DIGITALISATION
“I consider digital transformation as being a critical strategic priority…It is a crucial driver of business transformation – our ability to harness data, analytics and technology is the key to our continued competitive advantage”
While Nestlé LATAM has only just begun its journey, as it
progresses digitalisation is expected to increasingly become transformational and disruptive. “Digitalisation breaks down silos, making the entirety of our
business visible. Inevitably this transforms the way we think, work and engage,” explains Laurent. “We act as one team from start to finish. In the connected Nestlé world, colleagues, suppliers, customers and consumers are linked. We see changes in demand or along the supply chain in real time, and adapt and respond in real time.” “It does not end there. Digitalisation also allows us to be
predictive. It gives us the ability to better understand the consumer journey so that we can see not just what the consumer is doing now, but what they might do,” adds Laurent. “The implications are powerful. New opportunities for our brands, faster innovation, and new products perfectly tailored to our customers’ rapidly changing needs. “Digitalisation empowers our teams, it brings us closer
to the consumer, it supports efficiency and growth, and it helps enable our sustainability agenda – information about sustainable packaging, responsible sourcing, climate change and water management all become transparent so that we can hold ourselves to account. It’s good for the business and it’s good for the planet!”
Smart factory goals Swiss chocolate wafer producer, Kägi Söhne AG is in the process of creating a smart factory, with the goal of having its entire machine park digitally networked and all process data visualised by 2024. Kägi took its first steps towards this digitalisation goal in
2019 when, with the help of Bühler, it conducted a Performance Assessment Workshop to identify where improvements could be made in its chocolate wafer production process. “Our vision is to produce the perfect Kägi every day, whether it is 30°C in summer or minus 10°C in winter,” explained Pascal Grin, Chief Operating Officer of Kägi Söhne AG. After all factors relevant to the production were analysed,
the teams identified areas for improvement and defined plans to address them going forward. The quality of Kägi’s products has always been high, pointed out Pascal, but the goal is to ensure a high level of quality without production interruption and with fewer product rejects. One of the first actions taken was to connect most of Kägi’s
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production to the Bühler Insights platform – a digital tool that connects devices, operational metrics, and analytics. Using this technology has seen the level of transparency on process and machine data increase significantly. “Between 25 to 30 data points per machine connected to the Insights platform enables both operating staff and management to take decisions based on data, facts, and figures. This is of special interest for our continuous improvement process,” says Kristina Polic, Project Lead Smart Factory 2024, and Continuous Improvement Manager at Kägi. These new insights result in greater transparency across
the plant – from raw materials, to baking and filling of wafer sheets, and to chocolate coating – data can now be recorded, analysed, and interpreted at any time. In addition, all process- relevant data and KPIs for each production step can be visualised via dashboards to enable each operator to see how well their process is performing and to take the necessary action when needed. This results in higher performance and optimisation of processes. By linking and visualising the data, Kägi expects to see an Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) increase of between 5% and 8%. “We are already using the data in real time and our employees can react immediately to fluctuations in quality, thus preventing unplanned downtime. For us, this leads to cost savings and an uncomplicated overview of the process,” says Pascal. Another advantage is that, by connecting processes, devices,
and data, the company will also be supported in addressing key issues related to sustainability, such as measuring its environmental impacts. Kägi adopted Bühler’s Environmental Quantification Service for its entire factory to allow it to measure its environmental footprint according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
An unavoidable opportunity As one of the world’s largest chewing-gum and confectionery manufacturers, Perfetti Van Melle’s is on a mission to create produce new and innovative products for its customers around the globe – preferably with the lowest possible environmental impact. To help it achieve this goal it knew that digitalisation of its production lines would be unavoidable. So, when it set out to improve a packaging line to raise both
productivity and quality, Perfetti Van Melle chose to modernise an existing plant to accommodate a new product format. A number of aspects needed to be considered as part of the
modernisation project, including a requirement for virtually no product waste to ensure greater sustainability. Another important aspect was the improvement of workstation ergonomics and it wanted to be able to acquire real-time production data. To meet the project’s goals, Perfetti Van Melle partnered
with Marchiani, an Italian company with expertise in industrial automation. “Thanks to our collaboration with Marchiani, we were able to boost our efficiency level and were able to use our resources and materials more effectively,” said Roberto Ripa, Plant Manager at Perfetti Van Melle’s site in Lainate, Italy. To get these results, Marchiani identified the project
requirements and, after consulting with Siemens, it was decided to implement a Siemens solution that uses the open edge computing platform – Industrial Edge – which would allow for the required acquisition, storage and analysis of plant data, directly on the plant floor.
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