Homepage » Process Engineering »

Meet recipes correctly

Manufacturing execution system ensures constant quality in flavour and fragrance production
Meet recipes correctly

Trac-IT, the manufacturing execution system, controls approximately 75 weight based workstations at IFF’s Haverhill plant. The system provides full traceability of the complex recipe formulations made up from thousands of different ingredients and reacts rapidly to changing business requirements. It takes control of the process, ensuring that the correct ingredients are selected, the correct amount added for each recipe step and finally all batches required for a particular end product placed in the mixing vessels.

IFF, which has sales, manufacturing and creative facilities in 31 countries worldwide, is a leading creator and manufacturer of flavours and fragrances used in a wide variety of consumer products as diverse as fine fragrances, toiletries, soaps, detergents, beverages and food products. Over the past six years, Marco and IFF have developed a close and very successful working relationship. Marco manufacturing execution systems are now operational at IFF in Eire, the UK, the Netherlands and New Zealand. The Marco Group is continuing to strengthen its association with the flavours and fragrance manufacturer following the successful implementation of its fourth Trac-IT factory floor efficiency system at IFF’s Haverhill plant. The Marco systems are integrated with IFF’s global SAP ERP installation, with Trac-IT acting as a thin client to SAP. This ensures that real-time data from the factory floor is used to best effect within SAP to provide a measure, control and improve environment that can assure full traceability and react rapidly to changing business requirements. However, the weight based systems offer far more than just recipe formulation and create a perfect starting point for process control of other business critical functions, including vessel cleaning control, stock utilisation and stock replenishment.

Complete control
Given the complexity of the recipes, most of the formulation is based on manual addition, whilst final product blending typically requires the regrouping of up to ten sub-batches. Trac-IT takes control of the process, ensuring not only that each sub-batch is correct but also that all those required for a particular end product are placed in the mixing vessels. The system scans and logs the collected batches and only allows final mixing when every single one has been confirmed as OK. A batch vessel cannot be used for another job until it has been discharged into the large mixing tank. After filling, this tank in turn cannot be loaded with the next job until CIP has taken place and Quality Control has passed the tank for use. The system also allows total control over the vessel cleaning routines to ensure that no cross-contamination can affect product quality.
Flexible workstations
The stainless steel DataMaster workstations are designed for optimum operator flexibility and the installations include both fixed and mobile units for maximum working efficiency. Fully ATEX certified units are utilised in designated hazardous areas within the plants. In view of the routing complexity, all workstations are connected via an industrial-specification RF wireless LAN, which keeps wiring to a minimum. The mobile stations are completely independent and use the trucks’ power supplies to run the terminal. Where possible, dual scale DataMasters offer optimum precision, allowing widely differing target weights to be weighed at one location. The Trac-IT system is aimed at providing full control and traceability at every stage, ensuring that the correct ingredients are selected and the correct amount added for each recipe step. The operator can only proceed if these conditions are met. The scheduled work plan is downloaded to the workstations automatically from SAP and the batches filtered to ensure the correct permissions are granted. These are then forwarded to the relevant workstations, depending on the materials and weight requirements to complete the batch. The display at each station shows all manufacturing instructions together with any pre- and post-weighing prompts that may be appropriate, including relevant health and safety instructions as well as general product information. Operators select the job they wish to complete and are prompted for the first ingredient. The correct raw material selection is then confirmed by scanning the barcode, thus ensuring that the right batch or lot has been selected and recorded. All the scanners incorporate RF wireless technology to ensure that each operator can easily locate the barcodes on the bulk containers without the added constraints of a cable. Every time material is used, the system sends the data to SAP to downgrade the stock level.
Although the workstations are PC based, the operator has the advantage of an analogue bar graph which guides the pour to target. It has been shown that this is an effective method for displaying and controlling operator initiated filling processes. Weights below the target are shown as amber, changing to green in the acceptance zone. In practice, Marco has found that operators rapidly tune in to such displays and stop adding the raw material nearer to the minimum tolerance than the maximum. If operators allow too much product to be poured, the graph goes red and an out-of-tolerance message appears, preventing them from proceeding further. However, if too much of a raw material has been added under supervisory control, the batch can be automatically re-sized, whereby all target weights are recalculated without affecting batch composition. There is no doubt that both IFF and its customers are benefiting from the level of control that Trac-IT has brought to its operations.
cpp 455

Trac-IT
DataMaster
Platform – IT in produktion
All Whitepaper

All whitepapers of our industry pages

Current Whitepaper

New filtration technology for highly corrosive media


Industrie.de Infoservice
Vielen Dank für Ihre Bestellung!
Sie erhalten in Kürze eine Bestätigung per E-Mail.
Von Ihnen ausgesucht:
Weitere Informationen gewünscht?
Einfach neue Dokumente auswählen
und zuletzt Adresse eingeben.
Wie funktioniert der Industrie.de Infoservice?
Zur Hilfeseite »
Ihre Adresse:














Die Konradin Verlag Robert Kohlhammer GmbH erhebt, verarbeitet und nutzt die Daten, die der Nutzer bei der Registrierung zum Industrie.de Infoservice freiwillig zur Verfügung stellt, zum Zwecke der Erfüllung dieses Nutzungsverhältnisses. Der Nutzer erhält damit Zugang zu den Dokumenten des Industrie.de Infoservice.
AGB
datenschutz-online@konradin.de