As part of its digital transformation drive for food and beverage manufacturers, all-new SIG filling line systems and downstream units are now equipped with built-in bi-directional digital recipe management. The solution is also available as an automation upgrade which can be retrofitted to installed and existing SIG filling lines.
Digital recipe management enables automatic recipe synchronization across all relevant parts of the filling line including the downstream. For manufacturers, this means a significantly faster change to the next lot or product, considerably more flexibility in the production process, and ultimately helps to ensure a smarter and more connected filling plant.
Stefan Mergel, Senior Product manager Equipment at SIG, “In today’s food and beverage plants, production lines need to be more flexible, agile and intelligent to handle new challenges and demands. This can only be achieved by securing greater asset optimization, which means configuring the optimal long-term infrastructure to flexibly handle any operational demand. And by ensuring intelligent recipe and job handling throughout production.”
SIG’s new built-in capability also means that the latest downstream equipment for SIG filling lines can now make automatic format and volume changes. This seamless integration ensures manufacturers can utilize the full flexibility potential of their filling machines and is yet another way in which the company is helping its customers achieve digital transformation.
SIG’s digital recipe management is enabled through the PLANT 360 Connector. This advanced monitoring and control solution was designed to optimize every part of food and beverage production by gradually integrating all plant processes and systems into one platform, no matter the equipment, supplier, or PLC used.
Mergel adds, “With SIG PLANT 360 Connector you can integrate the complete filling line – including R-CAM, filling machine, and downstream – into the customers’ digital platforms. This ensures you can gain full bi- directional connectivity from shop floor to the top floor.”
Recipe management in a filling plant comprises a number of processes, including defining the product category to be filled and in which packaging format, as well as the number of packs needed and which closures to use. To date, many manufactures have relied upon paper-based recipe management processes. This handling not only results in more manual work but leaves manufacturers vulnerable to the risk of human error.
Bi-directional digital recipe management was developed through SIG’s solution-based Smart Factory platform – a drive to deliver IoT-enabled systems and technical services that transform filling plants into connected factories delivering greater efficiency, flexibility, and quality. Now, with this innovation, SIG customers are set to achieve even more flexibility and efficiency in their production process.
SIG is a systems and solutions provider for aseptic carton packaging. It works in partnership with its customers to bring food and beverage products to consumers around the world in a safe, sustainable, and affordable way. Its technology and innovation capacity enable it to provide its customers with end-to-end solutions for differentiated products, smarter factories, and connected packs, all to address the ever-changing needs of consumers. Sustainability is integral to its business and it is going Way Beyond Good to create a net positive food packaging system.
Founded in 1853, SIG is headquartered in Neuhausen, Switzerland. The skills and experience of its approximately 5,900 employees worldwide enable it to respond quickly and effectively to the needs of its customers in over 60 countries. In 2020, SIG produced 38 billion carton packs and generated EUR 1.8 billion (approximately Rs 15,717 crore) in revenue. SIG has an AA ESG rating by MSCI, an 18.8 (low risk) score by Sustainalytics, and a Platinum CSR rating by EcoVadis.
The Covid-19 pandemic led to the country-wide lockdown on 25 March 2020. It will be two years tomorrow as I write this. What have we learned in this time? Maybe the meaning of resilience since small companies like us have had to rely on our resources and the forbearance of our employees as we have struggled to produce our trade platforms.
The print and packaging industries have been fortunate, although the commercial printing industry is still to recover. We have learned more about the digital transformation that affects commercial printing and packaging. Ultimately digital will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future.
Web analytics show that we now have readership in North America and Europe amongst the 90 countries where our five platforms reach. Our traffic which more than doubled in 2020, has at times gone up by another 50% in 2021. And advertising which had fallen to pieces in 2020 and 2021, has started its return since January 2022.
As the economy approaches real growth with unevenness and shortages a given, we are looking forward to the PrintPack India exhibition in Greater Noida. We are again appointed to produce the Show Daily on all five days of the show from 26 to 30 May 2022.
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