Dr. Sohail Nazari
Head of Automation & Digitalization
Andritz Feed & Biofuel
At VICTAM Asia 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand, Andritz Feed & Biofuel revealed its cutting-edge Automation & Digitalization solutions. Driven by a commitment to sustainability and operational excellence, Andritz’s vendor-neutral approach promises to transform feed production, offering unparalleled efficiency and resilience in an evolving landscape.
Andritz Feed & Biofuel unveiled its state-of-the-art Automation & Digitalization solutions at VICTAM Asia 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand. New digital technologies offer tremendous opportunities for maximizing operational performance for feed producers worldwide. With the risk-free approach, the solutions draw upon 40 years of successful deployments across various sectors under the Metris digital platform.
Demonstrated in diverse industries, this strategy has yielded throughput enhancements ranging from 7% to 16%. The innovative technologies leverage over a century of feed industry expertise and are vendor-agnostic, universally compatible for unmatched flexibility. This continuously evolving approach, which integrates multiple facets of automation and digitalization in seamless harmony, aims to culminate in the realization of a fully autonomous feed plant by 2027, setting a new standard in the industry.
“The feed industry, along with other process and manufacturing sectors, is undergoing a revolution driven by the rapid adoption of automation and digitalization. However, not all solutions are created equal,” comments Dr. Sohail Nazari, Global Vice President and Head of Automation & Digitalization, Andritz Feed & Biofuel. “In the dynamic interplay of human ingenuity and digital precision, we find our path to never standing still, driving progress that ensures individuals and businesses don’t just survive but thrive. The journey to autonomous operations is paved with bold steps of those who embrace every facet of automation and digitalization, turning challenges into opportunities for growth. By taking that initial leap, we unlock a world of possibilities, transforming not just our plants but the very essence of our work. Together, we redefine the boundaries of what is possible and turn the visions of tomorrow into today’s realities.”
Backed by a global footprint spanning 110 automation locations and supported by a team of over 2,200 automation and digitalization specialists, Andritz Automation & Digitalization, as the largest system integrator globally, ensures that its solutions are universally adaptable yet attuned to regional needs.
BENEFITS
Enhancing Sustainability through Advanced Automation and Digitalization
The Andritz Automation & Digitalization solutions have been instrumental in achieving significant reductions in specific energy consumption ranging from 3% to 17% across various industries, directly supporting customer ESG initiatives. By proactively identifying malfunctions and maintaining asset integrity, they effectively minimize production disruptions and enhance sustainable operations. Analyzing and pinpointing process deviations, abnormalities, and inefficiencies, enables stable and improved operational outcomes. The aim is to reduce energy usage and maximize raw material efficiency for optimal yields, offering significant operational advantages. This approach provides management, operations, and maintenance teams with the necessary tools to effectively monitor performance and quality across the plant’s entire lifecycle, ensuring lasting excellence and sustainability.
DIGITALIZATION SOLUTIONS FOR FEED PRODUCERS
Operational Efficiency:
Andritz’s Feed & Biofuel Digitalization suite revolutionizes operations with comprehensive digital technologies for process optimization, asset management, operator training and knowledge management, as well as instrumentation and digital infrastructure, ensuring a holistic, turnkey approach to feed processing. Being vendor neutral, Andritz works with any type of software and hardware within a feed processing plant, offering a risk-free approach. By harnessing these technologies, feed producers can enhance profitability, reduce total cost of ownership and unlock their plants’ full potential. SMART Diagnosis technology reduces maintenance costs and improves production consistency and efficiency.
Operational Resiliency:
Protecting feed operations from cyber risks is crucial. OTORIO, the dedicated in-house provider, ensures full visibility across all assets and operations on demand, effectively enabling IT-OT convergence and proactively mitigating digital risks to IEC 62443 standards.
Operational Readiness:
The deployment of simulation-based engineering has shortened ramp-up times in greenfield projects across various industries by up to 20% and significantly increased revenues through saved production losses. For the first time in the feed industry, Andritz is offering full scale digital twin technology to enable virtual commissioning, allowing up to 90% of potential issues to be resolved before on-site commissioning, providing users with a substantial competitive edge. Tasks that require mere minutes to assess within the simulator typically need an hour or more for evaluation in the field.
Empowering Operators:
Andritz uses its digital twin technologies to revolutionize operator training by providing a realistic, risk-free environment for learning. Similar to flight simulators for pilots, this system allows operators to experience and recover from failure scenarios without jeopardizing actual operations. The IDEAS training simulator enhances operator readiness, enabling quicker adaptation to new processes, improved response to plant disturbances, and increased plant efficiency.
For experienced control room operators, the simulator is an invaluable tool for rehearsing rare or critical procedures, such as plant shutdowns and startups, ensuring confidence and competence in real-world situations. It also facilitates seamless cross-training, maintaining operational efficiency even in the absence of key personnel due to holidays, sickness or transfers. This advanced training approach has significantly improved operator competency rates to 85%, compared to just 27% with traditional classroom training in various industries.
Empowering the Future of Feed Processing:
In today’s dynamic business environment, plant managers are always looking to transform complex operational data into actionable insights, while C-level executives seek robust data-driven solutions to inform investment planning and strategic decisions. The Andritz Automation & Digitalization suite eliminates the guesswork from business decision-making, delivering tangible, measurable, and replicable value. It enhances operational efficiency and productivity, reduces costs, and contributes to a more satisfied workforce.
Dr. Nazari highlights: “In the realm of digital transformation across various industries, Andritz stands as a beacon of trust and innovation. We are your navigating partner through the complexities of digitalization with a comprehensive suite of technologies, expertise, and real-world experience. We fully grasp the leap of faith our customers take when embracing new technologies. That is why we are committed to supporting our feed industry partners with a tailored, comprehensive roadmap that not only mitigates risks but also charts a clear path toward measurable success.”
“Today, at Andritz, we are combining our deep understanding of feed know-how with industry tested, innovative solutions to bring fast tracked, improvement results to your operation, enabling a positive cash flow. Our history speaks volumes: the vast majority of our partners choose to continue their digital journey with us following initial pilot projects. This commitment stems from our relentless pursuit of minimizing the total cost of ownership throughout the lifecycle of a feed plant,” adds Dr. Nazari. “Andritz will be with you every step of the way in your journey, ensuring your plant and your business never stand still.”
ANDRITZ FEED & BIOFUEL
Andritz Feed & Biofuel is one of the world’s leading suppliers of process solutions, technologies and services for the animal feed, aqua feed, pet food, and biofuel industries. The technologies and services focus on maximum utilization of raw materials, increased production efficiency and sustainability as well as lowest possible total cost of ownership, while achieving the highest levels of safety, quality and control, from feedstock to final product.