Platform for the food and beverage industry
And that adds a lot of value for users. A conversation with Marc Everaert of ifm electronic about the smart sensors of today and tomorrow.
Automation systems for food production depend on the data that sensors feed them. Among other things, they keep track of pressure, temperature, flow rate and level for different applications. Not surprisingly, the food industry has quickly moved down the path of digitization. "That is also the path we chose at ifm by resolutely opting for IO-Link," opens Marc Everaert, general manager ifm Belgium. "This was done from the conviction that OT and IT would grow closer together. Because of the experience that, both we and the food industry already had with the AS-i standard, the move to IO-Link was a relatively small step, but the right one."
Indeed, the benefits this brings are invaluable to food companies and can be boiled down to one element: digital communication from shopfloor to topfloor and back. "This ensures higher accuracy (and thus quality), because there is no need to translate from analog to digital. For greater ease of use, because configuration, monitoring, fault diagnosis can now all be done remotely. And above all, more insight into production because all levels, from the field to the cloud, can talk to each other," Everaert said. ifm electronic puts this into practice with its Linerecorder, a software gateway that enables two-way communication to and from IO-Link sensors. The data that sensors capture can be fed directly to the ERP system via this gateway and need not pass through the PLC. This opens up opportunities for data logging, predictive maintenance and improving energy efficiency, among other things. For example, ifm's new LDL sensors can identify whether process media is currently flowing through your piping, cleaning products from your CIP process or purely water. Information critical to optimizing your CIP process toward less consumption of water, chemicals and energy.
Moreover, the specific conditions in food processing environments and the high hygiene requirements, require customized sensors. Everaert: "Thirty years ago, we decided as a company to make the food industry a priority. Why? It is a sector that is experiencing continuous, steady development and just needs proprietary solutions resistant to the sometimes high temperatures and pressures associated with the intensive cleaning processes. We therefore started to develop specific sensors, couplings, electrical connections ... A range that has continued to deepen over the years, even down to analytical sensors capable of measuring product quality. That makes us a one-stop shop for the solutions the food industry is looking for." A great example of that focus is the GWR level sensor. Using radar technology, it measures the distance from the sensor to the surface of the medium. What's special is that it can do this trick for different process media, at different temperatures and also does not suffer from foaming or product build-up on the measurement probe. The measurement probe which, by the way, is designed completely according to the EHEDG principles of hygienic design and exists in different lengths according to the application.
In recent years, thanks to these developments, sensors grew to become crucial components for making food production more flexible. In seconds, sensors can be recalibrated and are thus ready for the next product batch. For example, they only need to know which type of fruit yogurt is next, to know which values will indicate the right mixture. In this way, they help watch over production quality." In the future, sensors will move even more in this direction. "They already contain a microcontroller and thus built-in intelligence. In time, sensors will evolve into independent edge controllers that also immediately process the information they capture to make adjustments in real time. The world is up to smart sensors," Everaert concludes.
