to conform with the magazine format.

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lmost a year ago, I was at an event held by Omron, who is a vendor of industrial automation gear. In the room were approximately 30 or so engineers from the food processing industry. The question was asked – who here has heard of the Internet of Things? (IoT). Sitting near the front of the room, I put my arm up, turned around, and saw about three other hands go up. At the time, I thought it strange.

However, 12 months later, it has me worried.

This issue has an IoT special feature.

Why is it so important? Because Australian food manufacturers need to be smart. And being smart means embracing the IoT. It’s not a gimmick, or fad, or something that will be gone in 12 months’ time. I would go so far as to say that if food manufacturers at least don’t look at implementing some form of the IoT soon, they risk being left behind.

Some may think it is a confusing concept and the capital investment and ROI are not worth it. Nonsense. The IoT is designed to streamline processes, get machines talking to each other, and make costeffective efficiencies available to a business.

Not only via automation and robotics, but also analytics that help with both

preventative and predictive maintenance.

IoT implementation doesn’t have to be an expensive exercise – you can start off slowly and then add extra products and services as the need arises. The problem is, if you don’t start making changes and the competition does, their overheads and costs will eventually start decreasing. This then starts giving them savings to their bottom line.

This in turn is passed on to their customers.

Well, you get the picture.

I’d also like to say that it’s a pleasure to be appointed editor of such a great magazine that serves a fascinating industry. I have written for the publication before and always enjoyed interviewing the people who work for the food and beverage sector. I look forward to meeting more in the coming months.

Finally, you’ll see that we have a preview of the nominations for the Food & Beverage Industry Awards. On behalf of all of us at Food & Beverage Industry News and our sponsors, I’d like to say good luck to all those who have entered the awards and look forward to meeting all of you at the event.

Mike Wheeler

INSIDE 50

46

38

6 MARKET WATCH

32 PACKAGING

46 BUSINESS INNOVATION

8 AIP

34 INGREDIENTS

48 PRINTING AND PACKAGING

10 NEWS

36 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

50 SENSORS

14 INTERNET OF THINGS

37 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

52 VITICULTURE

24 FOOD INNOVATION

38 EVENTS

56 FOOD & BEVERAGE AWARDS

26 TOTAL TIPS

40 CLOUD SOLUTIONS

63 GROCERY COUNCIL

28 WASTEWATER

42 FOOD PRODUCTION

64 NEW PRODUCTS

30 HEALTH AND SAFETY

44 MATERIALS HANDLING www.foodmag.com.au | August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 5

MARKET WATCH

Deal activity picks up C orporate activity in the food and beverage industry remained high in May and June 2018 with seven transactions announced. Several transactions involving listed entities were announced during this period.

Acquisitions announced Date

Target Name

Acquirer

Sector

11 May 18

Shenzhen JiaLiLe Food (10%)

Freedom Foods

Dairy Grocery distribution

13 May 18

Aussie Farmers Direct

Your Grocer

21 May 18

CBDG Joint Venture (45%)

Wattle Health

Dairy

23 May 18

Seafarms Group (15%)

Nippon Suisan Kaisha

Seafood

29 May 18

Tegel Group

Bounty Fresh Foods

Poultry

8 Jun 18

Matso’s Broome Brewery

Gage Roads Brewing Co

Craft beer

20 Jun 18

St David Dairy

Longtable Group

Dairy

The largest transaction announced was the $401 million takeover of Tegel Group

by Philippine-based Bounty Fresh Foods. Bounty Fresh is a privately-owned company that operates a farm-to-market strategy resulting in it controlling and managing the entire supply and production chain. Bounty Fresh intends to use Tegel as a source of poultry supply for Asian markets, including the Philippines.

ASX listed Wattle Health raised $54 million through a share issue to fund its participation in the Corio Bay Dairy Group (CBDG) joint venture. The CBDG joint venture will build and operate an organic dried milk powder plant that can process up to 200,000 litres of fresh organic milk each day. The CBDG milk spray drying plant will be located at Geelong in Victoria.

ASX listed Seafarms announced a $25 million equity investment in the group

by Nippon Suisan Kaisha for a 15 per cent shareholding stake. The proceeds from the share placement will fund the development of project Sea Dragon, a largescale land-based prawn aquaculture project in northern Australia.

ASX listed Gage Roads Brewing Co announced the acquisition of 100 per cent of Matso’s Broome Brewery for $13.25 million plus deferred payments. Matso’s is an iconic WA beer brand best known for its ginger and mango beer varieties. The transaction was based on a run-rate EV/EBITDA of 5.3x.

ASX listed Longtable Group has signed an agreement to purchase 100 per cent of St David Dairy for $15.25m. St David Dairy was established in 2013 and is based in the Melbourne inner-city suburb of Fitzroy. St David is a premium foodservice dairy brand and services Melbourne’s leading cafés, restaurants and retailers with a range of milk, butter, cream and yogurt.

The outlook for corporate activity remains positive with several sale processes in the pipeline. Strong interest from domestic and international investors will continue to support deal activity in the food and beverage industry.

Ben van der Westhuizen (left) and David Baveystock are directors of Comet Line Consulting, an advisory business that specialises in acquisitions and divestments within the Australian food and beverage industry.

For more information visit www.cometlineconsulting.com.au.

Commodity Outlook WHEAT – World wheat prices to recover slightly, from low levels due to lower tradeable supplies.

COARSE GRAINS – World barley prices to rise due to low stocks and strong demand for feed and industrial-use coarse grains.

OILSEEDS – World canola prices to fall due to abundant oilseed supplies.

SUGAR – World sugar prices to fall due to world sugar supply growing faster than demand.

6 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

BEEF AND VEAL – Australian cattle prices to fall due to higher production and strong competition in export markets SHEEP MEAT – Strong competition from processors and restockers to drive lamb prices higher.

DAIRY – Milk prices to rise due to a falling Australian dollar and increased competition for milk.

Source: Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (ABARES), Agricultural commodities March quarter, 2018.

AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF PACKAGING

AIP continues to help Foodbank Social responsibility is something the AIP takes seriously as it expands its food charity reach into Victoria. Food & Beverage Industry News explains.

AIP’s Foodbank initiative is in its eighth year and has now introduced the program to Victoria.

F

or more than eight years, the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) has been a supporter of Foodbank across Australia through the Queensland hamper program. It is now pleased to also introduce the Victorian Warehousing Volunteer Program.

close to $730,000 for people in need and they look forward to packing even more hampers in 2018.

All of industry is invited to donate items or funds to the hampers, or attend and participate at Eagle Farm Racetrack on the 7th of December 2018.

Queensland

Victoria

The AIP has spent its Christmas Party every year for the last seven years with a twist. The members pack Foodbank hampers for people who need some assistance from their community at Christmas time. In 2017, more than 150 people packed 1,100 hampers for Foodbank to provide to those in need during the holiday season.

The hampers included 800 family hampers and 300 ladies’ packs. The total valuing more than $73,000 worth of items that were either donated, or the funds raised for, by the Association and the wider industry.

Over the last seven years, the team has packed 6,500 hampers to the value of

The AIP asks for all those in the industry to join its new Warehouse Volunteering Program; either as an individual, with staff and colleagues, or with families.

The AIP will work directly with Foodbank Victoria to book in some days where volunteers can visit the Yarraville Warehouse and help pick and pack on-line orders and mixed grocery boxes.

The day will start with a formal introduction on how Foodbank Victoria works and information on their charity partners.

The program will provide volunteers the opportunity to better understand how Foodbank works

8 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

"Over the last seven years, the team has packed 6,500 hampers to the value of close to $730,000 for people in need and they look forward to packing even more hampers in 2018."

and will be a combination of picking and packing of on-line food orders and packing mixed grocery boxes.

The on-line orders have been placed by many of the 470 charity partners who look after the thousands of Victorians currently experiencing food insecurity.

The mixed groceries items are donated by school students, community groups, clubs and corporate organisations who run food drives to provide the ingredients for the food boxes. Their charity partners are able to order these boxes, which they then pass on to those families or individuals who need that extra help with grocery items. Each volunteer

will have the opportunity to work in both areas. Shifts would be for four to five hours.

As a part of its commitment to the National Food Waste Strategy and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12:3, the AIP is focused on providing long-term education and training on the role of packaging in minimising food waste, save food packaging, sustainable packaging and lifecycle analysis.

The AIP also has a representative on the Department of the Environment and Energy National Food Waste Steering Committee and is a contributor of the Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre.

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NEWS

Reducing the phylloxera risk

Phylloxera’s arrival in Europe in the 1850s, wiped out millions of hectares of vineyards.

P

hylloxera is one of the most serious biosecurity risks for the Australian grape and wine community. It has the potential to devastate vineyards and wreak economic devastation on rural communities.

Wine Australia and Vinehealth Australia are encouraging grape growers, who are considering planting or replanting grapevines, to use phylloxera-resistant rootstocks for at least a portion of their vineyard to future-proof their business against phylloxera.

Grape phylloxera (daktulsphaira vitifoliae) is a tiny insect pest that destroys grapevines by feeding on their roots. Currently, there are 83 genetic strains of phylloxera in Australia and while impacts are dependent on the strain, generally once vines are infested, they die within six years.

However, the effects on yields are felt much sooner. There is no cure. Once infested, the only solution is to replant resistant rootstock, whihc is selected based on site conditions and phylloxera strain.

Phylloxera’s arrival in Europe, in the 1850s wiped out millions of hectares of vineyards within years.

The pest is present in eight quarantine zones in Australia but good fortune and strict quarantine regulations have limited further spread.

However, Australia’s wine sector remains incredibly exposed to phylloxera.

Susceptible, own-rooted vines make up the majority of the nation’s vineyards. Vinehealth Australia data shows that in South Australia alone, 74 per cent of vineyard hectares are planted to own-rooted vines – including some of the oldest vines in

the world. This means that the stakes are extreme should phylloxera spread outside the current phylloxera-infested zones.

Wine Australia general manager of research, development and extension Dr Liz Waters said applying best practice farm gate hygiene and investing in resistant rootstocks should be considered as an insurance policy for grape growers across Australia.

“Through our isolation as a nation and strict biosecurity practices, we have avoided much of the devastation that phylloxera has caused in other wine growing regions around the world. However, we can’t ignore the massive risk we face,” said Waters.

“While alone it cannot stop the spread of phylloxera, one of the most effective long-term practices is planting vines grafted on phylloxeraresistant rootstocks so that, if there is an outbreak, the immediate economic impact is reduced.”

Waters acknowledged that planting vines on rootstocks is more expensive than own-rooted material, but she urged wine businesses to think of the expense as an insurance policy.

“If there is a phylloxera outbreak, vines on resistant rootstocks will not be affected, reducing the economic impact on the growers and the wider rural community. Even a portion of a property with vines on resistant rootstock offers a buffer against economic devastation. Rootstocks can also provide more immediate benefits by providing resistance to vigour-

sapping nematodes and delivering better performance in drought and saline soils,” said Waters.

While there remains a lot to learn about rootstocks and phylloxera resistance, Waters urged grape growers to use Wine Australia’s free online Grapevine Rootstock Selector to pick the best rootstocks for their vineyard and seek expert assistance from their local nursery.

“Choosing the right rootstock can eliminate many long-held concerns about quality. The Grapevine Rootstock Selector tool has information on rootstock and scion compatibility and soil suitability, so that grapegrowers can take advantage of decades of research,” she said.

Vinehealth Australia CEO Inca Pearce said every available tool was needed to prevent the spread and impact of phylloxera in Australia.

“It’s critical that the grape and wine community works together to stop the spread of phylloxera,” Pearce said. “Planting on phylloxera-resistant rootstocks is an important protective measure for long-term sustainability.

However, rigorous farmgate hygiene practices and compliance with state quarantine regulations are vital in preventing the further spread of phylloxera.

“We must work together to ensure that the own-rooted vines planted a decade, generation or century ago, can continue to produce grapes for Australian wines that consumers around the world enjoy.”

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NEWS

Australian Made appoints new chief executive T

he Board of Australian Made Campaign has appointed Ben Lazzaro as its new chief executive.

The organisation is responsible for promoting and administering the nation’s iconic green-andgold Australian Made, Australian Grown logo.

Lazzaro will succeed retiring chief executive, Ian Harrison, who stepped down at the end of July.

Lazzaro has an engineering and communications background with more than 15 years of experience across a variety of management, sales, marketing and communications roles in consultancy, agency and in-house capacities.

He joined Australian Made in 2011 as a marketing and communications manager and in 2016 he took on the role of deputy chief executive.

Australian Made campaign chairman, Glenn Cooper, said

Lazzaro had been a key contributor to the success of the organisation and the Australian Made logo for many years.

“Ben’s combination of skills and experience, paired with his understanding of country of origin matters, have him ideally placed to lead the organisation into its next exciting chapter,” said Cooper.

Lazzaro said it was an honour to be given the opportunity to lead the organisation.

“While enormous progress has been made, there is opportunity for the Australian Made team to further strengthen this Australian icon, here and overseas,” he said.

Lazzaro acknowledged the leadership of the outgoing chief executive in establishing the Australian Made logo as Australia’s global product symbol.

“The logo has become one of the most powerful sales and marketing

12 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

assets for businesses that make and grow products locally.

“It makes the Australian connection instantly, clearly and with authority, and is synonymous with quality and integrity,” said Lazzaro.

“The challenge ahead is to build

Ben Lazzaro is the new chief executive of the Australian Made Campaign.

on this success, evolve the Australian Made offering and continue to deliver value to Australian manufacturers and growers, as well as consumers the world over.”

Lazzaro officially took on the role on the 1st of August 2018.

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INTERNET OF THINGS

Business-minded solution to data management Keeping track of data, finding trends and weeding out unwanted information, can be made easier with a quality data management software. Stibo Systems’ STEP software does just that. Miri Schroeter writes.

M

anaging the flood of information coming into a business can be difficult at the best of times. But companies such as Stibo Systems can help take the necessary steps to growing and improving a business by managing data the right way. Consumers ask questions, such as, ‘Where do my frozen vegetables come from? How much sugar is in my yoghurt? Does my item contain any trace of peanuts?’

Supermarkets can have difficulty finding products if a certain ingredient is recalled. Cereal

manufacturers can spend weeks gathering information on what ingredients were sourced from which country depending on the factory where they were made. There’s many ways to collect and find information, the challenge is doing this efficiently.

Luckily, these time-consuming, yet necessary steps in the daily running of a company, can be made easier with an effective data management system.

The proof is in the pudding for Stibo Systems, as the company’s data management software has helped businesses in the food and beverage

industry better manage information.

Stibo Systems is a Danish foundation founded in 1794, and has now expanded to a global enterprise with a local presence in Australia and New Zealand. Stibo prides itself in managing data in the state-of-the-art technology at the time. In 1794, this was the printed book, and now it is the Stibo STEP Master Data Management (MDM) platform.

Lending a helping hand Global companies such as Kellogg’s and Kraft Heinz use Stibo’s software

to better manage their complex manufacturing and distribution businesses. Stibo is also used by companies such Walmart and Kaufland for providing the right food information to their customers.

Kellogg’s manufactures breakfast foods, frozen products and snack foods in about 180 countries.

The company uses Stibo STEP to manage their complex data set of more than 100 brands, 3,500 stock keeping units (SKUs), 4,500 consumer recipes, and 9,000 product images that feed more than 400 global websites.

Stibo Systems’ data management software helps businesses better manage information.

14 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

INTERNET OF THINGS

Kellogg’s maintains a single view of its brands to customers all over the world. Challenges are constantly arising – including changing consumer behaviour and increased in consumer demand for more nutrition information and labelling.

Government legislation and expanding industry regulation also demand richer product information. Increasing information demands include all the customer touchpoints such as product labelling, in-store displays, product catalogues, websites, sales staff, social media and point of sale.

Industry challenges such as expanding food categories and increasing food regulations also need to be addressed regularly.

Since the implementation of STEP, Stibo Systems’ product information management solution, Kellogg’s has been able to replace old legacy systems, homegrown solutions and countless spreadsheets. Kellogg’s now has more control over its branding and there is improved visibility across all its brands. STEP feeds more than 400 Kellogg’s global websites in over 40 languages.

Kellogg’s IT marketing global director, Maria Keller, said the thing that made Kellogg’s STEP implementation unique, was that it was global from day one.

“When we evaluated solutions, it had to have that capability and be able to accommodate all the languages and nuances for our markets around the world,” said Keller.

Benefits of using Stibo’s STEP software for the food and beverage industry, include being able to efficiently find products containing

ingredients that are allergens or high in sugar content. Information passed from a manufacturer to a retailer, can be easily found by the retailer and relayed to customers.

Businesses also have easy access to data that can be collated to find products relating to each other. It’s also quick to find out key information, such as how fast a product is selling and why it is selling so well. For example, data may show a product is selling well because it contains less sugar than similar products, or it may be the country of origin that has buyers coming back for more. Trends in data will help determine this. With the country of origin becoming an increasingly important factor for Australian consumers, there is a benefit to having software capable of narrowing down this information.

Stibo national sales director for Australia and New Zealand, Costa Mikhael, said Stibo’s solution allows people to manage all the types of products they have and all the information about what’s inside the products. It was important information to have about the market, when various compliance issues could come up, said Mikhael.

“Without structure and processes to govern your data, you are carrying a heavy risk burden to the business. In the event of a mistaken allergen label, you are putting your customers safety at risk, not to mention your brand,” he said.

“Supermarkets and retailers like to promote themselves as being consumer oriented. But they often fail to consider the information needs of modern customers. Shoppers want

Benefits of using Stibo’s STEP system include being able to efficiently find products containing ingredients that are allergens.

Businesses get easy access to data when using the Stibo system. to know exactly what is in a product.

Where did it come from? Is it good for me? Is it safe for my children?” said Mikhael.

Often, the information can be found on the label of a product but STEP helps set up a system that allows consumers to look online for the information on the company’s website. “We introduce efficiency between the supplier and the retailer,” said Mikhael.

A solution for all Stibo’s software is by no means limited to supermarkets or the food and beverage industry. It is widely used by other sectors such as the clothing retail and distribution industries.

A key reason for Stibo’s success is the user-friendly system design.

There’s no need to be an IT whizz as the software is simple to use and quick to adapt to. “Stibo gives you a business first-type application. It’s a business-minded solution,” said Mikhael.

“A lot of similar solutions to ours describe how it fits into the IT environment, capabilities, complexities and how you can set it up. Where we come in a lot different is we talk to the business guys and say, ‘Do you want to sell more? Do you want to reach more customers?

Why don’t you put items that are related to this product on your website and we can give you the capability to do that’. The value proposition close to their heart,” he said.

The system allows businesses to save time. Where companies may have taken weeks to introduce data on new products in the past, they can do this within days with STEP. The information is easy to input and there are ways to save time down the track with alerts on certain items.

Let’s say a product contains palm oil, which a company considers an ingredient it does not want to sell to its customers. An alert can be sent out to inform the business if it is against company policy. Instead of continually searching for palm oil in new inventory, the alert will tell the business when it is present. This fool-proof monitoring step allows the business to find issues as they arise, without having to worry about human error.

Stibo Systems managing director Manfred Heckt says, “the STEP software enables enterprises to consolidate all their data. We are the data hub for different dimensions.

For example, the central dimension is the product. But the value in the data, comes from managing the complex web of relationships between the product, the supplier, to the distributor, the retailer, and the customer. We make sense of it all.”

Stibo customers benefit from single view of their data. They can control, monitor and maintain data, and can score and profile their data. They can optimise their business’ packaging chain. They have a complete view of digital records and dynamic real-time access to data and images.

Stibo STEP is one seamless solution for the complete supply chain. The STEP platform can be deployed on the cloud, or it can run on-premise.

Stibo Systems entered the ANZ market over five years ago, and has been successful in helping its customers to grow and expand their business. It is not just the food and beverage industry, in Australia, Stibo has helped local companies such as Target, Officeworks, Wesfarmers Industrial and Safety, Toyota Australia and many others.

www.foodmag.com.au August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 15

INTERNET OF THINGS

Safety key to new EtherCAT terminals The ELX series of EtherCAT terminals are designed for safety-related tasks.

Food & Beverage Industry News explains.

These compact I/O terminals can be used to support applications in hazardous areas.

T

he EtherCAT terminals in the ELX series have been expanded by the addition of analogue input terminals with TwinSafe SC (single channel) technology. These compact I/O terminals can be used to support applications in the hazardous areas that require both intrinsically safe signal transmission and functional safety capabilities.

These terminals, which are certified compliant with the specifications of the ATEX and

IECEx standards, enable direct connection of intrinsically safe field devices, through to Zone 0/20 based on an integrated safety barrier. The new terminal designs, extended by TwinSafe SC technology, also make it possible to achieve safety level equivalent to PL d/Cat. 3 according to EN ISO 13849-1 or SIL 2, according to EN 62061. In this way, it is possible to see all process data existing in a system for safety technology, such as to monitor the speed of fans in areas sensitive to explosion hazards.

16 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

These I/Os are available as 12mm wide terminals with two or four analogue input channels for 0/4-20mA, and for RTD resistance sensors, thermocouples/mV and strain gauges. Furthermore, a singlechannel terminal is available for the direct connection of intrinsically safe incremental encoders, which evaluates a diagnostic-enabled NAMUR signal in accordance with IEC 60947-5-6.

With the aid of TwinSafe technology, it is possible to make use

of standard signals for safety-related tasks in any network or fieldbus system. The data from a TwinSafe SC terminal is fed to the TwinSafe Logic, where it undergoes safety-related, multi-channel processing. The data originating from different sources is analysed, checked for plausibility and submitted to a voting process. This is done by certified function blocks such as scale, compare/voting (1oo2, 2oo3, 3oo5) and limit. For safety reasons, at least one of the data sources has to be a TwinSafe component.

INTERNET OF THINGS

Integrated automation that enables the digital enterprise Digitalising your business can be a headache, but there are solutions that can help you along the way.

Here’s one from APS Industrial.

The Siemens TIA Portal can help enterprises on their way to digitalisation.

T

he digital transformation of the manufacturing industry is picking up speed. In virtually every industry, comprehensive digitalisation of all processes can provide a lasting competitive advantage thanks to increased flexibility, efficiency and quality. It offers new opportunities for added value, innovative business models, and forward-thinking forms of collaboration.

The technical requirements for implementing the Industry 4.0 concept can be achieved by realising the digital enterprise. This is the link between the virtual and the real world of production along the entire value chain, based on in-depth industry knowledge and unique expertise in the areas of electrification, automation and digitalisation. The critical action

for those in the manufacturing industry is to take full advantage of the opportunities the digital enterprise presents, and to set out on the path to a successful future before they fall behind.

The Siemens Totally Integrated Automation Portal (TIA Portal) brought to the local market by APS Industrial, can help enterprises on their way to digitalisation. It helps users unlock the potential of a digitalised value chain, including data acquisition for cloud services in manufacturing execution.

The TIA Portal increases flexibility of machine builders and plant operators through digital workflow. This digital workflow allows a virtual copy of machines and plants to be used to simulate and test every aspect before actually building

18 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

the real thing. This “digital twin” is also networked with operational IT and the cloud to enable more flexibility, with the end result being higher quality products.

including the controller and HMI, and by evaluating it based on a virtual model, local commissioning time is reduced thanks to PLCSIM Advanced, the controller’s digital twin.

Seamless connectivity

Open system

The cloud offers new possibilities in engineering as well as for the operation of plants. The TIA Portal Cloud Connector makes it possible to work with the TIA Portal regardless of the location or device. For users, this means greater flexibility and less installation effort. During operation, users can benefit from additional digital services thanks to the connection of plants to the Siemens MindSphere Cloud.

TIA Portal allows users to efficiently create a project using software generators, further reducing the number of redundant workflows.

With Teamcenter, users also merge the project versions from planning, engineering and design.

The TIA Portal is a perfect gateway to automation in the Digital Enterprise. As part of the Digital Enterprise Suite, along with PLM and MES, it complements the comprehensive range of offerings from Siemens for companies on the path to Industry 4.0.

Flexible simulation By simulating the entire installation,

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INTERNET OF THINGS

Why Industry 4.0 makes for a positive outlook in the manufacturing sector SMC’s James McKew is bullish about Australasian manufacturing, and with good reason.

Mike Wheeler explains.

J

apanese-based SMC Pneumatics knew that in order to future-proof its business it needed to get onboard with Industry 4.0 especially with the push towards automation.

“Five years ago, the managing director of SMC brought me in to reposition the business post the mining industry moving from greenfield to brownfield,” said SMC Pneumatics’ Australian and New Zealand director of sales and marketing James McKew. “We needed to move from a capital investment phase to a maintenance repair and overhaul phase. We saw the mining boom come off quite considerably until about late last year.

What I don’t think SMC contemplated was the car industry going away so quickly in Australia.”

Luckily for McKew and SMC Australia and New Zealand, the route a Japanese-based company takes differs from that of a traditional western industrial enterprise. It is this support and direction that McKew sees as the starting point for the growth the company has seen.

“In hindsight, it was quite exciting because the leadership in Japan,

fundamentally our founder, said ‘go back to Australia, get your team together and tell me what you need to reposition the company so it stays on a growth trajectory’, as opposed to the alternative,” said McKew. “The western philosophy would have been, ‘well your major market is going down, make sure you resize your business and make it profitable’. The Japanese philosophy was, ‘you tell us the investments you require to target and access new markets and based on your representations we’ll look at making those investments’. So we did.”

And has there been a pay off?

Absolutely, said McKew. While the mining industry was off the boil, SMC aggressively targeted those businesses from the OEM and end user side with the multi-site operators. Its market share over the past three years has gone from the low 40s, percentage-wise, to 51 per cent. And it is in growth in every single market in Australian and NZ. The last two-year financial results for SMC have been the best in a decade, according to McKew. The company is now on a trajectory to be the biggest it has ever been in the industry.

20 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

Which brings us back to Industry 4.0, smart factories and making sure that a company is future-proofed when building new plant, machinery and the automation aspects.

“I think educating people is what makes automation an easy sell,” said McKew. “I think everybody in manufacturing – ourselves included – is tasked with asking themselves ‘how will our future look and what technology do we need to drive it?’.

You are future proofing. We also need to talk about the benefit of big data and being able to intimately understand our businesses at a granular level. So the question is asked – how can we chart our future based on those two things with massive improvements in efficiencies and substantial improvements in understanding things at a granular level? We look at the different pieces in our business and how they align with the best possible operation result.”

This brings us to the next aspect of Industry 4.0 that has been mentioned and really gets McKew animated.

Big data.

“When going down the big data path it is being able to understand intimately – from a data capture perspective – what your employees in the field are doing,” he said. “How does that correlate to a fantastic result?

By capturing the data and analysing its correlation to results, you can get extraordinary performances from your people in field service or field selling.

“I think big data support in manufacturing is going to lead to a rejuvenation of the sector. When you look at the investments being made in the advanced manufacturing sector, I think there is finally a light that has gone on in government that says manufacturing creates more value through supply chain than just about any other industry including financial services.

“The growth in manufacturing is economically sound. If you look at the investment that the federal government has put behind the advanced manufacturing growth sector initiative, and the fact they are rolling their sleeves up and actively wanting to promote manufacturing, it is showing everyone where it creates value.”

| AT12-15E |

McKew is also optimistic about the traditional manufacturing and primary industries within Australia, some of which have struggled over the past few years. He believes that Australia has to play to its natural resources. The sector has to acknowledge that food is just as much a part of this as minerals are.

“I even think that the current conversation around the ban of live exports is a positive for Australia,” he said. “The ban is good for Australian manufacturers in that, in my opinion, it will result in jobs for Australians in Australia.”

Speaking of jobs, doesn’t all this talk of Industry 4.0, robotics, automation and a slew of modern manufacturing processes mean less jobs for the traditional Australian working man and woman?

“A protein processing plant can’t run with lights out,” said McKew. “You still need people, so everything is not fully automated. It’s around how you employ people and those people – particularly in automated plants – are being paid better rates because they are in a more sophisticated role.

What I’m talking about is initially opening and expanding plant.”

McKew is also optimistic about the next few years for the Australian manufacturing sector. He believes Australian industry needs to be more aggressive, and not towards the low-cost labour markets in South-East Asia, but against more traditional industry rivals.

“I am very positive for the next two to three-year outlook. You’ve got to formulate your strategies properly,” he said. “They’re not Disneyland, but they’re not Luna Park either. You have to be realistic about how far out you can look. We are expecting positive momentum in the manufacturing sector, especially the food, robotics, mineral processing, building products and aggregate.

What we are also seeing a lot of is automation in large warehouses.

I think for Australia there is an opportunity there because at the moment, a lot of that technology is coming straight in from Germany.

There is no reason that Australian automation companies cannot deliver those solutions. Designed, built and delivered in Australia and New Zealand. Germany is a high-cost country.

He believes that Industry 4.0 is about keeping high-cost labour countries in play and believes that what people forget about Australia being high cost is that the country also produces high-quality goods.

“It’s all well and good to malign the manufacturing sector – the costs are what they are – but we are high quality,” said McKew. “There is nothing that comes in from Germany or Japan that Australia can’t do as well. I think in the presence of an automated warehouse, that knowhow and expertise is a combination of Australian and New Zealand engineering and manufacturing, and componentry from Japan and Germany. Worldclass solutions can be deployed in Australia and New Zealand. We’re having bigger conversations in Australia about manufacturing and quality. The reason we are having these conversations is because manufacturing is important to so many Australian families who can rely on it for employment. We are committed to the sector and are committed to manufacturing across the five locations we manufacture in Australia and New Zealand.”

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www.foodmag.com.au August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 21

INTERNET OF THINGS

Keeping monitoring costs down with Ignition With IoT and Industry 4.0 technologies gaining broader awareness, Mike Wheeler talks to ESM managing director Glen Fry about how to keep costs down with the company’s Ignition platform.

Ignition is a modular system that can be catered to a company’s individual needs.

I

n the modern Australian manufacturing environment, it is important to manage costs.

With stiff and cheap, competition from overseas markets, having a competitive edge is important if you want to run a successful processing business.

The old adage, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it” remains as true today as it’s ever been.

But measuring some processes in food accurately can be difficult.

Some use manual paper-based logging or performance metrics, some use a hybrid system of paper-based and digital and a growing number are using new technologies to capture data automatically, directly from process machinery and smart sensors.

Connecting these systems and managing their data is not without challenges. Almost all manufacturing enterprises have different plant from different vendors and there are generally and various control system vendors, makes, models and communications protocols to deal with. And once you have the data, then what?

The rewards can be immense.

Once production data is available to management, operations and maintenance, productivity can be measured and fine-tuned.

This is where the new monitoring and control platform, Ignition, comes into its own. With the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 making their footprints felt on the Australian manufacturing landscape, the Ignition platform is designed to help connect, collect, and harness process data to implement positive changes within the food processing industry.

“Ignition is a great connector of things,” said Glen Fry, managing director of ESM, an Australian distributor and goldcertified integrator of Ignition. “It makes an ideal platform for the Internet of Things because of the interconnectability and scalability it offers. Ignition is a very open design, yet incredibly secure.

“Ignition connects to nearly any field device such as PLCs from all major automation vendors, variable speed drives, or an obscure IoT enabled sensor. It doesn’t really matter what it is. We are able to get that data easily and cost-effectively then store,

22 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

analyse, and visualise.”

Once the data is in the standard SQL database, Ignition provides powerful tools to format and display data either in real time, or historical trends. The best insights can sometimes come from areas you don’t expect. Modules that provide machine-learning and AI-based data analytics to carry out some predictive analysis are available, and those tools can give users insights into data they were not going to see just by looking at it due to the large volume of data available.

Ignition is a modular system, so it can be catered to a company’s individual needs. Fry said his company will help a customer decide what parts of the system is best for them. Best of all, the system is hugely scalable, with the typical installation providing unlimited device and data connections, and unlimited users, for one cost.

“We work with the client to scope their requirements concisely up front,” he said. “It means that we need to get a good insight into what their business is doing so that we can help pick the right metrics to measure. Results only come from the client taking those actions. It’s the visibility of that production process that allows people to make changes that drive those yield improvements.”

One local customer told Fry implementing changes based on the data the Ignition system highlighted offered up a net saving of “around seven percent” on running the plant.

That sounds like a lot, but tightening productivity, and quality is much easier when you have a tool like Ignition to help identify problem areas. When the business is turns over more than $100 million, those savings get put into perspective pretty quickly, said Fry. “For that particular project, we implemented a full visualisation and

manufacturing execution system for [its product] and that has been a largescale process,” said Fry. “Apart from the obvious costs savings, it’s given the clients a much greater insight into their business.”

And that is the key to the whole Ignition platform. It is designed to cut out the hassle of dealing with the different variety of vendors’ plant and machinery used in the manufacturing process. It allows for the monitoring and reporting of how the plant and machinery is working without having to go to each individual piece of equipment and find how it is running.

“Ignition helps to paint a picture of where your problems are,” said Fry. “The important part about that is that we can measure in real time the productivity, quality or availability and the downtime of machinery in a production environment.

“By looking at those variables we are able to devise OEE [Overall Equipment Effectiveness]. What that does is give us not only realtime data but also provides us with historical data. That data has huge potential, too, because we can look at the productivity of a line – monthon-month or product-on-product and understand whether the plant’s performance is getting better or worse.”

Fry is also at pains to point out the one other differentiation between Ignition and most of its competitors, which is the pricing structure.

“With many other systems you’ll need to buy more client licenses, more tags, more development licences.

With Ignition’s standard unlimited licencing model, if you want to connect another section of plant or add 20 users, it costs no more than the engineering to design the pages.

“That can be an enormous saving and with some companies those extra fees legacy SCADA system impose can be a huge pain point,” said Fry.

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FOOD INNOVATION

Nucane: collaboration produces low GI sugar cane Cutting edge industrial technology and software has been harnessed to disrupt global food and beverage manufacturing with Nucane, a healthier and cost effective sugar substitute.

S

chneider Electric is collaborating with global food science company, Foss and Nutrition Innovation, to produce a low glycaemic index (GI) sugar. Foss and Nutrition has developed a breakthrough process to produce the healthier sugar, which is called Nucane.

With this agreement, Schneider Electric, and Foss and Nutrition Innovation will collaborate to deliver this cost effective sugar production solution to sugar facilities around the globe starting in Australia.

Nucane benefits consumers and health care systems, by its potential to be a major plank in the fight against obesity, which is a major cause of chronic diseases.

Currently, a lot of mills produce

Schneider Electric and Foss and Nutrition Innovation have collaborated to make a low GI sugar.

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FOOD INNOVATION

The Nucane production process can be applied to most sugar mills worldwide.

sugar within a broad specification.

The unique production process involves real-time production monitoring in order to produce Nucane sugar within a very closely defined specification.

Nucane is naturally high in antioxidants, low in GI and a dry product so it will flow in food manufacturing processes like white refined sugar.

The digitisation of the operations combined with software to analyse production data in real time, enables a new-found production accuracy. Other positive outcomes include less use of power and water-saving costs and reducing waste.

It is a globally attractive product with unique advantages over other low GI products. Because it is still 100 per cent sugar, but enhanced by a sophisticated milling process, Nucane retains its sugar taste and that important binding ability when used in cooking.

These factors are important for replacing sugar in food or beverages.

The Nucane production process can be applied to most sugar mills worldwide which is a significant advantage for global companies and brands in the food and beverages industry. It’s now being trialled in food products with more than 40 customers world-wide.

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(07) 3246 7800 maxumfoods.com | follow us www.foodmag.com.au August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 25

TIPS

Buy or lease?

Investing in a new locale can be a tricky decsion, but Total Construction has some handy tips.

Buying or leasing a manufacturing premises has various pros and cons. Total Construction gives the lowdown of what companies should look for when setting out to invest in a new locale.

Many developers are happy to pay the fit out cost and including it in the overall lease payments.

26 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

T

he leasing of industrial facilities has always been the domain of distribution operations and businesses that needed large off-site storage capacity.

Now however, many F&B businesses are opting to lease facilities rather than purchasing them. Today’s developers are happy to pay the fit out cost and have it included in the overall lease payments, which tends to suit both parties.

However, there are pros and cons when delving into buying or leasing premises. What are some of the advantages of leasing a warehouse, distribution centre or manufacturing building? Here’s a few tips from Total Construction.

Initial start-up costs. Investing in a building can be very costly, especially if you are an onshore manufacturer.

While it is a fixed asset, money can be better spent on other more important things that can get a business up and running. This includes automated

plant, which in turn saves on labour costs. Maybe the savings can be spent on research and development, and marketing and promoting the newly developed product.

Red tape. Getting compliance from councils can cause a lot of angst and also cost a lot of money. While a manufacturer will have to make sure they comply with their ongoing working conditions, making sure the building meets all the local body and environmental requirements will be up to the building owner.

Building upkeep. Buildings need to be kept up to scratch. Tenants don’t have to worry about repairs or any of the administration that goes into looking after the building – whether it be worrying about the rates bill, plumbing or electrics going haywire, or maintenance due to wear and tear.

Location, location, location. Leasing or renting means you can not only shop around for the best location, but you are not tied down to one place for a long time. This means if things change – whether it be a company’s need to expand, or clients moving to another part of the city, or even to a new city – it gives a manufacturer leeway to not renew the lease.

Projekt3 28.06.18 13:39 Seite 1

The Cons As with any decision made, there are also downsides to leasing a building and/or plant. These include: Losing capital growth. This can be an issue if you live in a city where commercial space is at a premium.

Cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are growing exponentially, and unless the world economy

collapses, will be sought after places of business for a long time to come.

Locked in contract. Being locked into a contract means the tenant will have to stay where they are until the contract runs out or pay penalties if the lease is broken. When it comes to the fit out of the warehouse, the tenant has a limited say in how it will look.

Limited say. The owner of the

building will have certain terms and conditions that have to be adhered to by the occupant.

Expansion. If your business takes off and you need to expand your operations the owner of the building can call the shots – whether this is allowing a tenant to extend the space available, or the accompanying increase in rent.

Moving if a company is growing can be easier if you’re in a leased building.

www.foodmag.com.au August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 27

WASTEWATER

Taking the pressure off managing wastewater costs and regulations Keeping up with wastewater regulations and minimising costs can be made easier with a good wastewater treatment system. Food & Beverage Industry News reports.

I

n Australia, wastewater is highly regulated and comes at a cost for companies, such as those in the food and beverage industry, who produce it. This is a necessary step the government takes to minimise its environmental impact.

Food and beverage manufacturers – be they dairies, breweries, bakeries, abattoirs, wineries or smallgoods makers – know that wastewater is an unavoidable part of running a business. But, wastewater treatment and/or disposal can be expensive and difficult to manage.

Aerofloat, an Australian wastewater treatment company, offers some innovative, cost-effective systems to help reduce these unavoidable costs.

Wastewater contains contaminants that, if not properly handled, will have negative environmental impacts.

These contaminants can be suspended solids such as fats, oils and greases, or soluble contaminants such as dissolved proteins, dissolved sugars, and dissolved alcohol.

Aerofloat can help with the nitty and gritty Aerofloat managing director Ray Anderson encourages companies to research systems rather than taking the first, and cheapest, one that comes along.

“There’s a lot more to a wastewater treatment plant than just the hardware, the tanks and equipment.

How it’s designed, put together, and the expertise of people within the business, are critical for a successful outcome.”

Aerofloat offers two main wastewater treatment systems – Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) and Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR).

The unique designs of these two systems, combined with the company’s inhouse knowledge of chemical flocculation and biological treatment processes, ensures the systems work effectively to meet contaminant discharge standards and save businesses money, said Anderson.

Aerofloat systems are totally enclosed and sealed.

A glimpse at the Aerofloat DAF Large scale food manufacturers use large volumes of water. By law, they have to sanitise all of their equipment, tanks and floors. To do this, they use a lot of emulsifiers, caustic cleaners, chlorine bleaches and other chemicals.

“In the process of all that cleaning, they tend to emulsify all of the fats, oils, and grease and a lot of the suspended solids. Because of that if you put it through a grease trap nothing will happen. It just goes straight through,” said Anderson.

For this reason, when Aerofloat installs a DAF system, the company makes sure the wastewater is effectively chemically treated first.

“We put in up-front storage tanks, which are mixed and which blend the water and hydraulically balance the water from hour to hour,” he said.

“In these holding tanks, where we balance and blend the water, we adjust the pH to an optimal level and then add coagulant chemicals to break these emulsions,” said Anderson.

This makes the separation process of fats, oils, greases and suspended solids a lot more complete, he said.

“Some people think they can just put in DAFs and remove the contaminants. This is normally not the case. You’ve got to understand the chemistry and look at each individual case on its merits and what the nature of the waste is,” he said.

The Aerofloat DAF features a unique design that has no mechanical scrapers and keeps odours away. “We have a sealed tank and we rely on the hydraulics of the water coming in to remove the contaminants off the top of the tank. Our systems are totally enclosed and sealed which is good if you happen to get any odour in the system. It’s easy to vent into the atmosphere with pipes above the roof line,” said Anderson.

The Aerofloat DAF comes in a range of sizes to suit different operations and wastewater flowrates.

The smallest in the range, the Aerofloat 100, can treat up to six cubic metres per hour. The Aerofloat 800 can handle larger scale wastewater treatment needs of up to 50 cubic metres per hour.

A look at the moving bed biofilm reactor Moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBR) are biological systems used to remove soluble contaminants from wastewater. While this technology has been around for some time, the Aerofloat MBBR is different to other systems.

To provide oxygen for the microorganisms Aerofloat developed a unique aeration manifold that can easily be removed and maintained without stopping the system or emptying the tanks. They were also built in low cost polyethylene tanks, Anderson said.

MBBR is a process whereby wastewater is aerated in the presence of micro-organisms, which grow 28 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

WASTEWATER

Aerofloat systems are compact and can be put in small areas. on the surface of little plastic media particles. The large surface area of these particles – roughly 15mm in diameter X 12mm high – makes this possible. Through this process, the soluble contaminants break down.

“We have aeration devices that enable aeration lancers to be injected

into the tank from the bottom, externally and by using a system of valves and O rings, we can insert or remove those while the system is still operating without shutting it down for maintenance or cleaning purposes. That’s quite a benefit,” said Anderson.

Both Aerofloat systems are suited to the food and beverage manufacturing sector, he said. They are compact and can be put in small areas. If something goes wrong with the process, or if they experience an overload, they can be vented to the atmosphere to minimise odour emissions.

“In addition, we tend to be cost effective. Our products are very competitive in the market place and can be installed for lower prices than most of our competitors,” said Anderson.

Maintenance costs Of course, when considering installing wastewater systems, businesses need to consider ongoing costs and maintenance. Due to the simplicity of the design, Aerofloat wastewater systems prove to be

sound investments for these ongoing requirements, said Anderson.

“Ongoing costs include the cost of chemicals such as the supply of coagulants and polymers,” he said. “As well as the costs of the electricity for running mixers, feed pumps, circulation pumps and air blowers. We can provide expert advice by remotely logging into the systems and providing ongoing service and maintenance contracts to ensure operators get the benefit of our knowledge and experience.”

Helping companies beyond installing a wastewater system is a key feature provided by Aerofloat.

The company launched a chemical supply and plant servicing business in mid-2018 in response to market demands for a simple and cost-effective way to maintain systems.

The services are available to all industries which have a wastewater treatment plant that requires chemicals or ongoing maintenance.

Aerofloat’s engineers handpick the best chemicals for use in wastewater systems to ensure optimal performance, while

minimising long-term costs.

Having the correct chemistry in wastewater treatment systems is imperative to the quality of effluent achieved. This step affects the performance of the overall wastewater system. Wastewater treatment plants that are regularly serviced have minimal downtime and maximum efficiency.

Aerofloat’s servicing business offers weekly, monthly and ad hoc wastewater system servicing contracts, for businesses unable to provide regular maintenance themselves. The service technicians can diagnose and prevent potential problems, replace worn parts at a competitive rate, carry out system cleaning and as an option, install remote login capabilities to identify problems and provide advice.

With Aerofloat caring for businesses’ wastewater systems from start to finish, this allows companies to focus on their core business.

Effective management of the wastewater treatment plant reduces environmental impact, optimises operational costs and prolongs the longevity of the plant.

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193-195 Power Street GLENDENNING NSW 2761 Tel: (02) 9832 2777 Fax: (02) 9832 3899 www.foodmag.com.au August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 29

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Intrinsically safe signalling in hazardous areas NHP’s range of intrinsically safe barriers are seen as an off-the-shelf solution.

Food and Beverage Industry News explains.

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30 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

T

he intrinsically safe protection method is based on the principle of limiting the amount of energy entering a hazardous area to below the level required to ignite the hazardous substances in the atmosphere.

Intrinsically safe barriers serve the purpose of limiting the input energy for devices in hazardous areas, allowing the integrity of the intrinsically safe

circuit to be maintained.

In saying this, NHP has brought to market a range of low powered high output intrinsically safe signalling products from Moflash. These devices can be paired with the corresponding intrinsically safe barrier from GM International to create an easy, off-the-shelf KIT solution for all your signalling needs.

The Moflash range consists of a sounder which is 24VDC with a 105dB output, a beacon which is 24VDC with 9 bright LEDs for high visual output, and the sounder/beacon combination unit. These devices are not only suitable for all hazardous environments but also come with Group I certification for use in underground mining.

Available in a range of colours, this solution is rated for hazardous zones 0,1,2,20,21 and 22 in.

IIC (gas) and IIIC (dust) environments. In addition, they are T5 and T6 temperature rated, making them a unique and cost-effective alternative to their heavy-duty Ex-d flameproof counterparts.

NHP’s easy to use KIT offering provides the perfect intrinsically safe solution for your hazardous area applications.

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PACKAGING

EPDs leads to transparency in packaging industry Environmental Product Declarations on packaging are key to one company’s production system.

Food & Beverage Industry News reports.

W

ith an emphasis on the life cycle impact of the processes from raw material to product end-oflife, Ecolean is the first packaging system supplier to review an

entire production system. It has detailed analysis and description of Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) – encompassing the lightweight packages as well as filling machines. It also continues to

develop its focus on sustainability.

Ecolean’s EPDs are designed to make it easy to understand and compare the environmental life cycle impact of Ecolean’s packages and machines. In developing the EPDs, Ecolean has conducted a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impact of its operations.

“I think that far too many in our industry focus solely on a small part of their offering – be it raw materials, recycling or machine performance – never the full environmental life cycle impact.

But that’s what we are doing now

really change something, one needs to equally look at all measures.

With the EPDs, we are providing a powerful decision-making framework for making sustainable packaging solution investments.”

In order to be as transparent as possible, Ecolean is the first packaging system supplier to trace the environmental impact of the components in the filling machines as well as the packages.

“I welcome the publication of Environmental Product Declarations by Ecolean, providing a transparent declaration of the life cycle environmental impact

“In order to be as transparent as possible, Ecolean is the first packaging system supplier to trace the environmental impact of the components in the filling machines as well as the packages."

EPDs are designed to make it easy to understand and compare the environmental life cycle impact of the company’s packages.

32 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

by publishing these EPDs. We are raising the bar in order for food producers and consumers to get the full picture, without green washing,” said Peter L Nilsson, CEO, Ecolean Group.

“Although our new EPDs are only one part of our dedication, to be honest and transparent in how we conduct our business, they are very important,” said Anna Palminger, sustainability manager for the company. “They contribute to making it much easier for brand owners to compare our offering to other packaging solutions on the market. Small measures can make a big impact in the lives of the consumers, but in order to

of their products,” said Kristian Jelse, programme manager, The International EPD System. “This is to my knowledge the first case where a company publish EPDs of both their packaging and filling machines, which demonstrates how communication of life cycle based environmental information may be relevant for different applications and target audiences.”

Focusing on sustainability, Ecolean’s ambition is to continuously push the industry agenda and provide transparent and comprehensive sustainability facts from a life cycle perspective in order to achieve real change across borders.

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INGREDIENTS

Not all breadcrumbs are created equal The humble breadcrumb has a place in the culinary landscape, but there are many different types being manufactured. Food & Beverage Industry News reports.

B

readcrumbs are one of the unsung heroes of the food industry. They are used in many product applications but never really take precedence as the key ingredient. Hence, the selection of the right breadcrumbs can make a significant difference to the overall quality of a finished product.

Historically, low cost mass produced breadcrumbs were almost always made from unsold bread returned to the bakers by retailers. To make use of this essentially waste product, bakeries redried the bread and crumbed it to commercialise a product that would otherwise be dumped. This product was the industry standard for many years.

In recent times however, various market changes have had an

impact on the availability of these types of breadcrumbs and its use.

Firstly, retailers have become more adept at forecasts and ordering, meaning the incidence of waste has significantly reduced and availability can be inconsistent.

The varieties of bread in retail have also increased, meaning crumbs made from returned bread can have extraordinarily long ingredient lists which are not always suitable for processors using the crumbs in their product. New country of origin labelling as well as allergen statements have also made these crumbs more difficult to use in processing where demands for transparency and clean labels are increasing. As a result, there has been strong demand for purpose bake crumbs, particularly in

34 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

The varieties of bread in retail have also increased. This means crumb made from returned bread can have extraordinarily long ingredient lists which are not always suitable for processors using the crumb in their product. manufacturing.

Newly Weds Foods has been producing purpose-baked crumbs in Australia for more than 30 years in the form of its signature Panko Crumb and Japanese Style Breadcrumb. These crumbs are produced through the combination of selecting high quality wheat flours with a specialised, innovative technology using electrical current during the baking process to create an elongated, slivered shape. This

unique shape and open structure produces a delicate, crispy texture when fried or oven baked. The specialised baking process also produces bread loaves that are free from an outer crust, giving a uniform coloured crumb which improves visual appeal and allows the company to manage colour to specification. While sales of Panko have continued to grow significantly, these crumbs are a premium product.

But they are not always a cost-

INGREDIENTS

effective option for some of the more traditional uses of breadcrumbs that have predominantly been the domain of returned breadcrumbs.

To meet this demand for lower cost, purpose baked crumbs, Newly Weds Foods has installed a traditional bread baking line where loaves are baked using traditional methods.

This produces more homemade looking bread with an outer crust that when crumbed creates a more home-style, familiar looking speckled crumb. The crust gives golden

brown highlights and a great crunchy texture that’s ideal for a variety of applications and a more cost effective alternative to Panko in some applications.

By purpose baking this way, the company can ensure its customers consistent supply with the same quality and appearance on every delivery.

Ingredient listings and allergen statements are greatly simplified with most of Newly Weds Foods’ traditional crumbs containing

Newly Weds Foods has been producing purpose baked crumbs in Australia for over 30 years in the form of our signature Panko Crumb or Japanese Style Breadcrumb.

only five ingredients – flour, salt, yeast, sugar & water. All of these ingredients are Australian sourced helping country of origin labelling as well.

Further catering to market demand, Newly Weds Foods also has the flexibility of producing crumbs via an extrusion process rather than traditional baking technology.

This process allows for crumbs to be made into a variety of shapes as well as the option for gluten-free applications.

Newly Weds Foods has been producing purpose-baked crumbs in Australia for more than 30 years.

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www.foodmag.com.au August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 35

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

GS1 Australia signs agreement with new partners A deal between two companies allows for GS1 customers to import their data onto the Glow platform.

Food & Beverage Industry News explains.

I

nline research and insights platform Glow has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GS1 Australia, as well as a separate agreement to become a GS1 Associate Alliance Partner.

The MoU was signed by Tim Clover, director, Glow Australia and Mark Fuller, chief operating officer and deputy CEO at GS1 Australia, to formalise the partnership roadmap for integrating GS1 Australia’s Smart Media solution with the Glow platform for the benefit of GS1 members.

“The MoU signing symbolises a partnership that we believe will lead to many opportunities for GS1 members to leverage Glow’s customer insight ecosystem to grow

product lifecycle ROI. We now provide GS1 members with a simple method for importing their product data into the Glow platform,” said Clover.

The Glow platform makes it easier to collect, understand and use data to make more informed decisions.

It combines self-service research tools with off-shelf insights publications to provide value to a broad range of business users in a common, accessible format.

“The integration of the Glow platform with Smart Media, our digital marketing solution, will provide exceptional benefits to our members,” said John Hearn, head of data and digital content services,

Glow has signed a deal with GS1 that will integrate the Glow platform with GS1’s Smart Media solution.

36 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

GS1 Australia.

“As 70 per cent of our members are small- to medium-sized businesses, access to the Glow platform will make consumer insights available at an affordable price, compared to other market research methods.”

Following the signing of the MoU, Glow also entered the GS1 Alliance Partner Program as an Associate Alliance Partner on Tuesday.

“Our entry into the GS1 Australia Alliance Partner Program as an Associate Alliance Partner signifies our commitment to providing GS1 members with products and services.

This includes online surveys, which will provide brand owners and manufacturers with direct feedback

from consumers about packaging appeal, shopper behaviours, intent to buy and much more,” said Glover.

“We welcome Glow into the Alliance Partner Program with an affordable solution to help our GS1 members positively influence their new product development projects.

It will also help with the launch of new products with easy access to consumer insights,” said Sean Sloan, GS1 Australia’s manager – business development and partnerships.

“We are excited to enter into these strategic partnerships with GS1 Australia to support and help local GS1 members to grow their businesses and reach their potential through research and data available on the Glow platform,” added Clover.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

AI: The key ingredient for profitability Technology can help food and beverage companies overcome market instability and navigate their way to richer revenues.

Well-executed AI unlocks unprecedented opportunities for growth.

T

he rapid uptake of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is dominating today’s business landscape, and its rising impact can’t be ignored.

A 2017 survey of large Australian businesses revealed that 89 per cent had already rolled out some form of AI, and that 70 per cent of senior Australian executives see their future business strategies hinging on this exciting new technology.

Why the sudden interest in AI? Because well-executed AI unlocks unprecedented opportunities for growth. According to recent forecasting

by Gartner, new business revenue created via AI will amount to $300 billion by 2020.

Clearly there is an opportunity for food and beverage companies to help themselves to a slice of this growing revenue pie. How? By effectively and flawlessly bridging the increasing disconnect between market volatility and revenue growth.

In today’s food and beverage industry, international competition is growing, margins are thinning and the price of commodities is constantly changing. Added to these pressures, are

multitude of factors — from increased labour costs, seasonal trends and changes in consumer demand – that can create profitability obstacles.

In this tumultuous environment, manual pricing and quoting methods are no longer agile enough to deliver sufficient revenue. Without the ability to address market fluctuations as they occur, companies feel the effects of

margin leaks. And this is where AI comes in.

AI can unlock big data and analytics to give food and beverage companies the insight to respond in real time to market instabilities, quote the right price at the right time, close more sales, and protect margins.

To maximise success, David Bray from PROS suggests that food and beverage companies prioritise the following three key capabilities when implementing AI-powered revenue management systems: • Get the picture: Analyse sales for a clearer understanding of which products drive overall profitability.

When you know what your most profitable products are, you can prioritise these should you need to make a strategy pivot.

• Find your price points: Map customers’ price sensitivities and reactions to pricing spikes. Find out the price points that cause buying behaviours to decline; and the price points at which buying behaviours increase.

• Real-time response: Adjust prices dynamically to account for shifts in underlying commodity prices, changes in market conditions and

up-to-date supply information.

AI-enabled dynamic pricing technology takes all variables into account to formulate winning pricing strategies.

“AI-powered dynamic pricing technology delivers a number of tangible benefits,” Bray said. “It automates processes, so companies can streamline operations. The technology captures more sales with faster and more accurate quoting, and drives additional revenue from cross-sell opportunities,” he said.

According to Gartner Research, robust price optimisation strategies can increase margins by 50 basis points or more, and increase revenue by up to four per cent. Multinational dairy company, Fonterra, is one such example – after implementing a new dynamic pricing revenue realisation system, it achieved a 2-4 per cent margin uplift, equivalent to $20 million per quarter.

AI-based technologies are reshaping how companies around the world do business. A considered, strategic implementation of high-level AI-powered functions will ensure your business can override market instabilities to grow revenues and outpace the competition.

In today’s food and beverage industry, margins are thinning and the price of commodities is changing. www.foodmag.com.au August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 37

EVENTS

NZ food industry show tackles all business needs under one roof Businesses of all sizes can learn new tricks of the trade at this year’s Foodtech Packtech industry show in New Zealand. Food & Beverage Industry News explains.

Foodtech Packtech offers companies the opportunity to demonstrate their latest products and solutions.

T

he Auckland-based trade show, Foodtech Packtech, is New Zealand’s only industry event that caters to the needs of the food and beverage sector no matter whether a business is well-established, a growing start-up, or making headway in nana’s kitchen. Foodtech Packtech, organised

by XPO Exhibitions, is free to attend for all industry professionals and there is a huge amount of valuable insight to be gained. The show, held at the ASB Showgrounds from the 18th-20th of September 2018, could fast track business growth in just three days.

From face-to-face meetings with industry experts, to seminars that help people grow their business from table to shelf to a global scale, Foodtech Packtech should not be missed.

There will be hands-on workshops to help businesses develop more skills and understanding, an Education and Training Hub to help boost professional development, and a Business Growth Hub that can push businesses to the next

level of success.

Julian Horsley from A&D Weighing said food industry trade events such as Foodtech Packtech formed a major part of the company’s annual marketing investment.

Industrial storage and shelving company, Dexion, will showcase its systems that help businesses increase productivity.

38 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

“When it comes to high payoff activities, there is none better than demonstrating our solutions one-on-one at an event like this and we’ve recouped our investment in days not months.”

In 2016, the company’s stand had

more than 750 visitors, he said.

People can source all the equipment they need under one roof including products from Food Processing Equipment, which will showcase its mechanical handling

Visitors can have one-on-one conversations with vendors. and washing equipment.

Food Processing Equipment general manager, Tania Carey, said all food producers had a use for processing equipment so there was something for everyone.

“For us, the show means showing new technology and getting in front of potentially new clients. Over the years, the show has put us in front of companies we didn’t know before,” she said.

Key exhibitors for 2018 include Heat and Control, and Vemag – manufacturers of processing and packaging equipment for standalone processing options or complete production lines.

Industrial storage and shelving company, Dexion, will showcase its expertly designed and engineered systems that help businesses increase productivity and capacity.

Other leading exhibitors include

MultiVac, Minipack Quick Shrink and J L Lennard.

With the environmental effects of packaging and waste at the forefront of consumers’ minds, the Australian Institute of Packaging is hosting a half-day training course on the 19th of September.

The course will provide participants with an introduction to the seriousness of global food waste and how good product-packaging design could make a difference.

“With hands-on and practical case studies participants will learn how designing packaging to save food actually saves food,” the institute said.

An Innovation Quarter will also help event-goers learn how the latest industry technologies, such as augmented reality devices and drones, can make businesses more efficient.

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People can source their equipment under one roof. www.foodmag.com.au August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 39

Food&BevIndustryNews_AugSept18_100x275.indd 1

20/07/2018 2:30:49 PM

CLOUD SOLUTIONS

How cloud software reduced costs and increased efficiency JCurve Solutions helped Feel Good Foods step up its business with all-inclusive software solutions.

Food & Beverage Industry News reports.

R

unning a business with multiple brands while ensuring staff and customers’ needs are met can be challenging.

Every business owner wants each sector within their company to be pristine and functioning at all times.

This is where JCurve Solutions can help. The company provides awardwinning cloud software to increase efficiency and reduce costs.

JCS’ Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) cloud software solutions enable employees to work smarter, simplify their processes, and empower more agile decision-making.

The tried and tested software is

winning over people like Feel Good Foods’ CEO, George Giannakopoulos.

Feel Good Foods has dozens of brands that produce thirst-quenching products such as Bonsoy soy milk and Bod kombucha. It also helps food cravings with products such as Sprout and Kernel handmade nut cheese.

Describing himself as “not particularly tech-savvy”, it was the all-in-one capability of JCurve ERP, an exclusive small-business edition of NetSuite provided by JCS, that won Giannakopoulos over.

He said the company explored numerous business software solutions, but when Giannakopoulos weighed

Food Good Foods’ George Giannakopoulos sees JCurve Solutions’ offering as big software for small businesses.

40 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

up the options, JCurve ERP came out on top.

He took his business from a basic online accounting package to an all-inclusive system providing customer-facing sales force automation, quotes and orders, marketing and customer service capability, integrated back-office inventory management, fulfilment, logistics and accounting.

“Since implementation, I’ve really seen how JCurve ERP continues to be a big software for small businesses.”

The data and visibility JCurve ERP provided, allowed Giannakopoulos to more effectively manage staff.

“Decisions are no longer made on a hunch, but rather on hard, identifiable trends and forecasting data.

“As a business owner, I have always known my business, but today with JCurve ERP, I can see inside every channel of my business anywhere, anytime.”

It was a significant step for Giannakopoulos’s business, but a necessary one to achieve its growth objectives.

Over the past 12 months of Feel Good Foods’ journey, JCurve ERP has delivered significant returns in increased productivity, sales and business visibility.

CLOUD SOLUTIONS

When the sales team is out on the road they can see stock quantities in real-time.

With multiple warehousing capability, JCurve ERP has also provided the necessary features and processes to grow Giannakopoulos’ business on the national stage.

“I have every confidence now in our ability to take our current operations national. That was not

possible before JCurve ERP,” he said.

Above all, it’s the day-to-day impact of JCurve ERP that has delivered immediate efficiencies and savings across the business.

Giannakopoulos said when his sales teams are out on the road they can now see stock quantities and

customer order history in real-time.

Swapping over to the new system was not as much of a headache as people would think.

“The fact that it is a single unified cloud-based system with one point of contact for support gave me confidence that our transition would be relatively stress-free,” said Giannakopoulos.

“Most importantly, we wouldn’t have to be concerned with manual updates going forward.”

JCurve Solutions empowers business growth and profitability, through its business software, products that effectively manage costs, reduce business inefficiencies and improve the bottom line.

Its cloud-based ERP business management solutions are designed for companies who may have outgrown their accounting-only software or for businesses that work with multiple, disparate systems.

JCurve ERP is the Australian and New Zealand small business edition of NetSuite.

It has an exclusive licensing agreement to design, develop and support a NetSuite small business product.

JCurve ERP delivers fully featured

software via the cloud that works for small business, without the prohibitive price tag.

ERP software was once the domain of enterprise-level organisations, but cloud software delivery has made ERP accessible for businesses of all sizes.

With cloud ERP implementation, functionality and price points have been able to match small and large business requirements.

Giannakopoulos said his business had improved as drivers didn’t need to go back to the office to re-check information.

This is because Cloud ERP systems allow you to take your business with you and continuously see real-time information.

The single-source data of your ERP system is always accessible, wherever you have an internet connection.

Android and iOS native apps provide a convenient way to see dashboard data and business performance metrics for the user’s role.

Being empowered with information that’s always at your fingertips means being able to make agile decisions, the moment you need to.

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1300 376 288 www.foodmag.com.au August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 41

FOOD PRODUCTION

Iconic Australian biscuit manufacturer upgrades Adelaide production plant Making biscuit production flexible and productive can be a challenge. However, Rockwell Automation helped an iconic Australian brand with its plant upgrade. Here’s how.

A

rnott’s is one of the largest food companies in the Asia Pacific region. More than 50,000 Australians have worked for Arnott’s over the past century.

Today, Arnott’s employs around 2,200 Australians across all states and territories. The company also employs several thousand people across the Asia Pacific region, in countries such as New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan.

Millions of Australians have grown up with Arnott’s over the past 152 years. For them, Arnott’s is more than a food company – it’s a piece of Australia’s history and a national icon. Arnott’s portfolio of brands includes household names like Tim Tam, Shapes, Iced VoVo, SAO, VitaWeat, Salada and Tiny Teddy.

As consumers continue to seek high quality and variety in

product ranges, food and beverage manufacturers are actively looking to invest in new technologies to help them develop a more agile response to changing consumer tastes and increased flexibility in production lines.

Arnott’s produces a wide variety of sweet and savoury biscuits that have been enjoyed by generations.

In fact, Arnott’s has invested approximately a quarter of a billion dollars in their Australian biscuit facilities.

The company’s manufacturing plant in Adelaide produces approximately 10,000 tonnes of biscuits annually. To meet increasing local and global consumer demand, Arnott’s recently embarked on Project Flex – a control and HMI system upgrade to deliver increased flexibility and agility for biscuit production.

Arnott’s factory in Adelaide produces almost 10,000 tonnes of biscuits every year.

42 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

When embarking on Project Flex, Arnott’s had no hesitation in calling upon their long-standing automation and control provider Sage Automation. According to Stuart Mitchell, senior systems engineer at Sage, “We have been working with Arnott’s in Adelaide for the past 20 years so we are very familiar with the plant. It is a Rockwell Automation site through and through, so we naturally called on them to help with the upgrade.”

With expansion into international markets and a subsequent demand to increase production, it was important for Arnott’s to have the ability to run any biscuit on any line while maintaining product consistency.

The first stage of the project involved updating the legacy oven conveyor’s PLC hardware to improve the way that operators could load new production orders, including a

feature that allows different recipes to be stored, selected and produced on the same line. It also involved the installation of two new cooling systems for conveyors including reprogramming of the control system and HMI. With this new system, Arnott’s were able to achieve greater flexibility on each line with a reduced margin for human error.

The control system upgrade required the migration of legacy SLC controllers to Allen Bradley ControlLogix to help reduce maintenance costs and allow for increased flexibility on production lines.

While justifying the risk and expense of control system upgrades may initially seem like a challenge, investing in modern technologies that leverage the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) helps manufacturers realise the benefits of smart manufacturing.

As Jonathan Footman, solutions architect, Rockwell Automation, explained, “The more connectivity you have across the plant floor helps implement the technology to enable smart manufacturing and progress in the journey towards a connected enterprise.”

To keep the plant running, Arnott’s leveraged the inherent flexibility of the Rockwell Automation Integrated Architecture system to undergo a staged migration to the new controllers.

The ControlLogix control system offers modular architectures and a range of I/O and network options. Tight integration between the programming software, controller, and I/O modules, reduces development time and costs at

FOOD PRODUCTION

commissioning and during normal operation.

To help reduce engineering time, Sage used existing SLC I/O in the first stage and subsequently added some Ethernet Point I/O and Flex I/O on DeviceNet. The RSLogix Project Migrator Tool was used to install the ControlLogix controllers with ease.

“While the majority of the plant uses Ethernet, there is still some equipment communicating through DeviceNet and DH+ so by using ControlLogix, any potential integration issues were overcome because the controller is compatible with all three networks. This flexibility allowed the upgrade to be performed in a staged manner as opposed to having to perform the whole upgrade in one go,” explained Footman.

Investing in modern technologies helped manufacturers realise the benefits of smart manufacturing.

Reducing production loss during an upgrade was often filled with challenges but in this case, thanks to careful planning and a phased approach to the migration, the upgrade was completed with no

production loss.

Delivering a wide-range of motor control, Arnott’s installed seven new PowerFlex 525 drives as part of the upgrade. Sage was responsible for the drive integration using existing code to both new and existing Ethernet and DeviceNet networks. Moving to the newer platform increased the operational efficiency and centralised the plant’s control system.

In addition, Arnott’s leveraged the intelligence of the PowerFlex variable speed drives on Ethernet to help operators access real time information in the plant.

“Prior to the drive upgrade, the operators would have to run feedback using analogue set points, which was very time consuming. Now, with the PowerFlex drives on Ethernet, all the diagnostics can be accessed in real time. The drives also have a small footprint, reducing the required panel size,” explained Mitchell.

The HMI design and functionality was updated according to Arnott’s specifications to improve the way operators could load new production orders, including a feature that allows different recipes to be stored,

selected and produced on the same line.

Sage designed, programmed and installed the HMI solution allowing for a large number of recipes to be created and stored for each oven.

The recipe management page enabled each oven to store recipes with pre-programmed conveyor paths, line speed set points and variables.

The new HMI system utilises PanelView terminals and reduces the number of pages from approximately 70 to only 20, simplifying events with each conveyor having its own pop up with manual controls and speed settings.

The HMI solution allows for a large number of recipes to be created and stored for each oven.

With this new system now in place, Arnott’s was able to achieve greater flexibility on each line with a much reduced margin for human error.

According to Andre Spoor, engineering manager, Arnott’s Biscuits, “Sage upgraded our PLC and HMI with no loss in production and no downtime. It’s a great result

for us considering it was such a big upgrade.”

By undertaking a staged approach to the control system migration, the multiple manufacturing control solutions were delivered with no unplanned interruption to production.

The system was centralised with all cooling systems being monitored and controlled from a centralised ControlLogix controller.

“The change has ensured that the site improves its ability to be flexible. It has simplified the selection and set up process and therefore reduced operator error and provided control systems for the sites conveyors and cooling systems that are well supported within industry,” explained Spoor.

Thanks to the upgrade, Arnott’s is well positioned to meet the growing demand for increased flexibility and agility in its manufacturing operations. By increasing connectivity across the plant floor, it is realising the benefits of smart manufacturing and is now able to build on this foundation, step-bystep, to work towards a connected enterprise.

Flexco– Helping You To Meet The

HIGHEST STANDARDS

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Phone: 1300 098 435 Email: technicalsupportau@flexco.com www.flexco.com.au www.foodmag.com.au August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 43

MATERIALS HANDLING

Ben Woodhouse (left) and Dustin Boughton founded Maxum Foods in 2003.

One-stop shop for dairy manufacturing needs Dealing with bureaucracy on behalf of customers is just one aspect of Maxum Foods’ pillars of success.

Mike Wheeler explains.

W

hen Ben Woodhouse and Dustin Boughton got together in 2003, they had an inkling of an idea about how they could make life easier for food manufacturers across Australia. In May of that year, Maxum Foods was born and now the company employees more than 30 staff at its headquarters in Brisbane and dry blending facility in Melbourne.

“We saw a gap in the market due to multi-nationals, which although they are big, high-quality companies, they were slow movers,” said Woodhouse. “Small to mediumsized customers usually order products for delivery the next day.

What we found was that some multinationals and even distributors, were slow to move to accommodate these customers. They were missing a big niche and were letting customers down. That really made us start the bones of Maxum Foods – to add a level of service to not only help customers but the big suppliers, too.

“What has happened over time is that we have grown so organically, and we do so much volume, that we also now appeal to the multinationals,” he said. “All of these multi-nationals are using us because we cannot only service to those levels, but we are competitive because we buy so much volume.”

44 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

Over time, Maxum has developed what it calls ‘eight value pillars’ that not only drive the company’s business, but that of its customers, too. Incorporating part of the company name, these pillars are MaxComplete, MaxReach, MaxTech, MaxFX, MaxConnect, MaxIQ, MaxPerform and MaxSafe. But what do these values encompass?

MaxComplete means the company is a one-stop dairy shop.

Any manufacturer that requires a range of dairy ingredients can go to Maxum Foods as the one supplier of these products. It means they don’t have to have open accounts with five

or six other companies. They have one point of contact.

“A good example is one of our customers on the Gold Coast.

They are a major repacker of dairy products and they use a whole range of milk powders,” said Woodhouse.

“Generally, they would have to go to three or four different manufacturers to source each different powder, buy instead, they come to us and have only one account.

“We can go out and source all dairy products. Anything from butters and fats to cheese and milk powders. As long as it is a dairy ingredient that gets used in food manufacturing,” he said.

MATERIALS HANDLING

MaxReach refers to the global reach of the company. Maxum Foods sources most of its product from Australia, New Zealand, most EU countries, the US and Canada. This is one of the main reasons, the multinationals in particular, work with them, said Woodhouse.

“For example, when dealing with a multinational, we’ll get at least one product approved from each continent for them to choose from,” he said. “That gives them complete scope.

“As long as we approve a highquality product for them, then we can give them the most competitive source whenever their contracts get renewed. We do all that work for our customers.

“We get the import permits done with the Australian government so the customer only needs to place an order and we deliver it.”

As the name suggests, MaxTech involves Maxum providing technical solutions to its customer base. The company has a technical manager and his role is to help customers – whether it be recipe formulations or product substitution advice.

“A lot of the companies we deal with have a number of QA,

research and development teams,” said Woodhouse. “They’re working behind the scenes to improve their products all the time and our job is to assist them. It is not to replace their roles. But some companies will take us in whole heartedly. They will want a full project management from us, while other companies will just use us for advice.”

MaxFX is not about special effects, but about Maxum offering its customers different pricing options. Maxum does this by using derivatives markets – the CME in America, the NZX in New Zealand and the EEX in Europe. Because most suppliers of dairy products don’t offer long-term pricing – they only offer quarter by quarter – Maxum uses the derivatives to offer long-term prices for its customer.

“Locking in these prices allows our customers to focus on what they do best, which is make high quality food products,” said Woodhouse.

“We take the risk and volatility out of the pricing for that period of time,” he said.

Then there is MaxConnect, which is basically the collection of detailed operational information about our customers.

“Over the past 15 years we have built what we think is a very bespoke CRM system, which is all around food manufacturers,” said Woodhouse. “That means that the information we hold on each one of our customers and our suppliers is extremely detailed. Their product might need to be halal, it might need to be kosher. We have all the information required by the customer. What quality systems they have in place and what is required.”

MaxIQ is all about sharing market intelligence with its customers. The company communicates with dairy companies all over the world – New Zealand, Europe and the US – on a daily basis. It collates all the information it receives into a user friendly format and shares the information with its customer base to allow them to make better procurement decisions.

MaxPerform speaks for itself, said Woodhouse. One of the major reasons the company was born was that its customers needed ingredients delivered on time, in full (DIFOT).

“They don’t want to have to worry about getting their ingredients, or their ingredients are late, or they didn’t receive the

whole order,” said Woodhouse.

“Max Perform is all about DIFOT requirements.”

Finally, there is MaxSafe, which is all about food safety. Maxum Foods has two people in its QA team. For the first 10 years of its existence, the company didn’t have a QA division – it relied on the QA divisions of its suppliers.

“If they were supplying the butter, then we would rely on our suppliers ticking all the boxes and crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s,” said Woodhouse. “But what we found was that the more suppliers we were dealing with the more issues came up where product would come in and it would be out of spec. Our QA division makes sure the product is within spec which gives the customer peace of mind that what they have ordered and approved is what they are receiving. It’s a lot of work, which is a straight out cost to the business, but the feedback we have from our customers is that it eliminates so much work from their end. So, the value that gives us across our 500 odd customers in Australia and New Zealand wide means we think it is worth us investing in, to make our customers happy.”

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www.foodmag.com.au August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 45

BUSINESS INNOVATION

The range of industries that can use drone technology includes those in the food and beverage arena.

Drones – carrying data to help grow and improve business Careful consideration needs to be taken before buying a drone. Carbonix executive director Jeff Eager explains.

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hen it comes to technology, it’s hard to know how much of a factor cost plays in quality.

For people in the market for a drone, it can be even more confusing. You have to consider the size, image quality, emerging technology and so much more before buying a commercial-grade drone.

Weighing up the options can be time consuming and complicated.

Drones are carriers of data. They allow significant change in business activities to achieve positive outcomes. That can be anything from productivity improvements, financial savings, information for planning and development, and a change in methodology.

Drones can help with surveying on farms and they are an efficient way to check paddocks without being on location. Practical examples include, spraying less fertiliser on a crop, checking fence lines or bore levels, infrastructure maintenance or monitoring, security

or policing, manpower deployment, or even saving someone’s life or an endangered species.

It is business intelligence data that allows people to make better decisions for growth and improvements.

The range of industries that can benefit from drones is diverse, but the end game is the same. Drone data helps gather accurate, timely and reliable information to enable more appropriate action.

Getting the best drone for your business There’s a long list of factors that contribute to evaluating which drone is best suited to a business. This includes cost, size, scale, range, propulsion, autonomy, endurance, weight, features, uplift capacity, aerodynamics, electronics and proximity warning systems. Aside from this, there are other factors, such as a business case, to consider. There needs to be a return of investment

There are a number of factors that decide which drone is best suited to a business’s needs.

46 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

from buying a drone. Reoccurring costs such as software licences also need to be considered.

There are also thousands of cameras and sensor technology that offer different levels of stable and reliable data.

Thinking about what the drone needs to stay on course and deliver the promised specs, is also key. Knowing whether data processing will be carried out onboard or post-flight also needs to be taken into consideration.

BUSINESS INNOVATION

Another factor to consider is where the drone was made and who will answer the phone if something goes wrong. It is helpful to know who will undertake maintenance and repairs of the drone, if this is required.

Training employees to use the drone also needs to be considered, as the easier it is to grasp the technology, the less time and money is spent on training.

In addition to contemplating these key components of a drone, people must also be aware of regulations.

There are no-fly areas and pilot certifications that can be attained.

Of course, all of these areas are important and each should be thoroughly evaluated.

But there is actually way more to consider under a “total cost of ownership” approach.

Other things to consider when comparing drones Power - Users must consider how they will keep it powered to fly and how many batteries are needed to complete a large-scale mission.

How these batteries are charged in the field is also good to know. Also,

think about how many cycles users will get from each battery before it’s unusable and how this is monitored.

Users need to consider a genset capable of high speed charge, and the amount of residual power needed to safely return to land. Is this clear in the brochure specs, or are they based on full charge disbursement?

Area coverage – Users must consider how many grids will be needed to fly the areas they want and what the pass overlap is to ensure there are no data gaps. A 600-hectare area can take up to 20 flights on a smaller multi-rotor versus as little as two flights on others.

Accuracy – Will it provide guaranteed levels of repeatable, reliable, trustable data? Considering the real cost of redoing the missions, if there are data gaps, is also key.

Manpower – Users need to think about how easy it is to set up and pack up and how many times your team needs to do this in one day, or week to cover the optimum areas.

Users must consider whether staff need to drive from paddock-topaddock, site-to-site, valley-tosummit to capture data that could

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It’s important to know who will undertake maintenance on a drone.

"Training employees to use the drone also needs to be considered, as the easier it is to grasp the technology, the less time and money is spent on training." be done with a single flight on a larger unit.

This thought process can be made easier with Carbonix – a drone manufacturer.

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combining fluid dynamics and advanced composite materials. The company manufactures deployable devices that have long range flight capability. Carbonix drones are next generation devices for industry and defence that could help grow and improve a business.

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Industrial Water Analysers and Liquid Analytical Products (pH, Conductivity, ORP, Dissolved Oxygen, etc) www.foodmag.com.au August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 47

PRINTING AND PACKAGING

Inconsistencies in printing can lead to confusion when consumers read the labels on a product.

Simplot and Riviana benefit from new packaging approach Task by Kirk saw a gap in the customer service space when it came to getting products on the shelf quicker. Food & Beverage Industry News reports.

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etting products to shelf in half the time for half the cost sounds too good to be true. But design execution agency Task by Kirk has been able to do

that by providing clients with an end-to-end service that removes time-consuming and costly process inefficiencies.

Task is a new division of leading

Task was born because the Kirk Group wanted to show its customers that packaging could be done better.

48 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

print specialist Kirk Group. General manager, John Kapiniaris, said the motivation to start a design execution service was born out of a desire to show brands how packaging could be done better.

Mistakes made throughout the design-to-print process can impact final print quality, with colours that don’t print as expected and inconsistencies across the product range.

“We were constantly seeing artwork files produced by other suppliers with mistakes that could have been anticipated and easily avoided,” Kapiniaris said. “It results in high packaging costs due to expensive agency fees to fix mistakes, subsequent delays getting

products on shelf and disappointing packaging quality.”

Inefficiencies in the design-toprint process can also rack up the costs and push out critical deadlines.

“The more suppliers and touchpoints involved in getting a design printed, the greater the chance of costly errors and timeconsuming process inefficiencies,” Kapiniaris said.

Simplot Australia, with iconic brands Leggo’s, Birds Eye, John West and Edgell, was an early adopter of Task’s new way of doing things, engaging the business to streamline its design execution process. Task is now responsible for turning Simplot’s package concepts into shelf-ready printed products.

PRINTING AND PACKAGING

"We were constantly seeing artwork files produced by other suppliers with mistakes that could have been anticipated and easily avoided."

Task by Kirk has a long history of working closely with printers.

“The process before working with Task was adhoc, with marketers throughout the business engaging their own production suppliers, resulting in high packaging costs and delays,” Simplot Australia reative services manager Paul Fenech said.

“Now we have a streamlined

process that results in consistently high-quality printed packaging, lower costs and faster speed to market.”

Providing an end-to-end service is vital in getting products to shelf faster and has huge financial implications given the competitive retail market, with retail shelf space

at a premium and the high costs associated with a failure to launch products on time.

Task recently worked with Riviana on the rebranding of its Always Fresh line of products.

Artwork was delivered in just two months, halving the time from the previous process and at half the budgeted spend.

Riviana retail strategy manager Georgina Vergunst said she was impressed that Task was able to handle such a difficult brief so quickly, which involved producing colour-accurate, press-ready artwork for international print partners.

“Task helped us navigate the complicated world of design to print,” Vergunst said. “They knew the fastest way to get things done and help us make our deadline. Task made the whole process so much easier and they were able to take care of whatever came up.”

Task’s other clients include PepsiCo, Kimberly-Clark and Cerebos.

Kapiniaris said clients recognised that the Kirk Group’s long history of working closely with printers meant the team was familiar with individual print-press specifications, resulting in high-quality artwork, and time and cost efficiencies.

“We know what will work and what won’t. We know if a particular colour or design is difficult to print from the outset and can advise the client at the start of the new product development process and suggest suitable alternatives to avoid problems or disappointment with the final result,” he said.

“Brands shouldn’t have to compromise on the quality of their packaging. Quite often they don’t know there is a better or smarter way to get products on the shelf faster and at a lower cost.”

www.foodmag.com.au August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 49

SENSORS

The new O6 laser features a background suppression system that is colour-independent at the 100mm range.

Laser detects smallest of objects in processing ifm efector’s national product and brand manager, Glenn Thornton, spoke to Food & Beverage Industry News about a new range of photoelectric sensors designed for wet areas.

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50 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

A

ccording to a recent report by the US-based Grand View Research consulting company, the global photoelectric sensors market size is expected to reach US$2.09 billion ($2.83 billion) by 2025.

The global photoelectric sensors market size has been growing in recent year, with more companies realising the power of automation in improving efficiency in their manufacturing processes.

The growing demand for photoelectric sensors is attributed to the rising penetration of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and the numerous benefits offered by the sensors – including maximising asset utilisation, improving productivity, and enhancing work safety. ifm efector’s national product and brand manager, Glenn Thornton, is also of the opinion that an uptake in the use of photoelectric sensors in Australia is inevitable.

“With the way the markets are going, the companies will be forced to use automation to enhance their efficiency and productivity,” he said.

The company, a global manufacturer of sensors and controls

for industrial automation, has developed the new O6 laser sensor to complement its O6 sensor family.

The new O6 laser features a background suppression system that is colour-independent at the 100mm range. This enables the laser sensor to detect tiny objects where conventional red light sensors reach their limits.

The laser is also equipped with IO-Link functionality, making it possible to automatically parameterise the sensors, diagnose plant states and transmit measured values without loss.

“The new O6 laser sensor has a fine and uniform light spot, which enables it to provide precise detection and consistent laser alignment,” Thornton said. ifm first introduced the O6 Wetline photoelectric sensor series about four years ago, growing the product suite over time.

The small rectangular design of the O6 was designed for wet areas in the food industry. The stainless-steel body offers the protection rating IP68/69K that is particularly suited to harsh wet environments in food production such as dairies, breweries and abattoirs.

SENSORS "The new O6 laser sensor has a very fine and uniform light spot, which enables it to provide precise detection and consistent laser alignment."

Precise distance measurement enables the sensors to detect very small parts.

ifm followed these product series with a new O6 range released in 2016 in a plastic body – offering the same optical performance as the lasers with the stainless steel body, but at a competitive price.

The new precise laser sensor with the 100mm detection range adds to the existing laser sensors in this family of products, which also include a through-beam laser with a range up to 15 metres and retro-reflective laser

with a range up to eight metres.

“The retro-reflective arrangement uses a reflector to bounce the inverted light beam back from the transmitter to the receiver. A through-beam arrangement consists of two sensors.

One sensor acts as the power unit and sends the laser beam, while the other one acts as a receiver,” Thornton said.

With such a varied range, the need for consultancy services is apparent. “When the customers visit our service centres or approach us directly, we help them identify the best technology for their particular applications,” Thornton said. “We ask them questions to determine whether they need the sensor for packaging, manufacturing or parts assembly applications, to understand the challenges for mounting the sensors and to find out the required distances to the objects. Accordingly, we advise them on the suitable technology,” he said.

The O6 laser features IO-Link

functionality, which is a worldwide open-standard protocol for connecting sensors and devices. Through this technology, a binary laser diffuse reflection sensor becomes a highprecision distance sensor. This creates new application possibilities, including length and height monitoring.

“The IO-Link technology allows for millimetre-scale accuracy, making the sensor suitable for measurements within the 100mm range,” Thornton said.

Precise distance measurement enables the sensors to detect the presence of very small parts, such as small seals, washers, screw heads, metal clips and electronic components.

IO-Link is a powerful, yet simple protocol, which enables smart connection of sensors and substations to the control level. IO-Link uses standardised interfaces that work with all IO-Link technology. If a sensor fails, it can be replaced without interrupting the production line.

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www.foodmag.com.au August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 51

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE VITICULTURE

The new Roxset floor at the Vasse Felix estate will withstand constant barrel wash impact.

Specialised flooring for winery estate When Vasse Felix needed to revamp its floors at its Cowaramup winery it found a solution thanks to Roxset. Food & Beverage Industry News explains.

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he Margaret River Wine Region is positioned in the south-west corner of Western Australia. Vasse Felix is Margaret River’s founding wine estate and was established in 1967. The estate includes four vineyards throughout

the region, which have been selected for their unique topography, microclimates and natural drainage.

The chief winemaker of Vasse Felix, Virginia Willcock, has more than two decades of Margaret River winemaking experience. Among her

The Vasse Felix Estate needed to revamp its winery building because of several safety issues.

52 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

many achievements, Willcock was awarded “Winemaker of the Year” in 2012.

The winery building in Cowaramup had significant areas of failing and worn concrete showing visible aggregate, coving breakdown, floor drainage problems and underfoot safety risks.

Vasse Felix turned to Roxset to offer specialised services to resolve these challenges.

“Roxset has delivered an incredibly hard and durable surface with its SE solution,” said Willcock.

“It protects a very valuable winery floor asset that was deteriorating.

Working with the diversity of yeast from each vineyard section, and fermenting with wild yeast, it is critical a dominating culture does not permeate from unhygienic floors.

We are pleased the new floor coating has given our winery a fresh clean finish which makes it a positive

environment both mentally and physically for our staff.”

The Roxset SE coating system provides the ultimate protection required by wineries who have deteriorating concrete with the challenge of bacteria build-up of wild yeast, acids and salts and the impact of forklift traffic.

Working with Willcock, Roxset upgraded over 1000sqm of floor coatings with the Roxset SE solution to key areas of the winery including; fermenting, bottling, cellar and barrel-washing areas. Roxset epoxy screeds and ceramic additives have assisted in providing long-lasting protection to exposed concrete.

The new Roxset floor will withstand constant forklift traffic and barrel-wash impact.

Roxset is an expert in the installation of high-grade seamless floor coatings to the wine industry over the past 30 years.

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PROMOTIONAL FEATURE WINE MAKING

Nothing like a splash of smooth red Taking the time to plan and prepare has paid dividends for a winery, after a re-design and refit of its bottling plant that was completed in only eight weeks. Food & Beverage Industry News explains.

Yalumba Winery has had its plant upgraded.

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t a time when energy costs continue to spiral upwards, saving energy is not just good for the environment, it is important for the commercial bottom line. According to Jesse Auricht, engineering manager, Yalumba Winery, decisions taken when planning a bottling upgrade at the plant have turned out well in both regards. He said the choice of energyefficient SEW-Eurodrive Moviegear mechatronic drive units to keep the conveyor lines and bottles moving, contributed to this positive outcome.

The winery is serious about reducing energy costs and monitors energy consumption continuously.

Typically, half the cost of energy is based on network charges, so it is important to avoid any spikes in consumption as the wine bottles are filled, capped, labelled and packed in the bottling plant, said Auricht.

“In the energy market, 50 per cent of your cost can be dictated by a half-hour event,” he said. “If you hit that peak once, depending on the time of day, you’ll see an ongoing

energy cost increase.”

John Gattellari, national industry specialist – food & beverage, with SEW-Eurodrive, said the Moviegear units are designed to minimise the use of electrical power and help manufacturers make savings.

Moviegear complies with efficiency class IE4 (super premium efficiency) and reduces energy costs by up to 50 per cent, due to the high efficiency of all its components.

Planning pays off Once it was clear that the plant needed refurbishing, the owners decided not to rush in. Starting with their own design concepts, they issued a tender for detailed design and implementation of the project, and awarded it to Foodmach, a specialist Australian provider of machinery design, manufacturing and control services.

Working closely with Yalumba, Foodmach designed and installed the new conveyor and line control system. The revamped system consisted of the original bottling

54 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

line with new controls, conveyor and palletisers, and a second line with a new de-palletiser, filler and packer.

SEW-Eurodrive’s engineering and customer service, together with energy efficient Moviedrive mechatronic drive system and high precision servo motors and Moviedrive controllers, were fundamental in obtaining the desired result.

In addition to saving costs by reducing energy consumption, the upgrade also led to a safer work environment and a reduction in noise.

Noise amplification and reduction Another key issue was that of noise, especially given the running speeds of the conveyors. Line 2, which is used for wine only, runs at 12,000 bottles per hour. “You get glass bottles banging into each other at that rate and it’s noisy – and potentially dangerous as well,” said Auricht.

Trevor Burgemeister, process control technician at Yalumba, said that to alleviate the noise and danger

of uncontrolled collisions, the system had to be designed to detect when bottles were about to collide. When this happened, it set a maximum collision speed.

Auricht said to achieve this, the drives needed to be accurate, reliable, efficient and controllable. As for the noise component, he said that the Moviegear is so quiet it’s negligible in comparison to the rest of the system.

These characteristics, along with past performance and a strong relationship, were major factors in the choice of SEW-Eurodrive.

“They have been a solid partner of ours for a long time. It’s a recognised brand and we’ve had a lot of success,” he said.

No pressure The key to reducing the noise is creating a pressureless line. In this case, pressure refers to the accumulation of bottles at any point on the conveyor system.

It occurs when the conveyor is transporting more bottles than the

A pressureless line helps reduce the noise made by glass from wine bottles. individual machine process rate. If a processing machine for filling, capping or labelling is operating at a slower speed than bottles are being delivered, the bottles bump into each other, and that familiar sound of glass against glass can be heard.

On a grand scale though, it’s not a pleasant clinking sound that you might hear in a restaurant. At a rate of thousands of bottles per hour, it’s

more of a cacophony.

Auricht said that if the conveyor keeps running when this happens, the pressure continues to build up. This means energy wastage, inefficiency and noise, along with wear and tear on all the conveyors.

On Line 1, which is used for many different bottle types ranging from sparkling wine with a cork, to table wines with screw tops, the

flow is between 5,000 and 9,000 bottles per hour. While the aim is zero pressure on the conveyors, the processing machines require a degree of pressure to function correctly.

To achieve this, the conveyors on this line run at set speeds, while the line’s process machines vary their speed as necessary to maintain head pressure of between five and eight bottles.

In the Foodmach, line control system speeds are controlled by software programmed according to a “recipe” that varies for each production variety.

The recipe specifies which processing machines are required for the product and also their operating parameters. Recipe data – speed, diameter of bottle, gap between bottles and the like – is communicated from the programmable logic controller (PLC) to the SEW-Eurodrive gears and units. These are calibrated so that the speed of the conveyor is set correctly. Burgemeister says that connecting the motion-detecting sensors to the motors and gear

units, in order to manage the flow of bottles, was a simple operation.

“It was just a matter of plugging the photoelectric in,” he said.

Poetry in motion Correct flow is set up at the start of the operation on the Foodmach de-palletisers, where thousands of bottles per hour are fed into the two bottling conveyor lines. At this point, several mini conveyor lines, running side by side and at different speeds, cause bunched-up groups of bottles to be fed into a single line. Complex programming, communicated to each Moviegear drive in the system, makes the operation look easy. For Auricht, this is what good engineering is all about. He describes the process with a single word - poetry.

“This was probably one of our most successful projects undertaken – both in timeframes and outcomes,” said Auricht. “In the scheme of things, the premium for the highefficiency, low-energy drives was not that much. Looking back on it now, it absolutely was the right decision.”

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www.foodmag.com.au August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 55

FOOD & BEVERAGE INDUSTRY AWARDS

The finalists for the Food and Beverage Industry Awards will tempt your taste buds The Food and Beverage Awards program recognises successful and innovative people in the industry, including brands that aim to be healthy and environmentally friendly, and companies that are committed to providing products that focus on safety-first.

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his year’s Food and Beverage Awards has a fantastic array of finalists. As well as the chance to win in their category, finalists are also entered for the ‘Best of the Best’ award, sponsored by Flavour Makers. The awards, held at Dockside, Cockle Bay Wharf,

Sydney, brings innovation and trends to the forefront. Here are the finalists in each category.

Health Foods - Sponsored

by JCurve Solutions Coyo – Coyo kids’ pouches The Low Carb Living Group –

Extraordinary Foods’ kale chips are an oil-free snack made from locally grown organic kale.

56 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

Plant-based range Well and Good – Hamburger buns Nuts By Nature Mylk – Almond Mylk base Extraordinary Foods – Pure Kale chips Mr Lee’s Pure Foods – Mr Lee’s noodles Coyo was founded by Sandra and Henry Gosling in 2009. They crafted their first batch of coconut yoghurt in their home kitchen in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Coyo makes eight coconut ice cream flavours, and eight yoghurt flavours, including chocolate, strawberry and classic vanilla. The company values simple, functional ingredients that are dairy free and refined sugar free. Coyo recently launched yoghurt pouches aimed at kids who are constantly on the go. The company wanted to offer a product that was great for children, with food allergies and intolerances, that parents would approve of for the nutritional value added to their children’s diets.

The Low Carb Living Group is a finalist for its plant-based range – The Protein Bread Co. and Anna’s Low Carb Kitchen. The products are sold in Australia, New Zealand and the US. The range includes banana bread, pancakes, pizza bases, cookies and three varieties of bread mix.

The plant-based range is whey free, dairy free, sugar free, low carb, high protein and gluten free. The range is made with all natural ingredients, including lupin flour, almond meal, rice protein and natural sweeteners such as stevia.

Well and Good is a glutenfree food manufacturer based in Melbourne. It offers a selection of cake and bread mixes as well as

a range of flours. The company’s burger buns are soft on the inside, with a golden chewy exterior, while being gluten free. The bun is freeze thaw stable, allowing for added convenience and reduced wastage.

Well and Good buns don’t contain egg so they are vegan-friendly.

If you’re nuts about milk but want a dairy alternative, Nuts By Nature Mylk is a solution. The Upgraded Almond Mylk is a rich concentrate that can be turned into dairy-free milk. There’s 16 litres worth in every 500g bottle. It’s made with crushed almonds and it is 100 per cent chemical free. Hints of Madagascar vanilla beans, Ceylon cinnamon and Himalayan pink salt have been added to make a smooth, tasty drink. There is a vegan version that is fortified with hemp protein, while the regular version comes with grass-fed collagen protein.

Extraordinary Foods aims to bring a new range of healthy handmade snacks to Australian consumers, with its Pure Kale chips.

The chips are an oil-free crunchy snack, made from locally grown organic kale, gently coated with spices and a cashew based paste. The kale is slowly dehydrated meaning all the nutrients and vitamins are preserved. In terms of nutritional value, kale chips are as good as fresh kale, but tastier.

Mr Lee’s Pure Foods makes gourmet noodles in a cup with no nasties. The company’s products are low in salt, sugar and saturated fats.

There is also no MSG and there are two vegan options. The company was founded by Damien Lee, who in 2014 was unexpectedly diagnosed with terminal cancer, which meant undertaking a huge battle against

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his illness, changing his diet, and fighting his cravings for junk cup noodles. Now in remission, Lee’s focus shifted towards developing a truly guilt-free cup of noodles from the ground up.

Beverage of the Year Sponsored by Vega Australia Chai Addict – Chai Addict and Chai Harder Utonic – Utonic Repair PepsiCo ANZ – Pepsi Max Vanilla The Good Seed Kefir – Kefir Soda, fermented beverage Emma and Tom’s – Colour Cleanse Purple Recovery Chai Addict, founded in 2016

by Chloe Janson, is hand-brewed in Melbourne. Certified organic ingredients are a must for Janson, who values the environment and collaborating with local producers that share similar beliefs and practices. Ingredients from every batch are composted at community gardens and used to feed vegetable plots. With punchy names such as Chai Addict – the smooth original blend, and Chai Harder – a blend with an extra kick of ginger and black pepper, the company is expanding its reach locally and interstate. The concentrate acts like a cordial and can be mixed easily with any milk.

Utonic offers drinks designed to heal the body with anti-oxidant ingredients such as blueberries, pomegranate and sour cherries.

Anti-inflammatory ingredients, such as turmeric and ginger, also provide anti-inflammatory and anti-nausea functions. Utonic was formed in 2016 with the aim of developing a natural beverage range that helps transform the way people feel. It offers a range of scientifically blended beverages produced from 100 per cent natural real foods, targeted nutrients and no preservatives. Although the drinks are 100 per cent natural, they have a 12-month shelf life at ambient temperature with no refrigeration required.

PepsiCo’s portfolio includes brands such as Smith’s, Pepsi Max, Red Rock Deli and Twisties. But the one that has made it as a finalist is Pepsi Max Vanilla. The drink has proven to be a popular addition to the Pepsi Max family – offering Australians a twist on the country’s leading sugarless cola product. This product delivers on taste, despite having no sugar.

Using an age-old recipe, The Good Seed Kefir makes fermented beverages that are a great alternative to sugar-laden sodas. Its product, Kefir Soda, is also the perfect alternative to alcoholic drinks. The Good Seed Kefir ferments naturally,

using a living symbiotic culture. The culture then digests the sugar and fruit in the drink. Once fermented, a fast chill process knocks out the yeast to avoid any alcohol from brewing. When ready, the refreshing and healthy drink is distributed to cafes and retailers throughout Australia.

Emma & Tom’s is an Australianowned business committed to helping people look after themselves by offering nutritious, minimally processed products, with no added sugar. The brand offers fruity drinks, with a health kick from ingredients such as beetroot, cucumber, coconut water and banana puree. The product contains a mix of vegetable juices, with added prebiotic dietary fibre.

It’s product, Colour Cleanse Purple Recovery, will have people purple with envy as it is healthy and tasty.

Packaging Innovation - Sponsored by Jet Technologies Result Group – Grape n’ Go Chai Addict – Chai Addict and Chai Harder PakWorld – Pic’s Peanut Butter Slugs The Low Carb Living Group – Protein Bread Co baking mixes Result Group is a supplier of innovative equipment and materials

that help Australian businesses achieve better efficiency in their manufacturing and distribution processes. The Grape N’ Go project is a collaboration between Navi Co. Global and Fruit Master – a large scale grower and marketer of table grapes. Grape N’Go’s packaging has a precise amount of content, of 150g of grapes. Customers can choose green, red or bicoloured grapes that are packed in a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic punnet, covered with a 100 per cent recyclable PET based multilayer lidding film with a re-closable function.

Chai Addict is a liquid chai tea concentrate with an emphasis on flavour, consistency and sustainability. The company collaborates with local producers that uphold similar beliefs and practices.

The concentrate acts like a cordial, and when mixed with milk products, it produces a nice chai drink. The ingredients from every batch are composted at community gardens.

Chai Addict has chosen to package its product in glass bottles due to its liquid form. Glass is suitable for hot filling freshly brewed chai, without the potential of leaching any harmful chemicals when in contact with food. The glass can be re-used as it does not pose harmful risks to environmental or personal health.

The chai range of beverages are hand-brewed in Melbourne.

58 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

A Fast & Flexible Dosing Machine The Ilpra R12

The Ilpra Fill Seal R12/4 Tronic delivers food manufacturers a fast and efficient way of dosing dairy, dips, desserts, soups and yoghurt products ready for market.

Supermarkets are demanding food innovations each and every year, and food brands need to find ways to innovate.

With a fixed production profile this can be difficult, the Ilpra R12 filling machine is the next step towards achieving a flexible future-proofed technology with the speed to produce efficiently.

02 8399 4999 | jet-ap.com

FOOD & BEVERAGE INDUSTRY AWARDS

The Low Carb Living Group’s range includes banana bread and cookies.

PakWorld designed the six-pack box for Pic’s Peanut Butter Slugs in 2015. The slugs are sachets filled with smooth peanut butter.

The company redesigned the slug packaging in 2018. Using only a small retail space the drop out pocket, on the box, allows easy access to the slugs. The removal of glue, also means the cardboard can be recycled without any contamination during the process.

The slugs have a 24-month shelf life, but as a natural product, the peanuts and oil can separate. Lying them lengthwise ensures the separation is spread across the full length, so makes it easier to mix them back together.

The Low Carb Living Group comprises of two brands – The Protein Bread Co. & Anna’s Low Carb Kitchen. The company makes bake-at-home mixes. The range includes banana bread, cookies and carrot cake. The products come in flat pack packaging, to optimise shipping rates, to ultimately get it in the hands of more people. The flat-pack style fits into boxes and satchels, which protects the product in transit and saves money on shipping. There is no spare space left over in the boxes or satchels, which means there is less environmental impact, as the company is shipping lower cubic weights.

Ingredient Innovation Botanical Innovations – Apple cider vinegar Chr. Hansen – SafePro Morlife – Hemp falafel mix Raglan coconut Yoghurt – Coconut yoghurt range Fermentanicals – Organic sprouted grain line Golden Grind – Golden Grind full range Botanical Innovations is a bio technology company that invests in research and development. It creates new and innovative nutraceutical flavours, fragrances and ingredients.

The company’s range of phenolicrich ingredients include fermented plant extracts, cold-pressed oils and powders. The company makes apple cider vinegar powder, which has natural prebiotic flavouring and natural preservatives. This versatile ingredient can be used to flavour chips, snacks and beverages, providing a natural vinegar flavour.

Chr. Hansen is a bioscience company that addresses global challenges by advancing food, health and productivity. The company develops and produces cultures, enzymes, probiotics and natural colours for a rich variety of foods, confectionery, beverages, dietary supplements, animal feed and plant protection. SafePro bioprotective

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cultures are a natural way to protect against harmful pathogens, such as listeria in food, while keeping food ingredient labels clean.

Morlife makes a hemp falafel mix that is nutrient dense. The company’s mission is to create highly nutritious, functional foods that enable customers to gain wellness. The falafel mix was specially formulated to deliver a nutritional, delicious and convenient meal option to consumers looking for healthier options on the marketplace. Morlife’s recipe gives nutritional benefits to consumers through the inclusion of superfoods such as chickpeas, hemp protein, chia seeds and supergreens.

Raglan Coconut Yoghurt started in the small New Zealand beachside town – Raglan. The company makes six flavours of coconut yoghurt, which are vegan and gluten-free. The yoghurt comes in glass jars and small pouches suitable for kids’ lunches.

Little Yoghi pouches come in natural flavour, banana, berries, mango, strawberry and vanilla. Although the company is now selling in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong, it is still made in Raglan by a growing team of “coconutters”.

The yoghurts are probiotic and contain no dairy, nuts, soy or preservatives.

Fermentanicals specialises in fermented and sprouted foods, using

methods to increase the nutrients found in foods. It aids absorption, by creating easier-to-digest foods by reducing digestive barriers and other acids. Fermentanicals believes that responsible farming, harvesting and processing is everything that is needed to unlock nature’s true potential. The company’s sprouted grain line is organic. Through the sprouting process, the seed is germinated, which stimulates the production of enzymes, lactobacilli, and unlocks antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.

Golden Grind was founded with the intention to create a range of health products that harnessed the functional powers of turmeric.

Golden Grind has nine products across four categories – beauty, medicinal, food and beverage. All of the products celebrate turmeric as the hero ingredient. Turmeric’s anti-inflammatory properties rival chemical alternatives, helping muscle, joint, gut, digestive, skin and organ inflammation. Golden Grind markets its products as helping with arthritis and endometriosis.

Innovative Technology of the Year - Sponsored by NHP JCurve Solutions – JCurve ERP HMPS – HMPS8000 robotic flat bread packer Automaint Solutions – HSC lidding attachment Sick – Bottle cap detection Aerofloat – DAF and MBBR Mitrefinch Australia – Mobile time and attendance live reporting JCurve Solutions is an Australian technology solutions partner. The company uses the power of the cloud to help food and beverage customers make lasting, substantial improvements to their performance to grow into great businesses. JCurve has an agreement with NetSuite for a small business edition of the software for growing Australian and New Zealand businesses. NetSuite’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) cloud platform is the industry solution of choice for inventory and order management, ecommerce, financials and CRM. JCurve ERP is an all-in-one, cloud-based ERP software solution designed for growing small- to medium-sized food and beverage businesses, looking to streamline and automate their operations.

FOOD & BEVERAGE INDUSTRY AWARDS

HMPS is an Australian company that specialises in the design, development and manufacturing of high-quality machinery for packaging processes. HMPS was recently commissioned to design and automate a complete system for a flatbread producer. The task – four different-sized flatbreads needed to be packed in five different-sized stacks. This needed to be done to fit the customer’s existing carton range.

The team opted for its HMPS6000 Robotic RSC Casepacker as the ideal, flexible solution. It’s specially designed to pack wrapped flatbreads into RSC cases. HMPS partnered with technology leader, ABB, on this project, to ensure that it used a highquality robot.

Automaint Solutions designs and manufactures complete turnkey automation, robotics and maintenance services. With more than 47 years of experience servicing the manufacturing industry, the Automaint Solutions team has significant experience within the packaging, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, product assembly and automotive industries. The HSC lidding attachment is for placing under a modified, tray-erecting machine. It allows stacking of HSC lid blanks in a magazine and then the lids can be opened, so a base can be erected and placed into the lid. The products innovative features are the reduced footprint, better lid opening, finished lidded box presentation and also using a horizontal type tray erector.

Sick manufactures sensors, safety systems and automatic identification products for factory automation, logistic automation and process automation applications.

Bottle cap detection – smart sensors creates simplicity. Biometric finger terminals ensure only those approved of access, to secure or unsafe areas of the business, have access while ensuring management can monitor who is on what site and for how long.

With various sizes and material, Sick smart sensors are suitable for various customer needs.

Aerofloat is an Australian company that manufactures and installs treatment systems for a range of manufacturers, including breweries, dairies, abattoirs, yoghurt makers and chicken factories. Aerofloat’s patented products have been designed and engineered in-house, and offer world-first technology to customers.

Aerofloat has its own patented DAF technology, which has a completely different design to traditional DAFs. The double hopper design allows for a compact, low maintenance and sealed DAF to vent any bad odours.

Aerofloat also provides its own patent-pending MBBR technology, for companies that have soluble contaminants in their wastewater.

Mitrefinch Australia develops employee management software and designs user-friendly, intelligent products that integrate with its clients’ systems. The company’s time and attendance systems ensure security and safety are at

the forefront of its solutions for clients in the Australian food and beverage industry. Ensuring fatigue management and live site attendance reporting are available at the push of a button is essential for food and beverage organisations to ensure quality products and safe work environments for staff.

Meat, Poultry and Smallgoods Country Cooked Meats – The Standard Meat Co char siu pork The Original Lamb Bacon Co. – Lamb bacon Sunshine Meats – Smoked duck breast Hazeldene’s Chicken Farm – The Bare Bird Country Cooked Meats, based in Melbourne, specialises in the manufacture and supply of cooked and processed meats. The Standard Meat Co char siu pork is a premium product that makes the company a finalist. The pork is cooked sous-vide style to make it tender and juicy. The product has an authentic Asian style, taste and texture, without going to China. It is sold at numerous Asian restaurants that save on time and manpower, while still getting a tasty outcome.

The Original Lamb Bacon Company started as a way to use leftover lamb bellies from a lamb farm. The company experimented with a variety of smoking and curing techniques before settling on their current recipe. Bacon made from

lamb is made using similar smoking and curing techniques to regular pork bacon. Using lamb belly means the taste and texture of lamb bacon comes close to that of traditional pork bacon. Lamb bacon is processed in a similar way to normal bacon.

Lamb bellies are smoked using wood chips then cured for months at a smokehouse.

Sunshine Meats is a boutique company that makes smoked meats such as chicken, turkey, duck and beef. Joe and Maria Pereira wanted to share their quality products and unique flavours with food lovers across Australia. Their products have a twist of unexpected flavour with maple-infused ham and wine-infused bacon featuring in the range. The finalist is the smoked duck range – marinated in a Portuguese inspired spice blend and double smoked over natural wood chips. The smoked duck breast is designed to be used in small portions on charcuterie boards and in fresh meals, such as salads to give them a flavour burst.

The Bare Bird from Hazeldene’s Chicken Farm is 100 per cent antibiotic-free and raised on a vegetarian diet. The free-range accredited product is tender and succulent. Birds forage for worms and insects and they consume unsaturated, plant-based fats, rather than saturated fats, derived from animal fats. This results in more tender and succulent chicken meat, with a significant taste and texture difference. The company uses controlled atmospheric stunning to kill the birds in one of the most humane methods. It puts birds to sleep prior to slaughter.

Paddock to Plate Fonterra – Anmum QR code Prestige Foods Manufacturing – Chickpeas Australian Primary Hemp – Hemp seeds and oil, hemp balance, hemp boost The Original Lamb Bacon Co. – Lamb bacon

The Food & Beverage Awards showcase the best innovations in the industry.

Fonterra has taken an important step towards full electronic traceability by 2020. It has a QR code on its Anmum range, which enables consumers to trace the product’s origins. By scanning the unique code on each can of a product, consumers can access information including the product batch number, the production

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FOOD & BEVERAGE INDUSTRY AWARDS

and expiry dates, the region the milk was sourced from, and a certificate of inspection.

Founded in 1990, Prestige Foods Manufacturing makes natural stocks and sauces. Recently, the company expanded its product mix to include a range of cooked and retorted pulses in pouches – moving away from old-fashioned canning.

Chickpeas are sourced directly from the Clare Valley, Mid North and Yorke peninsula in South Australia, before being cooked in a saltwater brine. As the chickpea product is processed in brine, in the bag, it maintains its full integrity, and can be transported and stored under ambient conditions.

The Australian Primary Hemp journey began with four good mates, a passion for agriculture and an interest in developing a sustainable food source. Since starting in 2016, a small idea has grown into one of the largest hemp productions in Australia. Australian Primary Hemp offers customers an end-to-end hemp service, handling everything from seed selection, farming and processing, to contract packaging.

The company produces four core products – hemp seeds, hemp oil, hemp balance and hemp boost. They are packed with protein, fibre and essential fatty acids.

The Original Lamb Bacon Company is made using similar smoking and curing techniques to regular pork bacon, but made with lamb belly instead. Using the lamb belly means the taste and texture of lamb bacon comes close to that of traditional pork bacon. The product packaging is mainly see-through, giving consumers an opportunity to have a look at the product before buying it. Black packaging was used as the background, in order to make the lamb bacon stand out more. The text highlights the artisanal nature of the product, it is handcrafted and wood-smoked.

Food Safety Equipment and Materials CCP Technologies – CCP Network Australia ACO – Hygienic drainage systems Sick – Bottle cap detection Mitrefinch Australia – Time and attendance access and fatigue management

sensors to monitor refrigeration temperature and automate recordkeeping for food safety compliance.

Using low-cost Internet of Things (IOT) technology, refrigerators, freezers and cool room temperatures are effectively monitored 24/7. With CCP’s wireless sensors installed, staff are immediately alerted by email/SMS if refrigeration temperature tolerances are breached.

This makes a difference to both the end result for customers, but also to the bottom-line when it comes to avoiding food spoilage.

ACO is committed to hygienic drainage systems. The company designs grates, gullies and channels for performance, safety and cleanability. Ensuring products are completely clean, allows for high hygiene levels for food production facilities. Some of the key elements in the ACO design include the absence of joins and crevices, where bacteria can build up, and the absence of sharp corners, which can be difficult for brooms, mops and cleaning fluids to adequately reach and clean. In addition, drainable design ensures residual contaminated wastewater will not pool or stagnate.

Sick manufactures sensors, safety systems and automatic identification products for factory automation, logistic automation and process automation applications.

Bottle cap detection – smart sensors creates simplicity. Biometric finger terminals ensure only those approved of access, to secure or unsafe areas of the business, have access while ensuring management can monitor who is on what site and for how long. With various sizes and material, Sick smart sensors are suitable for various customer needs.

Mitrefinch Australia develops employee management software and designs user-friendly, intelligent products that integrate with its clients’ systems. The company’s time and attendance systems ensure security and safety are at the forefront of its solutions for clients in the Australian food and beverage industry. Ensuring fatigue management and live site attendance reporting are available at the push of a button is essential for food and beverage organisations to ensure quality products and safe work environments for staff.

CCP uses a network of wireless 62 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

Best in Design - Sponsored

by Wiley Oji Fibre Solutions – Yatala packaging plant Monash university – Incubation facility Victorian Government and La Trobe University – AgriBio The Low Carb Living Group Oji Fibre Solutions makes corrugated packaging products. Its paper and product specifications are well-suited for the fruit, vegetables and meat sectors. Long-term growth in horticulture and meat sectors of Queensland are projected to increase the demand for corrugated packaging in the future.

The new plant, in Brisbane, enables Oji to meet the anticipated growth in demand. The plant is anticipated to produce packaging that is suited to Australian weather conditions.

The packaging will enable fresh food to be packaged and efficiently dispatched to Asian markets.

Monash University has launched a $3 million incubation facility as part of its Food Innovation Centre. Maker of Greek yoghurt, Chobani, is the first client to use the state-of-the-art facility.

The incubator comprises three, high tech, serviced industrial kitchens, a food-grade, scale-up lab and a collaborative lounge. The new incubator aims to accelerate innovation in Australia’s food

The Monash incubator comprises three high-tech, serviced industrial kitchens and a food-grade, scale-up lab.

industry, by providing companies – from start-ups to large corporates – with technological innovation, product development services and research capabilities, to help them export more rapidly into target markets, including Asia.

A joint-initiative between the Victorian Government and La Trobe University, AgriBio is Australia’s first-integrated agricultural systems biology research centre. It has been designed to protect and progress Victoria’s multi-billion-dollar agricultural sector. The $288 million centre, focuses on cutting-edge research and development that aims to improve productivity, fight disease and significantly reduce environmental impact. The key areas of outcome for the centre are in plant and animal bioscience, biosecurity, bio protection and soil sciences.

The team at Low Carb Living Group built their production facility from scratch. In 2014, they decided to bring manufacturing in-house.

It was costly and time-consuming, but it positioned the company as not just a marketing and innovation company, but a manufacturer as well. Controlling all aspects of the business, opens up doors for future innovations, speed to market, partnerships and cost savings that are passed to consumers so everyone has access to quality healthy food. They also upgraded the facility in 2016.

AFGC

Food and grocery code of conduct draft report released released Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) communications director James Mathews provides the preliminary recommendations of the Food and Grocery code of conduct review.

O

n 2 March 2018 the Government announced the independent review of the food and grocery code of conduct (grocery code). The purpose of the review was to assess the impact of the grocery code in improving the commercial relations between grocery retailers, wholesalers and suppliers. The AFGC has been engaged in consultations along with other stakeholders along the supply chain. Professor Graeme Samuel AC, the appointed chair of the review, released his draft report for the review of the food and grocery code of conduct.

The report makes a number of key recommendations that seek to strengthen and improve the code, which established key rules in the commercial relations between grocery retailers and suppliers.

The review has consulted stakeholders in understanding how the Australian Food and Grocery Code of Conduct can be enhanced to improve the operation of one of the most dynamic and competitive sectors of the economy – the fast-moving consumer goods sector.

The draft report has found three main areas for improvement including: 1. W holesaler Metcash should become a signatory 2. New fair dealings provision – the review recommends reframing the good faith provision to focus on fair dealings between the parties. This new provision will allow the assessment of fairness to be considered within the context of the supplier’s individual circumstances.

3. A n independent adjudicator – the dispute resolution mechanisms in the grocery code have been underutilised by suppliers, largely due to fear of retribution for making complaints. An independent adjudicator in each signatory with the power to resolve individual complaints, make binding decisions, and

award compensation, will improve outcomes for suppliers.

The report also makes 14 recommendations that were largely flagged by Samuel in his speech to Food and Grocery Australia in May 2018. Thirteen recommendations specifically apply to AFGC membership, which include: 1. I ntroducing a separate targeted mandatory code to apply to major participants that refuse to become signatories to the voluntary code.

2. The grocery code should be amended so that wholesalers are subject to the same grocery code obligations as retailers, except for customer-facing provisions that are only relevant to retailers.

3. T hat the current coverage of products under the grocery code remains unchanged i.e. does not apply to alcohol.

4. Introducing a new primary provision of fair dealings to replace the current obligation to act in good faith (clause 28). The new provision should contain indicators of fair dealings that are easy to understand and apply to the particular circumstances of the parties.

5. T he code compliance manager should be replaced with an independent code adjudicator, which would be governed by specific new provisions added to the grocery code that set criteria including independence from the signatory, confidentiality requirements, ability to make binding decisions and annual reporting and surveying requirements.

6. The role of the ACCC should be expanded to: - h ave oversight responsibility of the code adjudicators, including regular meeting to discuss issues under the grocery code; and - r eview the code adjudicator’s annual reports and seek

confidential submissions from suppliers as part of ACCC’s core compliance activities for the grocery code.

7. T he ACCC should change its approach to conducting annual compliance checks on signatories and should only rely on its section 51ADD information gathering powers after certain conditions are met, including that matter has been raised with the code adjudicator and deemed not to have been resolved satisfactorily.

8. The protection and notification requirements for the delisting of a product should be extended to a significant limiting of distribution resulting from range reviews.

9. It should be clarified that the term ‘grocery supply agreement’ applies to all agreements between a supplier and signatory, including freight and promotional agreements, which relate to the supply of groceries.

10. C lause 10 of the grocery code should be amended to so that there is a ban on variations to grocery supply agreements that have retrospective effect.

11. Clause 14 of the code should be amended to protect a supplier’s right to negotiate a lower wastage charge (if they have reduced their actual wastage) without it jeopardising other terms and conditions in their agreement.

12. A new provision relating to price rise processes should be introduced to: a. p revent a retailer from requiring a supplier to disclose commercially sensitive information where the retailer has a competing own-brand product; and b. r equire that retailers take no longer than 30 days to consider a price rise request made by a supplier, unless circumstances exist that justify a reasonable extension that is agreed to by the supplier.

13. There should be a review of the grocery code within three to five years of implementation of any changes as a result of this review.

The food and grocery code establishes a set of principles relating to key aspects of trading relationships between retailers and suppliers and provides greater certainty and clarity about dealings in the industry without adding unnecessary complexity or cost.

The recommendation that retailers and wholesalers be subject to the same obligations under the code will provide certainty for suppliers and ensure competitive neutrality. The introduction of new fair dealings provisions will ensure that ongoing negotiations between parties should be consistent with the spirit of the code in ensuring fair dealings between parties.

The draft report’s efforts to enhance oversight and accountability is welcome and the implementation of code adjudicators in each retailer will need some consideration to ensure consistency of interpretation of the code across the entire FMCG sector and to ensure it is a disputes mechanism that suppliers are comfortable using.

The recommendation to prevent retailers from requiring suppliers to provide commercially sensitive information where the retailer has an own-brand product, will better safeguard suppliers’ intellectual property and is consistent with the code’s light touch regulatory approach.

Submissions for a response to this draft report were due on 1 August and the AFGC has made a submission with close consultation with its members. The AFGC expects the final recommendations to be handed to government in September 2018.

The AFGC will continue to engage with the review process and looks forward to ensuring the code remains key in entrenching standards of fair behaviour between suppliers and retailers.

www.foodmag.com.au August/September 2018 | Food&Beverage Industry News 63

NEW PRODUCTS

Compact modular palletiser COMPACT and reliable, the Compact Modular Palletiser (CMP) is suitable for low-mid speed palletising applications.

Fibre King's end-of-line palletising machine was developed to address problems faced by customers within their facilities, affordability and space constraints.

The CMP is an automatic palletiser developed for low- to mid-speed palletising applications and features a pick- and -place vacuum gripper, which is entrusted to a cantilevered, gantry-style mechanical structure. The machine is capable of handling up to 15 cases per minute and was designed to be able to handle cases, drums, shrink-wrapped packs and crates.

Fibre King has been producing packaging machines for over half a century. With more than 5000 sqm of factory space in Australia and Thailand, a team of close to 100 designers, engineers, technicians, sales, service and support staff, the company exports the international standard in packaging equipment across the globe.

The Fibre King range includes case packers, palletisers, robotic integration and conveyors which are sold to both the domestic and international markets.

Fibre King 07 3293 8800 www.fibreking.com

Converting roller chain drives to maintenance-free Gates Poly Chain GT Carbon GATES Australia has introduced its latest version of the Poly Chain GT Carbon synchronous belts, designed to replace roller chain drives.

Poly Chain provides higher efficiency and reliability whilst eliminating the maintenance required with traditional chain drives. It is Gates' most powerful synchronous belt, specifically designed for optimum performance on high torque, low speed drives often seen in industrial applications.

An excellent alternative to chain drives, Poly Chain offers many benefits to any business.

Poly Chain GT Carbon belts are constructed using a lightweight polyurethane compound combined with carbon fibre tensile cords providing extraordinary power carrying capacity and flex fatigue life. This means Poly Chain GT Carbon has the strength to withstand shocks and surge loading, is virtually immune to abrasions and is much lighter than steel chain, reducing overhung loads.

Additionally, the new Poly Chain has a service life up to three times longer than conventional roller chain and up to ten times longer pulley life.

Poly Chain GT Carbon belts are completely maintenance-free, meaning no messy lubrication or oil baths or re-tensioning every few months. They will not stretch during service, saving businesses time and money. Poly Chain GT Carbon is inert to most acids, chemicals and water, making it an ideal solution for wet environments - unlike roller chains, which can rust, potentially contaminating food-handling spaces.

Specifications Poly Chain GT Carbon comes in a range of pitches, including both short and extended custom lengths.

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Short length versions of the belt in 5m and 8m are suitable for industrial markets requiring a short centre distance but high-density power and offer all the benefits listed above.

Poly Chain GT Carbon is also available in up to 19m extended lengths to handle longer drive centre distances. Poly Chain GT Carbon offers a massive 96 percent weight saving versus traditional, comparable transmission roller chains.

All Poly Chain GT Carbon belts are fully operational in temperature extremes of -54ËšC to +85ËšC and can be used for applications in a diverse range of industries.

Poly Chain GT Carbon also offers reduced width drive conversions for existing roller chain applications, and over 120,000 possible ratio combinations, making it easy to switch the drives. The space-saving, weight-saving, time-saving and money-saving drives offer a long and reliable service life.

Gates Australia (03) 9797 9688 www.gatesaustralia.com.au/PolyChain

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For more information visit www.paceawards.com.au

NEW PRODUCTS

Highly flexible conveyor system MODU System was established over two decades ago in Singapore based on the simple concept of modular and flexible to meet the everincreasing demand for conveyors and automation systems.

Modu straight beams, support structures and bend sections are made of various re-assembled components enabling Modu conveyors to be easily installed, reconfigured, realigned, highly flexible to be extended or shortened within a short time-frame by using simple and standard hand-held tools. It is reliable, aesthetic and functional, easy to be transported and yet is economical to own. All Modu conveyor standard parts are made of lightweight materials, such as aluminium alloy and engineered plastics.

Modu conveyors are available in both aluminium and stainlesssteel options. Modu System provides diverse plastic chain conveyor systems with chain width sizes of 63mm, 83mm, 140mm and 220mm and belt width sizes of 315mm, 438mm and 585mm. Standard chain and belt material is PolyOxyMethylene (POM). Other available materials include Kevlar, Anti-static POM and Polypropylene (PP).

Modu Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) is a modern and modular mobile robot that can automatically navigate and transport materials from one location to another. It is suitable for manufacturing, textile, automotive, food & beverage, warehousing, hospital and many more industries. Modu together with our robotic supplier is able to design and roll out customised robotic and palletising system solutions across all industries in Australia.

Twin track pallets assembly solutions are designed to convey pallets/ slave board from one process or assembly station to another. Based on Modu's modular system, the twin track system offers customers plug and play solutions with flexible configuration options.

Modu Gripper system is flexible and lightweight, easy to install and compact, saving factory space. It comes in many gripping options suitable for all products. Quick change over time by incorporating adjustable crank system and digital adjustment readout. Modu elevator features quick access maintenance touch panel, guiding, universal mounts for any type of infeed and outfeed conveyor, continuous flow elevating with no reciprocating action, available in multiple heights, capacities and payload sizes as well as space saving.

Modu System Australia Ph: (02) 8628 0195 www.mymodu.com

Contactless RFiD safety sensor makes debut CREATING a safe and efficient work environment is of paramount importance to every business owner and plant manager all across the globe. As the danger level presented by industrial equipment increases, so, too, must the strength of the solutions put in place to keep those areas safe and secure.

Installing the new XCSR contactless RFiD safety sensor from Telemecanique Sensors instantly provides industrial companies with the highest level of safety-certified sensor protection, allowing employers to effectively seal off areas in the workzone that are dangerous. At the same time, the design of the new XCSR safety sensor essentially safeguards that company's employees against any tampering with that protection system. Finally, these features are provided by the XCSR with a bare minimum of installation effort. A single safety solution that provides multiple benefits.

This sensor is TUV certified with a Cat4/PLe SIL3 rating. This means that when users install the XCSR RFiD safety sensor, their dangerous machine area is sealed off by a product with the highest rated safety level. It sends a message to employees that their safety is of utmost importance.

The safety sensor not only enhances safety because of its high performance rating, it is also virtually tamper-proof. The ready-to-use transponder and reader are factory-paired and sold together with a unique, high-level coding which is virtually impossible to bypass or disrupt. Once this highly effective safety system is in place, it’s functionality can not be altered.

The best part of the new XCSR contactless RFiD safety switch is that installing it is as easy as the decision to take advantage of its safety benefits. The XCSR allows different mounting

66 Food&Beverage Industry News | August/September 2018 | www.foodmag.com.au

configurations, comes with an adjustable transponder sensing face, and allows numerous mounting configurations with only one product reference.

Standalone: The standalone model of the new XCSR contactless RFiD safety sensor allows the direct connection to the contactors. It has integrated safety functions such as monitoring of the contactors and manual or automatic start and restart functions.

Series: The Series model of the new XCSR RFiD safety sensor allows direct connection to a simple safety relay and series diagnosis through a diagnostic module. There is no programming software needed. The series model comes with integrated M12 series connectors and eliminates the need of T or Y connectors.

Single: The single model of the new XCSR RFiD safety sensor allows point-to-point connections to a safety controller.

Choose the model that best fits your company's circumstance; quickly and easily install XCSR sensor solution; and enjoy the peace of mind that comes from installing a product with the highest level of safety rating.

Schneider Electric Ph: 1300 369 233 www.schneider-electric.com.au/en

Product life cycles keep getting shorter. Products and packaging get more complex.

Supply chains and customers intensify their demands. Whether you build, buy or implement packaging machinery, you need a way to react as quickly as possible. Rexroth, your expert partner for automation in packaging processes, provides the flexible system solutions you need.

Our technologies and efficient engineering tools enable more productive machines, faster changeovers, reduced footprints, and peace of mind. You can even achieve small production runs easily and economically. Experience for yourself how we can create an ingenious solution for your application.

WE MOVE. YOU WIN. Bosch Rexroth Pty Ltd Tel: 1800 REXROTH Email: info@boschrexroth.com.au