Digitising a medium-size production facility is not a sprint, it’s an endurance race. Juice manufacturer beckers bester has gone quite a distance, and now the company is taking the next step: a new juice preparation system will be automated and connected with the central ERP system.

What started with the standardisation of the master data has now made great progress. Integrating the juice preparation machine also advances the networking of the machines and the ERP system. The company offers a range of 250 different products, filling its total annual output of 46 million litres into bottles and TetraPak cardboard packages. Carbonated Soft Drink Filling Line

In order to meet the market demands, the juice preparation machine will be automated and equipped with a new WinCC process visualisation system. CSB adds a new PLC to the process management system which, coupled with the visualisation system, will be integrated into the ERP. Besides the optimum maintenance and integration of WinCC, this will increase the degree of automation and the process quality, because stand-alone solutions are avoided. Recipe processing and batch traceability in production is better reflected, and it is possible to generate CIP cleaning batches for optimised quality management. Additionally, the new control system ensures higher flexibility in the preparation of juice while reducing the amount of waste.

In the implementation phase, the consistent information of the system was a great help for us.

In the implementation phase, the consistent information of the system was a great help for us.

Automating the juice preparation machine also lays the foundation for ERP-controlled SSCC management in the high-bay storage facility. Before, all SSCC data was supplied by the Westfalia warehouse management system and returned via an interface. Given the higher degree of integration in production and storage, this task will now be handled by the ERP software. Westfalia is kept as the subsystem for controlling the material flow.

Beckers IT manager Guido Meyer said, “All this enhances the integration of machines and CSB, making our ERP the guiding system.” 

Digitised and automated processes from raw materials to the pallet – it was not always like this. Before the introduction of the CSB-System, there were many stand-alone solutions, key data was only entered and processed sporadically, and most processes were documented on paper. One example for this is the quality and the payment of the raw materials supplied. In the past, this data was captured separately, and the entry involved a lot of work. Today, the integrated Producer Clearing System controls the entire raw material process and brings consistency into quality and prices.

"The integration of existing processes was one of the central issues, especially in the implementation phase. Tthe potential for consistent information of the system was a great help for us, and it ultimately convinced all the staff,” he said. 

The high level of data availability ensures faster processes: today, it takes less than 60 minutes from booking out the order until loading. The tight-knit data capture throughout the operation has ensured higher transparency, which is ultimately reflected in the seamless traceability of processes and products.

Meyer and his internal IT team is working on a sophisticated strategy for better evaluation of data. Cloud computing comes into focus for testing single use cases in order to save resources and free up capacities. For example, in the company’s outlet store, the technical security system (TSS) required by the German cash register regulation was introduced as a cloud-based solution.

 For case studies from CSB-System, visit the website, YouTube or LinkedIn. 

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