Material performance in the food industry

Material flow in the food industry: how does data improve performance?

In activities such as the food industry, the raw material is a major element in the cost of production. At the same time, awareness about waste is becoming widespread, and the proper use of raw materials is becoming a strong focus of corporate CSR approaches. It is therefore essential to deal with the subject of material performance.

What is material performance?

If you are interested in material flows, the easiest way to identify areas of work is to start with a flow map.

The destinations of the raw material are multiple and it is possible to classify them according to their level of valuation.

• The finished product (s) valued commercially.
• Non-compliant productions, which can either be recovered at a discount, or recycled at an additional cost, or end up as non-recovered waste.
• Co-products, produced mechanically at the same time as the products and that can be valorized.
• Effluents, discharges and other losses. That is all the other flows that will not be valued.

On this basis, the objective is to maximize the valorization of the flow of raw material into finished products and co-products.

Where to look for material performance?

To improve material performance, it is necessary to work at various levels:

On finished products

The risk of material loss on finished products can come from several aspects:

• Poor weight control during packaging: too much variability observed in weight leads to the aim for a higher weight to meet regulatory requirements, with the immediate consequence of increasing the material consumed for a given commercial weight.
• The composition of the finished product: poorly controlled, it leads to the consumption of too much raw material to meet the minimum compositions of the product specifications, or to excessive quality (for example if the fat/protein level is poorly controlled in the case of dairy products, more milk will have to be consumed).
• Finally, non-qualities: non-compliant products, either recycled (and in this case generate losses due to the reprocessing efficiency), or valued at a lower price on the market, or lost as waste.

On the product/co-product mix

Depending on the level of valorization of the various products and co-products, and provided that this is possible both technically and from a market point of view, it may be interesting to work on the product/co-product mix and determine the best operating point to maximize the valorization of the material.

On the unit steps of the process

By working on a material balance of the process, it is possible to trace the material performance of each of the unit steps, workshop, line by measuring material yields or losses. From this material it will be possible to identify losses related to: product degradation, washing and leaks of materials found in the effluents...

On the raw material itself

Agricultural materials all have a certain degree of variability in composition to a greater or lesser extent. Measuring and monitoring these compositions is critical for raw materials to be accounted for at fair value.

In this context, what can data contribute to the control of material flows?

Measure and visualize flows, losses and returns

As performance starts with measurement, collecting and processing data relating to material flows continuously (including traceability and genealogy elements) will make it possible to set up metrics to closely monitor material performance:

• Material balance with all measured flows.
• Quantification and visualization of loss flows.
• Quantification of material yields over all phases of the process.

By making this information available to the teams, continuously and without any preparation effort, they will be much more aware of these subjects and in a position to react quickly to possible excesses. In addition, simplified access to process parameter data will allow them to facilitate their investigations and to feed the process of continuous improvement and research into the root causes of abuses.

Identify critical parameters to reduce losses and optimize returns

Thanks to analysis tools (Machine Learning), it is possible to identify parameters correlated with material yields and losses much more quickly and then put them under control. The data thus supports a 6-Sigma approach to put processes under control.

Put critical parameters under control

To continue in the logic of the 6-Sigma approach, the data makes it possible to comprehensively and effectively set up control maps on critical parameters (including the weights and compositions of the finished products). The data makes it possible to set up automatically generated control maps, with notifications in case of drift according to the classic SPC rules, in place of paper control cards. They can thus be deployed on a larger scale and ensure finer monitoring of processes.

In the same way, it will be possible, through Good First Shot approaches, to put in place controls to drastically reduce non-conformities and related material losses.

What you need to remember:

• Continuously build and provide metrics related to material performance for short-term management in workshops.
• Use data and digitalization as efficiency factors to implement methods of continuous improvement and process control in the service of material performance.

Author: Mathieu Cura

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