Endress Hauser
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SICK and Endress+Hauser sign strategic partnership
German sensor company SICK and the Swiss measurement and automation technology specialist Endress+Hauser have agreed on a strategic partnership. Endress+Hauser will take over worldwide sales and service of SICK’s process analyzers and gas flowmeters, with a joint venture to be established for their production and further development. The aim of the partnership is to provide customers with even better support in increasing their efficiency and sustainability.
SICK and Endress+Hauser signed a joint memorandum of understanding for a strategic partnership in October 2023. Since then, the project has been examined and plans for implementing the cooperation have been drawn up. Following approval by the respective supervisory bodies, representatives of both companies have now signed a corresponding agreement. The closing of the transaction is planned for the turn of the year 2024/2025 and is subject to approval by antitrust authorities.
General Mills and Brau Union Take Aim at Factory Electricity Bills
The average factory electricity bill varies across the manufacturing industry. The dairy industry hovers around 5% to 8%, and breweries cite 5% to 10% of their operating costs on energy. Factory electricity bills for meat processors can reach 15%, and the sugar industry touches 30%.
Operators have been adding equipment sensors and “quick-win” automation tools to produce more actionable data, while management is going big with evaluations of energy management systems. “Advances in instrumentation by various manufacturers have significantly enhanced data collection and analysis,” says Tim Barthel, executive vice president at Cybertrol Engineering. “Modern systems now offer far more data than what was realized from an analog signal just four years ago.”
Freshwater consumption per peeler is reduced to 0.5 to 2 gal./thousand (GPM) during regular operation. The recycled water is drained and flushed periodically. Moreover, the OEM also offers an option via its system starch separator for its line of Lamina Hydrocutting equipment. According to Vanmark, traditional potato processing includes 2% of water being bled out and is continuously replaced with clean water. The supplier’s system starch separator creates a cyclone in the line that pushes the starchiest water to the pipe’s edge and removes the water. This new feature reduces water consumption for the “bleeding process” while providing the right level of cleaning.
Recently, General Mills worked with ThinkIQ and used its machine learning algorithms to forecast a savings of $480,000 annually with the food and beverage giant’s energy bills. ThinkIQ’s software as a service (SaaS) platform identifies and forecasts “blind spots” within manufacturing sites by implementing an informational model to capture data, visualize plant applications and promote machine learning.
Wireless instrumentation communication propels plant processes
As companies adopt and leverage digitalization, they are implementing smart systems and adding connectivity to data sources to improve operations and empower their workforces. This trend is especially apparent in the field, where process instrumentation and other common devices, like valve actuators, increasingly provide a wealth of diagnostic information.
To make best use of this trend, some plants are implementing programs for communicating diagnostic data to reliability team members, who can use the information to proactively address issues, reduce unscheduled outages, and improve operational performance. For example, an intelligent pressure transmitter can detect early signs of failure, or a smart valve actuator can sense when actuator mechanisms start to stick.