Trade press release

GEA helps breweries to harness sustainability KPIs through AI

17 Oct 2023

GEA has integrated predictive AI elements into its real-time monitoring solution for breweries to advance the sustainability of brewing processes. Developed in collaboration with project partners, GEA InsightPartner Brewery monitors production performance in real time, anticipates anomalies and suggests improvements. In addition to conventional brewhouse data, the system now analyzes sustainability performance indicators based on energy consumption and heat recovery in the process cycle.

GEA InsightPartner, monitor your brewery performance

Breaking out of data silos

“The driving force behind this innovation was the desire to control the sustainability of the brewing process from within production,” recalls Dr. Mark Schneeberger, Senior Director Product Development, Design and Research for GEA’s breweries business. “First, we needed to track and correlate events in our real-life environment. Next, we added self-learning AI to the software. This lets breweries better understand and solve problems. Instead of analyzing data, brewmasters can again focus on brewing. GEA InsightPartner Brewery is a tool to manage their sustainability.”

Brewing process efficiency is determined in production by balancing the productivity, quality and sustainability triad. In many cases, brewery operators have to rely on isolated sensors attached to the individual components. Yet temperatures, pressures and flow rates don’t add up to a complete picture, nor do they allow overall system performance to be predicted. The complexity is compounded by fluctuations in input material properties and the fact that breweries often produce many beer varieties at the same time. With the new software release, brewers can break out of the data silos with well-presented analytics that put them firmly in the driver’s seat when it comes to managing their data ecosystem.

The path to the golden batch

GEA InsightPartner achieves this through predictive analytics, combining trend curves and forecasting models to determine performance indicators up front. Instead of waiting for one brew to finish before making adjustments for the next, the process can be improved mid-brew – for instance, by fine-tuning energy recovery as the wort boils, or by correcting imbalances in the energy storage system.

For performance issues that call for operator attention, the system provides predictive focus cards that show potential for improvement on the fly. Rather than signaling process events as with a control system alarm, the focus cards flag undesirable trends that impair productivity, quality or sustainability. GEA InsightPartner Brewery autonomously detects anomalies and continuously presents them for remote display. On request, GEA’s process engineers will log in and make recommendations. The AI’s predictive capability is refined with each recorded brew. Ultimately, this brings the brewery ever closer to the golden batch – the optimum brew with maximum quality and minimal resource input.

Fig. 3: AI’s predictive capability is refined with each recorded brew. This brings the brewery ever closer to the golden batch – the optimum brew with maximum quality and minimal resource input. Source: GEA

AI’s predictive capability is refined with each recorded brew. This brings the brewery ever closer to the golden batch – the optimum brew with maximum quality and minimal resource input. Source: GEA

Goodbye recipe-based brewing, hello flexible condition brewing

Field trials at renowned breweries confirm that AI-assisted process optimization enhances brewery performance, bolsters energy efficiency, cuts operating costs and increases safety. “GEA InsightPartner delivers results in an accessible format for all areas of the brewery, where clear, comparable, readily available data was previously lacking,” is how Schneeberger sums it up. “For us, advanced analytics is definitely the right way to fuse sustainability with decision making in daily brewery operations. GEA’s smart technology marks a key milestone for breweries, paving the way to condition-based production – so that brewers can at last stick to the business of brewing once more.”

Contact

Fanny Förster

Phone: 49 211 9136 1504

GEA の概要

GEA は、世界レベルの食品製造プロセス技術を有するとともに、乳業、飲料、パーソナル・ホームケア、化学など食品以外の幅広い分野にも実績があり、2019年度の連結売上高は約49億ユーロとなりました。

最先端のプロセスソリューションと洗練されたプロセス機器を世界中のお客様に提供している国際企業です。 GEA は、お客様が抱える課題やニーズに対して、経験・実績に基づいた最適なソリューションを提供致します。。当グループでは、長期的に成長している食品と飲料分野が売上の約70%を占めています。2018年12月31日の時点で、GEAの総従業員数は約18,500人です。GEA は自社のビジネスエリアにおいて市場とテクノロジーのリーダーとなっています。当社は、ドイツ株価指数の MDAX主要銘柄に採用されています。
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