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 of Equipment at SIG, said, “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 and configuring the optimal long-term infrastructure to handle any operational demand flexibly. 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 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 added, “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 several processes, including defining the product category to be filled and in which packaging format and the number of packs needed and which closures to use. To date, many manufactures have relied upon paper-based recipe management processes, and this handling results in more manual work and 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. With this innovation, SIG customers are set to achieve even more flexibility and efficiency in their production process.