Digitised food production:
solutions for tomorrow’s food supply.
The world's population is growing and, hence, the challenge for the global food and beverage industry to meet the growing demand for safe and high-quality products.
For over 50 years, ifm has been developing reliable automation solutions that make processes along the entire food chain more efficient and supports to sustainable agriculture for millions of people around the world.
Automation solutions for a better food supply
From the field to the end product, from the mobile machine to the industrial production plant: ifm offers the right solution for every step and stage of an automated and digitised value chain. Sensors provide relevant values and data that ensure efficient and reliable processes. Our software solutions convert these values into informative added values that help to detect standstills and malfunctions at an early stage. This reduces the risk of losses in productivity and quality:
OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)
The gold standard for measuring manufacturing productivity.
avoiding unplanned downtimes. IO-Link transfers all maintenance-related data directly and digitally from the system to the IT level. We offer you all the components you need to efficiently monitor the health of your machines: products ranging from the sensor to the network infrastructure and software – all from a single source.
Transparency leads to efficiency. The more comprehensively you monitor the values of your plant, the more effectively you can maintain the performance of your plants at a high level and permanently produce high quality and quantities. We offer you all the components required to simplify the dialogue with your plant, such as high-precision sensors, digital data transmission without any conversion loss via IO-Link and powerful software.
Quality:Even tiny deviations from the target process can reduce the quality of the food produced. In the worst case, valuable raw materials and produced batches will be lost. We offer you holistic solutions for a permanent, long-term analysis of all critical values in your production process. This is how you can be sure that your products will meet highest quality standards at all times.
Digitalization from the sensor level to the cloud:Processing decentralised information centrally. We offer you solutions with which you can bundle sensor information from plants, pre-process it and then transfer it to cloud systems for central and collaborative evaluation – even without intermediate controllers and PCs, all without requiring direct connection to the company network. Secure your food production thanks to intelligent alerts and transparent data that is available anytime, anywhere.
Traceability:Automation solutions can also help to guarantee food safety in the logistics process. By means of unique codes, raw materials such as fruits, vegetables and grains can be traced back on their way from the harvest to the end customer. Transparent supply chains guarantee the required quality and also increase the customers’ trust in the products..
Digitised food supply: efficient, safe, sustainable
The agri-food industry has set itself ambitious sustainability targets. Learn more about how ifm supports its customers’ endeavours to ensure the global food supply of the future.
From autonomous agricultural machinery to digital silo management
Agriculture is confronted with many challenges, first and foremost the unmanageable climatic conditions that sometimes reduce the right point of time for harvesting to a short period. This makes it all the more crucial to harvest as efficiently as possible to ensure that as little crop as possible will be wasted. After the actual harvest, the further processing and sorting that follows immediately will determine the quality and shelf life of the product.
Your advantages with ifm
We offer you many solutions to make agricultural processes more efficient: The broad portfolio of automation technology for mobile machines includes sensors, controllers, 3D cameras and displays. High-precision sensors measure levels, temperatures and humidity in silos and warehouses as well as flow rates in pipelines. You would like to capture all data digitally at IT level? We have the right solution for this as well.
Digitising the greenhouses of the future
Modern, increasingly vertical greenhouses can be operated with particular efficiency if equipped with the appropriate sensor technology. Conventional infrastructures where each sensor is directly connected to a control system increase the time and financial expenditure for installation, maintenance and replacement of sensors.
Your advantages with ifm
With a comprehensive portfolio of IO-Link sensors, IO-Link components and powerful, user-friendly software, we make it easy to design even the most comprehensive monitoring infrastructure. Subsequent scaling or modification of the infrastructure as well as necessary adjustments of the sensor parameters are also possible in no time thanks to the IO-Link structure and software such as moneo.
Responsible, data-driven livestock breeding
The efficient use of feed, comparative analysis of animal data or counting animals, for example when loading and unloading a transport are only some of the tasks a farmer has to deal with on a daily basis. The trend towards responsible, environmentally sound agriculture also enables livestock farmers to position themselves more sustainably, for example by processing excreta into fertiliser or even biogas. The more transparent the data on each individual animal, the more efficiently and profitably will a farmer be able to manage their herd.
Your advantages with ifm
The production of slurry fertiliser can be monitored with the help of the comprehensive automation portfolio. From the sensor to the infrastructure and the IT level, ifm offers all necessary components: camera solutions support fully automatic detection of animals and a gentle milking process. Temperature sensors ensure an ideal, animal-friendly climate. The feed requirement can also be controlled via automation technology, so that the animals' needs will be optimally met. In the downstream processing of biogas and slurry, sensors for the detection of flow rates, pressure and temperature play a crucial role in maximising energy recovery and minimising CO2 emissions.
Efficient monitoring of breeding farms – on land and at sea
The farming of fish and seafood makes a significant contribution to meeting the growing global demand for food. However, both in the sea and on land, the sensitive ecosystems required for successful and sustainable breeding must be carefully managed. If the onshore ecosystem becomes unbalanced, there will be a risk that the current breeding stock will be lost altogether and that breeding will come to a standstill until the ecosystem will be back in balance, so that there will no longer be any danger to the livestock caused by algae or bacteria. If the ocean as a huge ecosystem gets out of balance due to excessive use for breeding, irreparable damage may result, including far-reaching, lasting consequences for the entire planet.
Your advantages with ifm
ifm offers you a comprehensive portfolio of sensors to monitor all relevant measurable variables such as level, flow, conductivity, temperature and valve position. The maintenance requirements of pumps and motors can also be easily detected with the help of condition monitoring solutions. Data from large and decentralised systems can be transmitted to the IT level via IO-Link and Ethernet interfaces.
Quick and reliable scaling of capacities
Plant-based food and alternatively derived proteins are in increasing demand as more and more people seek alternatives to the traditional food supply. In order to meet the rapidly growing demand, it is necessary to increase production capacities quickly without compromising on quality.
Your advantages with ifm
To ensure that your production will run in accordance with the OEE criteria at all times, ifm offers a comprehensive range of automation solutions ranging from sensors and infrastructure to software and cloud connections. ifm offers the necessary components in a tailored all-inclusive package from a single source and in the shortest possible delivery time. This is how you can ensure that even rapid capacity increases can be easily scaled and integrated into the existing digitisation structure.
Seamless monitoring ensures quality
In a globalised world, the dimensions and complexity of cold chains are increasing significantly. To ensure that food can be consumed fresh and in perfect quality at its destination, seamless refrigeration during transport is indispensable. On the one hand, unnecessary waste of food must be avoided, and, on the other hand, the health of consumers must not be put at risk. The cold chain is so complex that it cannot be monitored without technical aids.
Your advantages with ifm
We offer numerous solutions to help you monitor the maintenance of the cold chain. Temperature sensors, RFID systems and gateways for mobile applications that continuously transmit information to the cloud from almost anywhere in the world will help you to clearly identify and track every movement of goods and keep an eye on temperature trends.