Four suppliers in food production and processing talk about trends and innovations

Curious about what's going on in the food industry? And which technical innovations will determine the future? Four suppliers to the food processing and manufacturing industry talk about the smart technical solutions they use to help food producers meet the great challenges of our time.

Technology fuels the future of the food industry

Finding good and skilled personnel, the energy transition, resource scarcity, climate issues and rapidly changing consumer demands. The food industry faces major challenges. That calls for smart solutions. 

Four experts will take you through the most important trends and developments in the food sector. All specialize in developing, making and implementing innovative solutions for the food production process: from machine construction and process technology to complete systems. With their years of experience, they know the industry inside out: Jannes Jansen, director-owner of Jansen Technology, Marc Fortuin, Managing Director at Handtmann Benelux, Marcel de Folter, Manager of Engineering (MT) at FMI ImProvia; Marcel van den Heuvel, Senior Area Sales Manager at GEA.

They will show their technical feats live to the public this spring during the Food Tech Event (May 15 and 16, Brabanthallen, 's-Hertogenbosch). This fair Brings numerous relevant innovations, specifically focused on the food industry, together under one roof.

What have you seen change in recent years; in your own work and in the food industry?

"Due to the shortage of subject specialists on the line, we are getting more and more technological, subject-specific questions," begins Fortuin. "This is why in recent years we have invested in people who, in addition to technical knowledge of machines, also have technological knowledge of the products our customers make. We used to be mainly a machine supplier, now it is more and more an interplay between man, machine and product."

Jansen agrees: "The craft of producing food is a great asset that I think we should preserve. That is possible: thanks to technology! We can ensure that heavy, repetitive work is taken over by machines and robots. People are sometimes afraid of losing their jobs because of robotization and automation. I prefer to turn it around: by investing in technology you can keep your staff on their feet for longer. Skilled specialists can thus continue to practice their profession, achieving greater efficiency. That way you can continue to make beautiful products together."

"Welfare for operators is becoming more of a priority," Van den Heuvel also observes. "This includes creating a healthy working environment. Partly for this reason, among others, we have innovated the CrumbMaster. Dust that sometimes got out in the past now stays inside the machine. Less dust in the environment also means less cleaning of the production area and prevents cross-contamination. It is also difficult to find skilled personnel. Easy operation is therefore a basic requirement. This is possible with user-friendly HMIs (Human Machine Interface, ed.) that work like a smart phone; you can swipe, turn on instructional videos, give cleaning and operating instructions in the desired language, set which operator has access to which actions, track who is doing what, you name it." Flexibility and reducing costs also play a big role, De Folter adds: "People want to be able to run many different products over the same line. Our handling systems are therefore modular and expandable. This allows us to grow with the customer."

Fortuin: "The latest Handtmann VF800 series is scalable in terms of capacity. Therefore, when production capacity increases, the customer does not have to purchase a new machine, but can scale up the existing machine. In addition, food producers are also looking much more for more economical machines; the Fessman smoking and cooking cabinets have therefore been given a higher insulation value so that less heat is lost. With raw materials becoming scarcer, reducing all waste is important; people want a ten-year old line to last another ten years, while maintaining quality, of course. We are increasingly supplying re-engineered machines that have been completely overhauled by the factory."

Jansen: "That's right. We regularly install a new module in an older machine. We call that retrofitting. Like the new module to reduce water consumption. With our water saving system for scale removal for all kinds of fish, for example, you go from 50 liters down to about 20 liters per minute. A serious saving."

What can the food industry expect from you in the near future? Name one innovation you are proud of

De Folter: Our knowledge and expertise is particularly in gripper technology. We can pick up a schnitzel with a super crispy layer of corn flakes around it, but also chocolate, meat products, vegetables and fruit. In our booth at the Food Tech Event, we will soon place a Bowl-feeder test model. That can feather and upright six to seven hundred sweets per minute from poured and dosed bulk, with four sensors to measure the security level."

Jansen: "Two years ago we introduced our first Robotic Operator, R-OP for short. It will soon be doing its thing in our booth. It is the only stainless steel self-functioning robot in the world; fully washable, IP 69, with a very small footprint. In fact, you can take the production worker off the belt and put ROP there, with a safety shield. The robot is stable, does not tire, is accurate and reliable. Ideal for boring repetitive work. ROP is equipped with standard vision cameras, but the software, grippers and applications are customized customer-specific."

"We are betting on fully integrated line automation that can be read out remotely," Fortuin said. "Machines are increasingly evolving into partners who actively contribute and think along. Through an app or the machine's controls, the operator receives important information. When the program is finished, there is a power failure, or that it is time for preventive maintenance. We can also log in to the machines ourselves, although some customers find it a barrier to have an outside view of their machine." "Fortunately, most see the benefits of it," Jansen responds. "Especially when they discover that this way they are helped much faster in case of a breakdown."

Food Factory where GEA Improvia machines are on display

"Remote control is slowly becoming the standard anyway," says Van den Heuvel. "In addition, the food industry is increasingly steering based on data. Measuring is knowing, collecting data gives insight. It enables targeted maintenance and contributes to the efficiency of the process. During the cleaning process of the MaxiDrum, for example, it is now possible to continuously measure the resistance in the drum. This gives enormous reduction on water consumption, because you clean exactly as long as necessary until it is clean. Never too short, and certainly not unnecessarily long. The new ProFry also has an electro-polished frame of the heat exchanger, which means fewer polymers stick to it. That gives 25 to 30 percent reduction on cleaning time during CIPing."

Technology fuels the future of the food industry: what makes suppliers happy?

"Of innovating and thereby helping a customer move forward!" says De Folter. The others nod affirmatively: this energizes all four of them. "Recently we tested a module for Mars," continues De Folter. "They wanted a flexible stickpacker for a kind of fruit tellas, with higher reliability. Less downtime, in other words. We succeeded! What's innovative is that the machine can be adjusted without changing parts to bars of 4 to 20 candies at a speed of 300 bars per minute. These are fun projects. An enthusiastic customer is the icing on the cake."

Jansen also gets happy from being able to think along with the customer: "Especially if they are at a loss for words," he says. "To then sit down together, start drawing and come up with solutions for a customized machine with which they can increase their production, or reduce costs. In short; a solution that allows them to keep their existence, or even increase it; that makes me happy."

Van den Heuvel: "Within GEA, we work internally with Product teams. Several disciplines are represented in these teams; from 'Product-owners', technologists and R&D to Service and Maintenance and Sales. Sparring together from different perspectives accelerates the innovation process from first stroke of the pen to execution. It leads to more ownership and better solutions for the customer. I really enjoy those interactions immensely." 

Fortuin: "We are an international company and do business with customers all over the world. We notice that the industry in the Benelux is very innovative and progressive. Many trends originate in the Netherlands, I am proud of that. It makes our work challenging."

This is what awaits you during your visit to the Food Tech Event

The Food Tech Event will be organized on May 15 and 16 in the Brabanthallen, 's-Hertogenbosch. This trade fair puts a strong focus on technical applications and mechanical engineering in production and processing environments in the food and beverage industry. 

With practical cases in the conference program and a trade floor with various areas, you as a visitor have one place where you can gain practical knowledge within these themes and where you can meet companies that will quickly help you move forward. The Food Tech Event focuses on the following six themes:

1. Machine building, equipment construction and engineering for production and processing lines
2. Food safety and hygiene in production environments
3. Future Food Factory: digitizing and automating
4. Quality management and control
5. Energy management and conservation in the production environment
6. Lifelong Development