GEA to showcase new digital solutions for automated sliced meat production at IFFA 2022

12 May 2022 --- GEA is showcasing new digital solutions on a 24-meter-long production line for sliced meat, including new packaging technology, at IFFA in Frankfurt, Germany (May 14-19). The line will highlight a user-oriented control interface called GEA SmartControl HMI, a machine condition remote monitoring tool called GEA PerfomancePlus, and a digital line control platform called GEA LineControl for automatizing production processes. 

The internationally-operating company’s digital products and services are designed to increase the availability of its machines and units and the productivity of its customers. This availability creates large-scale efficiency and competitive advantages for food processing companies.

GEA SmartControl HMI
GEA SmartControl HMI (Human-Machine Interface) is a newly-developed user interface for food processing and packaging units. GEA’s user-centric development approach focuses on the production facilities’ individual users. This development included mapping the needs of the individual user groups and taking them into account accordingly.

The interface’s smart functions for line integration offer immediate added value for line applications, which can be used immediately and without further configuration. GEA SmartControl HMI enables more than just integration with GEA equipment – it also provides access to third-party user interfaces.

The platform also delivers “unprecedented levels” of transparency over current and historical process data and events. The multi-touch display’s highly modular and hygienic hardware design allows for ergonomic operation that meets the most complex user requirements.Multi-touch widescreen display of the new GEA SmartControl HMI.

GEA PerformancePlus
Meanwhile, GEA PerformancePlus offers customers service packages that deliver more than classic remedial maintenance. The packages are an ideal complement to an Industry 4.0 strategy, the company says, covering the issues of condition monitoring and predictive maintenance.

Customers can choose from a range of services tailored to their needs. For example, based on data from online condition monitoring and expert knowledge, critical assemblies are monitored and can be replaced before a fault occurs. Error messages are recorded on the units, analyzed and prioritized and sent to the customer in a report. Unit process parameters can be made directly available to the customer’s control systems.

This system gives customers valuable information for decisions on how to use their units more cost-effectively – even if unforeseen circumstances arise. The concept creates transparency about the actual condition of the units, identifies the potential for increasing availability, and boosts productivity and reduces losses, all of which increase profitability. This efficiency optimization facilitates the sustainable management of the respective packaging line.At IFFA, GEA is showcasing top digital performance — including a fully automated slicing and packaging line for calibrated products that uses recyclable monomaterial film.

GEA LineControl
This control system seamlessly monitors the performance and condition of the production line in general and each individual machine in the line network in detail in real-time. GEA has focused on the control system’s easy operation, which automates processes and procedures for the entire line.

This functionality increases safety while reducing downtime, rework, and wasted energy and resources. All of this ultimately allows food manufacturers to operate more efficiently and deliver higher quality products. This digital solution alerts users when the line needs maintenance, service or repair and uses data to inform them how to extend the equipment’s life and increase productivity.

In other news, GEA has reengineered its H-Packer SO Plus for long-cut pasta packaging by integrating a faster and technologically advanced system, comprising a double-dosing unit and a continuous motion packaging machine. The company showcased the solution at Ipack-IMA in Milan, Italy.

Edited by Joshua Poole