Software organises production in a brewery

Visitors will also be able to test the HMI Multi-Touch technology for industrial environments first hand and gain an overview of smart system architectures connecting zenon data from sensor right up to the cloud.

Industry 4.0 offers great opportunities and challenges for drinks producers. It ensures competitiveness, resource and energy efficiency, quick response to sales markets and increasing individualisation.

The smart brewery of the future will be able to link local, intelligent systems to digital networks of machines and product components. It independently records data from its environment and then uses it in the production process. This means production becomes more flexible, small lot sizes can also be manufactured profitably and predictive maintenance is handled by the machine itself.

The ordering of materials, consumables and even energy management in the beverage manufacturing sector is becoming progressively more automated. Machines that are designed to communicate with different applications contribute to this. As does software that can intelligently connect these machines and offer the operator an ergonomic working environment.

Just as beverage production needs to be open and flexible, so does the software for process and visualisation. “Our zenon software is highly versatile and is preparing beverage manufacturing for the evolution of Industry 4.0,” explains Emilian Axinia, Industry Manager for Food & Beverage at COPA-DATA. “With zenon we're offering a comprehensive toolbox for consistent and ergonomic production, filling and packaging processes. The software operates like a brain, linking individual system functions intelligently with one another.”

At BrauBeviale 2015, Emilian Axinia and his team will demonstrate the smart architecture of zenon. The information flow is far-reaching – from machine sensor data right up to cloud applications and mobile devices. Various server and client models can be deployed. “The variety of interfaces and simple implementation, particularly with existing production equipment, impresses our customers again and again,” concludes Axinia.