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In the midst of a climate crisis, manufacturers are turning to automation integrators as sherpas in their sustainability journeys. In the US, the manufacturing industry responsible for over 75% of all carbon emissions1. This includes supporting sectors like mission critical, mining and raw material extraction, raw material processing, and construction.
However, even narrowing our scope to manufacturing, specifically, sectors like food and beverage, automotive, and chemical are responsible for nearly 15% of total carbon emissions all on their own2. As a major contributor to carbon emissions, manufacturers have a duty to take measures that minimize their environmental impact.
Industrial automation is a readily-available resource that adds value at every step of the production chain while also moving companies toward their sustainability goals.
In the grand scheme of things, humans have exerted a significant impact on the environment since the Neolithic Revolution. But the manufacturing discussion really begins at the Industrial Revolution with the boom of fossil fuel usage. While methane and nitrous oxide levels wasn’t ideal, industry’s real danger has always been, and continues to be, CO2 emissions, which account for about 80% of total manufacturing emissions.
Earth’s natural climate change processes turn on CO2 levels, which is why manufacturing has had such a significant effect on climate. While there is a ~100,000 year cycle of cooling and warming that naturally occurs, current atmospheric CO2 is nearly double the levels it is in the warmest stages of those natural cycles3. This is unquestionably a result of human influence, especially since the Industrial Revolution.
When land clearance, development, fuel extraction and use, toxic waste disposal, and greenhouse emissions pump extra CO2 into the atmosphere, soil, and water, warming occurs. Sea levels rise. Oceans become more acidic. Ecosystems collapse. Rapid warming of just 5°C is enough to wipe out hundreds of species of plants and animals. These things all pose long-term threats to everything from global supply chains to resource availability to public health.
Reduced carbon impact is a natural byproduct of well-designed automation systems. Consider all the operational benefits of implementing an integrated control system across a facility in an environmental context:
Use Case: Manual palletizing processes at distribution centers are transitioned to robotics automation, which drastically reduces mistakes associated with retrieval, counting, and packaging.
Operational Benefit: Precision process automation leads to more efficient use of raw materials, which leads to lower cost of losses due to defects or incorrectly-filled orders.
Sustainability Benefit: Contribution to transportation and disposal of waste that’s toxic, perishable, or unable to be reused/recycled is minimized.
Use Case: Food and beverage automation systems for drink manufacturers allow bottling and pasteurization to be performed continuously and with better quality control.
Operational Benefit: Continuous production unlocks the ability to scale, and more accurate material handling means more consistent, higher-quality processes, and less defects.
Sustainability Benefit: The ability to scale while also reducing waste generation minimizes the carbon impact of increasing production.
Use Case: Building automation with smart HVAC, water and power monitoring systems automates control of utility and equipment usage. This includes shutting or reducing power to rooms/equipment that are not occupied/in use. This significantly reduces resource consumption.
Operational Benefit: Less energy and water use leads to lower cost of operations at manufacturing facilities. It also improves workplace safety, especially in facilities where toxic fumes are a factor.
Sustainability Benefit: Lowering energy consumptiRobots are becoming increasingly integrated into automation solutions for manufacturers, distributors, Biotech entities, and more. Technological innovations like machine learning, 4D vision, and AI have led to rapid evolution of complex robots with collaborative and even autonomous capabilities. The benefits of robotics system integration in an industrial facility are numerous, including improved accuracy, continuous work/production, and relief from labor stresses.
E Tech Group takes an agnostic approach to automation technology, which allows us to seek out the ideal vendor for specific applications. KUKA robotics is a long-standing global leader in the world of industrial robotics – always on the bleeding edge of what’s possible in automation. As a KUKA Robotics system integrator, we’ve come to rely on their disruptive approach to robotics applications in many of our automation projects.
Here, we discuss why:
KUKA Robotics is well-known for both its advanced robots as well as its innovative manufacturing systems. Founded in 1898, this German stalwart in industrial technology began in acetylene lighting before transitioning to welding technology, and shortly after, industrial robots. Today, their precision articulated robotic arms and cobots are their powerhouse products.
While KUKA’s robotics systems began in industrial welding, today they produce robotics that benefit clients across industries, some of which include:
Our KUKA robotics system integrators have seen firsthand the benefits of their various models of industrial robots, which enhance quality, efficiency, precision, and safety in any application. Robots are proving especially useful in settings where tasks may be unsafe or where hygiene/sanitation is paramount. Some quick facts about KUKA robots:
KUKA’s industrial robots are renowned for their versatility and performance. They come in various payload capacities and reach options, suitable for applications like welding, assembly, palletizing, and machine tending. Popular models include:
KUKA’s LBR iiwa (Intelligent Industrial Work Assistant) is a leading collaborative robot designed to work safely alongside humans. It features sensitive sensors and intelligent control systems, making it suitable for delicate assembly tasks and human-robot collaboration in facilities with shared workspaces.
KUKA’s mobile platforms, such as the KMP series, enable autonomous transportation within factories and warehouses. They can navigate spaces efficiently, optimizing intralogistics and streamlining material flow.
KUKA’s KUKA. PLC mxAutomation software allows seamless integration of robots into existing automation systems. Their KUKA.Sim software enables virtual simulation and programming of robotic systems, reducing deployment time and minimizing risks.
KUKA robotics are not only reliable, they’re also highly precise, flexible, scalable, and designed for safety and collaboration. With KUKA robotics system integrators offering comprehensive training and support, the learning curve for robotics automation implementation is minimized.
As a North American leader in industrial automation services, we take on a wide variety of projects for diverse clients across manufacturing sectors. As automation continues to integrate advanced robotics and AI, companies require robotics automation integrators that keep up on industry education and technological developments. E Tech Group works with KUKA Robotics because they share these same values, which enables us to offer our clients the best resources in terms of industrial robotics.
Combined with our unique brand of collaborative, dedicated project management, E Tech Group completes unmatched work for every client, every project. Whether it’s a complex factory automation system retrofit or a simple control panel replacement, we are focused on client success in the present and for the long haul.
As urbanization increases along with the population, more demand is put on the food and beverage industry to meet increasing demands. The industry is expected to grow at about a 12% rate for the next 4 years, which means manufacturers and processors have a big call to answer. Food and beverage automation companies have been waiting in the wings for just this moment.
Where industries like metals and machine builders have been on the front of adopting automation, the food industry lagged. This can largely be attributed to the difficulty of the transition as well as the unknown. Consumables – from raw material acquisition to production, processing and storage – are heavily regulated by the FDA and USDA.
Manufacturers don’t have time to adopt a new automation system only to find out their product quality is failing, their setup no longer complies with industry standards or, worse, an unreported defect results in a national recall. They need to be sure that upon implementation they can be sure operations are already at or better than previous baselines. That’s where food and beverage automation companies can step in to help.
Automation adds value at every step of food and beverage production, which means companies can reap a host of benefits by partnering with the right automation company. Process control can be applied to:
The trends we’re seeing in food and beverage automation are diverse. This allows room for a creative approach to automation that food processing system integrators can leverage to provide automation solutions that are best for the present and the future of the company:
Food and beverage manufacturers expect to use 50% of their annual capital on automation technology, including AI and Industry 4.0. 70% of manufacturers report productivity as the biggest drive for beginning this digital transformation, and nearly 80% report labor shortages being another main factor.
With skyrocketing growth in the industry, which is expected to affect North American food producers disproportionately, the risk of lagging behind competitors is now ever-present and ever-increasing. Automation is no longer an option, and neither is sitting on the idea until it becomes comfortable.
The good news is, while implementing a facility-wide automation system with integrated controls is a significant investment, the tangible ROI of a top-tier system created by a leading food and beverage process automator is indisputable. Manufacturers can expect:
There is an emerging market within the food processing industry that, while only just starting to gain footing with the FDA, is sure to become a large part of industrial food production in the coming decades: ethical meat production. Both plant-based alternative meats and cultivated proteins require different automation system design than traditional meats/proteins. Consider:
Lab-cultured proteins are specifically tricky, because will require a hybrid approach to food automation and biologics automation. Manufacturers and startups in this industry are dealing with both the food and drug portion of FDA regulations because of the lab-driven nature of cell-cultivated meats. As well, factory automation for cultivated meat simply isn’t a thing that exists right now. There is no template for automation engineers to rely on in their system design/build.
Food and beverage automation companies need not only domain expertise in the food industry, but also the life sciences industry to provide these clients with the bleeding-edge automation systems they need to disrupt the meat market. And a creative approach doesn’t hurt, either.
As one of North America’s leading automation system integrators, E Tech Group stays ahead of the curve when it comes to automation services. With a division dedicated to the food and beverage production industry, we have automation engineers and staff with expertise in the specific needs of this market. And that includes cultivated meats – we recently built a PlantPAx 5.0 building control system for one of the first companies to gain FDA-approval to create cell-cultured meats for human consumption.
E Tech Group has provided industrial clients across sectors with unmatched automation services for over 30 years. Our collaborative, client-focused approach coupled with our ability to provide seamless transitions upon system implementation mean our clients are left after project end with state-of-the-art, flexible automation systems that benefit them now and as they continue to grow. Robust security features, custom control panel design and top-tier automation technology make E Tech Group the ideal choice as your Main Automation Partner.
We are partnering with Rockwell Automation on the launch of their new FactoryTalk® Optix™Portfolio: Revitalize Your HMI Operations webinar series. The third and final webinar in this series is coming up in August- the first two are available OnDemand. The series is about how the FactoryTalk® Optix™ end-to-end HMI solution can revitalize HMI operations across the equipment lifecycle.
The manufacturing landscape is undergoing a seismic shift. The rise of Industry 4.0, characterized by increasing automation, interconnectivity, and data-driven decision-making, is forcing manufacturers to adapt and embrace new technologies. At the forefront of this transformation lies a powerful tool: industrial data analytics.
By effectively utilizing the vast amount of information generated by automated manufacturing processes, companies are unlocking a treasure trove of insights that are revolutionizing how they operate. This data-driven evolution is propelling manufacturers towards a future of unparalleled efficiency, innovation, adaptability, and competitiveness.
“Industry 4.0” is engineering jargon for the 4th industrial revolution, which is all about digitalization and AI. Enter the other current industry buzz word: digital transformation, which is all about mechanizing as many aspects of a business’ operations as possible. What do these have to do with industrial data analytics? Almost everything.
Industrial analytics refers to the process of gathering, organizing, culling, integrating, and translating raw data into understandable information that is able to be acted upon. Industry 4.0 and digital transformation would not be possible without it.
Consider an automated facility: every sensor, alarm, piece of equipment is constantly generating data. For that to be worth anything to the person standing at the control system panel, that ocean of stats and measures needs to make sense. That requires an integrated system that allows constant, clear, complex communication between devices across the network, and a central HMI that is able to access, affect and generate that information into a context the operator can utilize.
You need industrial analytics to assess, plan and design an automation system, and an automation system also requires analytics to perform all its functions correctly. You can’t have some without the others; Industry 4.0, digital transformation and industrial analytics are inextricably intertwined.
Generally, there are four types of data analysis used in industrial automation solutions:
These data analytics happen in a continuous cycle where descriptive analytics sets the foundation, diagnostic analytics refines the understanding, predictive analytics forecasts future scenarios, and prescriptive analytics suggests actions to optimize those scenarios.
This is a distinct development from Industry 3.0, which was the first emergence of computers, robotics and automation. Data analytics were rudimentary and limited, which led to systems that were opaque, mysterious and problematic. What good is an automated process that generates raw data if, when something goes wrong, there’s no salient way to access a coherent report that tells you why?
Data analytics can be thought of as something of a Rosetta Stone of automation. Where we once had infinite spools of raw data we could barely piece together, leaving much of it unintelligible mess, we now have the technology to translate that data into a usable format, allowing us to unlock the full potential of the knowledge that data can provide. Now that we know how to build control systems that know how to use it, it would be a detriment not to.
When you are able to understand the full picture of what is happening on the floor of your facility in real time, you ensure you truly do have control and oversight covering every detail of your operations. And with the hardware, software and automation services available, any industrial entity can transform their business with these analytical keys to success. Industrial analytics can be applied to virtually every facet of a company’s operations with functions like:
And the benefits don’t stop there. Consider how improved efficiency can reduce energy waste; how increased consistency can lead to better quality; how better visibility can improve network security. It’s the technological incarnation of the old adage, “The more you know”.
Is there such a thing as too much data? Not if you know how to handle it. E Tech Group partners closely with our clients to create comprehensive automation systems that optimize the present and prepare for the future. Our advanced control system solutions utilize automation software that constantly collects, organizes, analyzes and translates usable raw data into information that’s easy to understand and also applicable. Let us help you transform your business with automation system design that won’t leave valuable data resources to waste when they could be used for actionable insights.
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