This news article was originally written in Spanish. It has been automatically translated for your convenience. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace a human translator. The original article in Spanish can be viewed at Nestlé automatiza la producción de alimentos infantiles hipoalergénicos

Nestlé Automates the production of childish foods hipoalergénicos

02/02/2012

2 February 2012

Nestlé automates the production of childish foods hipoalergénicos with an alone network Ethernet/IP and the solutions of Rockwell Automation and Endress+Hauser.

With his 650 employees, the factory of Nestlé in Biessenhofen is one of the biggest installations of the company in Germany, recognised like a centre of competition for the production of foods hipoalergénicos for baby. The factory also produces the marks of pastas of cereals Alete and Drink, as well as clinical liquid nutrition. Other products done in Biessenhofen include the beverages to base of coffee NescaféXpresses and the sauces Thomy. Nestlé Has expanded the factory and more than duplicated his capacity of production.

Rockwell Automation Has participated from the beginning in the equipment of the new installations because of his excellent reputation and experience in the industry of manufacture of foods. Rockwell Automation, that already works with Nestlé to scale world-wide, was selected like the provider of the system for the new project. In concrete, facilitated cabinets of control, systems of control and units of AC, as well as a wide range of hardware Allen-Bradley to automate the new factory. The project began in the summer of 2009 and the production initiated in the summer of 2011.

Antecedents

The methods of production of the industry of foods are oriented to the demands of the market, amongst other factors. The fundamental requirements of the market include the capacity to react quickly to new situations, keep the transparency in the processes of production increasingly complex and control the costs. The daily work in Nestlé Biessenhofen includes an accurate selection of raw materials, process them with the highest levels of precision, and keep a constant control of the quality in the distinct stages of the process of production. Neither that say has to the hygiene and the norms of control of quality go much more there of the normal legal requirements.

Challenge

In Biessenhofen, Nestlé wanted to enter a totally integrated cheese cheese solution in an entirely new centre and automate it from beginning to end. The project consisted in the automation of the barren filling and the sections of packaging, as well as of the area of production. The production of foods hipoalergénicos for babies is a so complex mechanism that it would be difficult to manage without the control of computer-aided processes that operate inside some levels of tolerance very strict. Each stage of the process has to be managed, controlled and documented.

Nestlé Established several strategic and technological aims for the project of automation in Biessenhofen. One of them was the optimisation of the levels of tolerance and the capacity to reproduce easily the processes. Another was to improve the guarantee of quality, verification and trazabilidad of the batches. The company also wanted to increase the flexibility of the machine and the functions of the processes. In the operational plane, Nestlé wanted to minimise the losses and the turns of night, while they reduced the hand-held costs of work and time of production. The plant of Biessenhofen also commissioned of the optimisation of the surface of production, of the inventory and of the general control of the costs.

Solution

Nestlé Thought that the standard approach of Ethernet was crucial for the installation, since it facilitates the planning and visualisation of all the productive process. The control of the process does easier in the network And/S by means of switches centralised that help to optimise the availability and to detect any problem before they cause a mechanical failure. The performance and the flexibility of the devices of field –and his integration– is another reason by which the team of the project of Nestlé selected to Rockwell Automation. “Nestlé Already has implemented several projects with Rockwell Automation and Endress+Hauser”, signals Florian Schreyer, engineer of Automation of Nestlé. “Both companies have adapted his products and systems to the specific needs of the alimentary industry. His availability all over the world helps to keep the systems and the applications along his cycle of life”.

To support the processes of production, requested him to Rockwell Automation the supply and the installation of cockpits, 50 programmable controllers of automation (PACs) ControlLogix of Allen-Bradley with the switches corresponding, and around 150 units of AC PowerFlex (0,75\1kW\2- 315 KW). All the technology of automation bases in ControlLogix and includes FieldCare (the tool of management of active of plant of Endress+Hauser), units PowerFlex with the characteristic of safe disconnection, Flex/Point I/Or, Ethernet /IP, Stratix and technology of switches integrated.

One of the advantages of the solution based in Ethernet/IP of Rockwell Automation is that it bears complete processes in all the production of the plant and facilitates the integration of the devices of network and of field in the surroundings of Rockwell Automation. “Almost so prompt like the team of Nestlé began to speak of Ethernet/IP, Endress+Hauser turned into part of the equation”, says Manfred Rothen, director of sales for Germany of Rockwell Automation. “The association between Endress+Hauser and Rockwell Automation, and the strategy and the development of products of the two companies, left clear that were very ranged with the steering that Nestlé wanted to carry”. Endress + Hauser, partner of the program Encompass and Alliance of Rockwell Automation, already had installed the new technology Ethernet/IP in the start of the project Biessenhofen when it implemented the caudalímetros Coriolis Promass, that fits to perfection with the concept of Rockwell Automation foreseen.

The project Biessenhofen, that began in the summer of 2009 and initiated his production in the summer of 2011, has been a success for all the involved. Together with the hardware, Rockwell Automation also provided the design of the system through his solutions and business services and ensured to fulfil with the more standard heights. The company also produced cabinets of control and delivered them, smart for his installation, to Nestlé. This helped to save a significant quantity of time in the hardware of set up. The personnel of production and the directors of Nestlé have put some big expectations in the sustainable development and, especially, in the production without problems, that is exactly the area where find the strong points of Rockwell Automation. The factory benefits of the technology of automation structured and modulate, what facilitates the fast and flexible enlargements of the system. Besides, the types of system and the technology in Biessenhofen are available and can be used all over the world, helping to support the management of the system on a long-term basis.

Together, Rockwell Automation and Endress+Hauser, provide a system tested and integrated. “Like result, the user can analyse data in real time of the plant of production in business systems of high level. This helps to that the customers impr

The use of standard solutions of the industry by part of the team of Nestlé does that the works of maintenance and adjust them of the system are much easier. “We are expecting that Ethernet/IP was a proof of future”, says Florian Schreyer. “It has contributed the big advantage that it gives us access centralised to the greater part of the information of the plant”.

Solutions

- A concept of integrated automation of Rockwell Automation and Endress+Hauser, that includes:

- 50 programmable controllers (PACs) ControlLogix of Allen-Bradley with the corresponding parameters

- Around 150 units of CA PowerFlex (0,75\1kW\2- 315 KW)

- Infrastructure of network Ethernet/IP for the communication of processes of extreme to extreme

- Flex/Point I/Or

- Technology of switches integrated Stratix

- Caudalímetros Coriolis Promass of Endress+Hauser