Baking & Snack - April 2021 - 77

OPERATIONS
IoT and Maintenance

SENSE OF
THINGS TO COME

Investing further in IoT
and new technologies
keeps operations up
and running.

by Dan Malovany

Predicting the future is much better than any ounce of prevention. Unfortunately, most bakeries don't have soothsayers or psychic engineers with a sixth sense for identifying
a problem before it happens. However, investing in digital
technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) for maintenance can be the next best sensible option for preventing an
unplanned stoppage before it occurs.
" Imagine a machine with sensors that not only collects thousands of data points, but constantly examines
that data to find condition-based changes and anomalies
that can predict a problem before it becomes a downtime
event, " noted Rowdy Brixey, president, Brixey Engineering.
" Today's modern control systems are well-suited for
IoT integration. "
For decades, bakeries and snack producers have relied
on preventative maintenance as the best defense to avoid
something going terribly wrong, but many operations now
have embraced new tools and control systems that are more
proactive in nature.
" The problem with preventative maintenance is you're
changing things on a routine schedule whether it's on hours
or by date, " explained Dave Watson, baking and snack subject matter expert, The Austin Co. " Predictive maintenance
allows you to anticipate when something is going to fail and
perform maintenance activities on that equipment before it
fails and do it during a planned downtime event. "
In the most simplified manner, sensors along with PLCs
or other controls gather data, then send it through internet or cloud-based technology to a platform to integrate

and process it using analytics to generate an action plan. It
doesn't necessarily replace a preventative maintenance program. Rather, it enhances it.
" Leveraging IoT allows you to use sensors and other
monitoring techniques to determine when something
might fail ahead of time so you're not changing out a motor in the middle of the night. You're able to order the parts
and do that work on a traditional down day in your plant, "
Mr. Watson said. " Too many times with preventative maintenance, we just have a list. We have to grease the oven. We
have to change out the belts. We have to change the filter
out. Using technologies to monitor the condition of equipment, whether it's filter pressure or temperature or vibration or the condition of oil in a gearbox, allows you to do
maintenance in a planned way. "
Moreover, determining the return on investment isn't
difficult. Just imagine what it cost a bakery the last time a
mixer, divider or another key component failed.
" You're possibly avoiding an unplanned environment
where there are operators standing around and sending
people home halfway through their shifts, " Mr. Watson
said. " If you don't have a part, you have to air freight parts
to the bakery. There's a way to put an ROI on this because
many sensors are not expensive at all. "

Sensors now collect real-time
data that can be analyzed
to possibly prevent a costly
breakdown on an oven before
it actually happens.
©Studio Romantic - stock.adobe.com

Making sense of it all
Relying on sensors provides an affordable way to monitor the lifeline of every major system in a bakery at any
given time.

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Baking & Snack - April 2021

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