Maximizing productivity and boosting efficiency are only a couple of the many significant benefits of applying IoT principles to potato processing lines.

This potential has been seen for some time in other sectors that have used Industry 4.0 technology earlier than others, like the automotive and oil and gas industries.

“The future is bright for the processed food industry to reap large benefits from IoT, and we expect to see a quick ramp-up in adoption from both big- and small-scale operations,” Marco Azzaretti, Director of Marketing at Key Technology, told Potato Business Digital.

IoT is incredibly important but frequently underused. Many operate with equipment that is decades old and have little knowledge of their operations beyond the tons of product coming in and going out.

“Much is based on ‘this is how we’ve always done it’, and the people with the tribal knowledge of how to adjust equipment are retiring,” Nick Maglio, Director of Marketing at Proex Food, added.

There are several reasons to implement IoT, especially with traceability standards starting to spread throughout the market.

Future potato processors will be able to increase productivity, sustainability, and profitability by using data collected from their lines. Jeffry Steemans, the Global Product Manager Digital at Tomra Food, demonstrates how this is coming true.

“The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man, and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment. Those provocative words might have seemed fanciful when they were written by Warren G. Bennis, the internationally-respected organizational consultant, and leadership studies pioneer, in 1991 – but now it is far easier to visualize them coming true,” Steemans explained.

The continual advancement of automation technologies and IoT will undoubtedly make food processing lines more efficient, with a portion of that efficiency coming from less reliance on manual labor while increasing productivity. This is especially critical in environments where workers may be exposed to hazardous circumstances.

There is no ‘One-size-fits-all Answer’ in Process Automation Systems

Processors can manage line operations more holistically by installing process automation systems, which focus on improving throughput and operating efficiency, which in turn boosts the line’s profitability.

You can read the rest of this article in your complimentary copy of Issue 2 of Potato Business Digital 2023 magazine, which you can access by clicking here.