Baking&Snack - April 2017 - 106

AUTOMATION

New HMIs and other components, such as water metering systems,
can be added to older mixers to provide better control of the process.

ible graphics capabilities - so much so that it looks on
the screen like you are actually viewing the process in
operation."
However, upgrading data management systems without
enhancements in the actual equipment can often go only
so far. "Upgrading the PLC and HMI controls provide better data and possibly control but do not have a great effect
on production efficiency," Mr. Favors said. "For example,
you may be able to get better control of the burner circuit
allowing you to more accurately regulate the temperature,
but you are not really affecting the efficiency of the burner
if mechanical upgrades do not coincide with the software/
hardware upgrades."
Additionally, bakers need to ensure they're getting the
greatest long-term return on investment (ROI) when it
comes to switching out industrial controls that may have
a much shorter lifecycle than the stainless-steel equipment
that actually does the processing. In today's bakery, evaluating reliability and risk are integral parts of the capital
spending process.
"Every baker wants to get some sort of an ROI on capital monies that they spend," Mr. Harrington said. "But not
all upgrades can show the ROI. So, sometimes you have to
look at potential cost avoidance for the baker. A PLC can be
so old that there are no spare units or parts available. Then
you have to determine if this PLC were to fail tomorrow,
how long would the line be down? How will that downtime
affect the baker's production commitments? Will this line
downtime result in a customer base loss?"

Building a bridge
To help connect the new with the old, many bakers need
custom solutions. "ABI can offer custom SCADA software

106 Baking & Snack April 2017 / www.bakingandsnack.com

solutions that can export data automatically for either the
customer to manipulate off line or assist with a custom link
development on a case-by-case basis to meet the needs of
the end-user," said Stephen Renaud, vice-president, sales
and product development, ABI Ltd. "Each company has
different protocols and systems, so it means no one solution fits all."
Waste can be reduced dramatically by using an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system properly. "A solid
scheduling system methodology needs to be established
and then used with the ERP system," said Bob White, president of Focus Works. "This will include scheduling of orders, forecasting and/or inventory levels."
An ERP system can create projected production schedules that can be finalized on a daily basis. "This enables
specific handling of work orders as well as material requirements planning," Mr. White said. "Expected yields can then
be compared to actual production to properly calculate and
maintain efficiency and greatly reduce losses."
Focus Works also handles food safety processes electronically, removing the use of paper on the floor as well as
eliminating operator errors.
"All processes are monitored, allowing management to
be alerted when specific tasks or procedures have not been
done or properly executed," Mr. White said.
To manage warehouse inventory and product distribution more effectively, MiT Systems cloud-based, Webordering portal provides around-the-clock visibility to
customer order fulfillment managed by cut-off times by
product and can be accessed from any mobile or desktop
device with Internet capability, noted Mark Maraj, vicepresident, sales and marketing.
Today's software offers time-saving features not available
just five years ago. "Picture-taking and image-capture capabilities with edge-detection continue to advance, which has
expedited billing cycles and improved accountability," Mr.
Maraj pointed out. "Additionally, our software can generate
and read 2-D barcodes that encode much more information versus a 1-D barcode that holds fewer than 85 characters. With 2-D technology, a company can read up to 4,000
characters, which can be helpful when ingredients and
product lot tracking information is involved."
Additionally, GPS helps companies know what's going
on with their distribution system at any given time with
configurable dashboard displays that show service times,
vehicle locations, perpetual inventory and transactional invoicing details on each route.
Moreover, MiT's middleware software can serve as a link
between its new handheld devices and a bakery's legacy
system. With middleware software acting as a go-between
that can supplement various data fields and existing system functionality gaps, bakers don't have to change out
or upgrade their ERP system or accounting software with

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