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Brewing Process Optimization

Automation and Process Control for Breweries

With increased pressure on breweries around the world to improve quality, productivity and efficiency, there has never been more incentive to create smarter processes that provide solutions to reduce extract losses during the brewing process.

Delivering consistent quality beer or other brewing products under the pressure to reduce costs at the same time can only be achieved through tighter control and higher level of automation. From Hot Block to Cold Block - our proven and tested solutions can help you reduce the time to create your products and brings intelligence that reduces beer or extract loss through lauter tun optimization.
Press Release
ABB Ability BeerMaker

Brewing industry to benefit from new automation solution crafted by ABB’s brewmaster for brewmasters

Beer is probably one of the oldest processed beverages in the world, dating back 7000 years. Wild yeast and spontaneous fermentation resulted in beer-like drinks. During the first industrial revolution In the 18th and 19th century, the production started to be industrialized. But with the availability of sensors, actors process control, data analysis and decision making solutions, beer producers are able to get better control about their process, achieve consistent product quality and higher productivity.

Competition among breweries continues and so they are forced to find new ways to improve efficiency and reduce costs. From mashing, lautering, boiling, fermenting, conditioning to filtering, producers may experience environmental, energy efficiency or productivity challenges. Many breweries around the globe use ABB solutions for their requirements, for example the distributed control system (DCS), Human Machine Interface (HMI), energy-efficient motors, drives or PLCs, manufacturing execution systems (MES), process and production intelligence software, measurement & analytics, robots and more. This offers producers proven tools, process knowledge and  a partner network that helps them reduce operating costs, get started on their digital journey and unlock new business value. 

Our control system solutions provide paperless production, order execution and material management help to keep production on schedule, or solutions like batch execution control and recipe-based Cleaning-in-Place (CIP) control which lets reduce cycle cleaning times without shutting down production.

Integrated tools to analyze performance, energy use and quality data with our Manufacturing Operations Management tools such as OEE and other intelligence software allow to unlock productivity improvements and improve energy and water use. 
 

What it takes to build a smart brewery:

Got challenges with extract, losses, lauter tun optimization or brewery processing in general?

Contact us and meet our brewmaster to get started

You can also benefit from our broad experience in brewery processes. ABB is different.

Our new ABB Ability™ BeerMaker intelligent process control solution includes a Technological Package for Brewing. With that we can offer you solutions from automation, process control, but also a malt factory solution. These solutions - based on our domain expertise - will not only provide you process control, reporting, dashboarding and data analytics solutions, but also help you improve your processes and results and deliver best quality to your customers. 

ABB's pre-engineered Liquid routing control library is able to deliver precise handling of all steps of the process and ensure consistent and high quality beer products. We offer pre-studies, function specifications, system layouts, process applications, batch / S88, MES / S95, horizontal / vertical system integration, reporting, training and validation. We know the scientific, engineering and business reasons that underpin decisions. We incorporate this understanding into our end-to-end solutions. 
Product Launch
ABB Ability BeerMaker

Intelligent process control solution for breweries

Cut your losses - Detailing the calculation formula of extract losses

In order to reduce production costs and impacts on the environment, it is necessary to reduce production losses. Among all production losses within the brewery, the losses of extract are the most relevant. Due to the different ways of quantitative measurement within the brewery (volume, concentration, yield of the raw material), it is necessary to put all measurements into a single basis of comparison to obtain the extract loss calculation. The loss of extract is calculated based on a defined period and comprises the initial and final stocks of each stage, input of raw material and the total volume filled (net production) delivered to the warehouse.

ABB's brewing solution is able to detail the calculation formula of extract losses in the brewing and bottling process and provides initial information for the creation of automatic reports in the reporting and dashboarding system for the brewery plant. 

Losses vary according to the technologies installed and the raw materials used, and they are often difficult to identify quickly given the extensive production process. For this, we provide the Statement Loss Dashboard, made up of targets for each stage of the  process, which makes the control more effective and allows targeted and efficient corrections in the respective stage.

However, the effectiveness of control via the Dashboard is only possible if measurements occur precise quantitative data at each stage of the process.

Through the automation system it is possible to calculate the extract loss per stage of process or obtain accurate data, as well as notifying the operator in advance of variations in each process step.


 

Video
The perfect beer with ABB Solutions for Brewing

Improve quality, productivity and efficiency and reduce extract losses in a brewery using process optimization solutions.
Beermaker
Demos of BeerMaker : Brewery libraries and tools

Wherever you are in the world, partnering with ABB or with one of our valued channel partners gives you access to some of the world’s most innovative technology and thinking.

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Find products, solutions and services that fit your needs and help you to meet required safety, quality and productivity.

Safety

A safe and healthy work environment for all brewery employees is a key requirement.

A high level of automation help to ensure that all functions are up and running that are necessary for safe operations. Integration of safety systems into the machine controls alert operators if something is not set well in a machine.

Quality

Quality in food & beverage always starts with using the appropriate equipment and employing the right expertise to fully understand the processes that happen in and with the product.

The basic requirement for food and beverage processing is acting in a responsible manner in relation to hygiene design, raw materials and critical processes. Fulfilling the technical requirements and a digital supply chain help to achieve that.

Sustainability

Rising demand often fails to meet a desire for higher pricing. The pressure to prepare food for a low cost is significant, while still supplying the desired quality. Digital supply chains maximize the operational excellence while also improving energy usage.

Every. Thing. Controlled.

  • Varying raw materials, unpredictable orders and the demand for new product varieties require flexibility in production planning.
  • Rising costs of energy consumption and pollution control, complying with environmental standards call for energy and emissions monitoring and simplified reporting.
  • Ever-changing food safety standards emphasize the need for better raw material traceability, laboratory sampling, and product control.

Digital integrated systems improve operational excellence, with a range of connected services and solutions available via ABB Ability, the company’s advanced digital management solution. 

End-to-end visibility

  • Dashboards to monitor and control extract losses supporting brew masters to take full control and room for craftsmanship. 
  • Monitoring not only food safety, but also the availability and condition of the ingredients, the equipment, the condition of utilities and the order intake, allows state of the art planning and operation of the plant.
  • Consistent, easy, user-friendly, logical interface improves operator intuitive actions and productivity
  • Pre-determination of the required KPIs and relative measurements improve the efficiency of the cycle
  • Loops performance and quality measurements reported to management to easily rectify faults and errors in the field or in the process, to achieve savings in loop time, energy consumption, steam generation
  • Less time to troubleshoot problems through accurate and easy diagnosis about where, who and when problems happen

Data-driven manufacturing

  • Increase beverage product output and safety through more efficient utilization of company assets and capacities, and thus reduce the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
  • Introduce new product varieties that are economically viable, consistent in quality, traceable and available just-in-time for your customers
  • Reduce energy costs, protect water security and meet local environmental regulations
Cervecería Boliviana Nacional (CBN) reports: "We have reduced water usage by 15.38%, a significant reduction in one year. Furthermore, it reduced energy consumption per hectoliter by 7.35% and cut CO2 emissions per hectoliter of production by 0.2%.

One of Chile's largest breweries, an important player in the food and beverage industry, has realized productivity increases of 10 percent and quality rises up to five percent by expanding the operation of the ABB Ability™ 800xA solution, an integrated control system for management of entire industrial processes.

How to get to the next level of digital food processing?

Integrated machine controls and operations help to improve the daily production.

Process Control
Digital Twin
The safety of operators and assets ensure durable performance.

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MES and supply chain solutions integrate along the entire value chain. 

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We can guide you through your digital transformation journey with our plant assessments. 

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We can make you more competitive

How can we best co-develop and collaborate?

Schedule a meeting with our brewmaster

Products and systems

and more
Service program

We have an unparalleled ability to protect your investment, to reduce cyber security risks and to act on the insights, helping you improve systematically and consistently
Partner program

Our Liquid Routing control library helps partners with ready-made pre-engineered objects, validated, flexible, easy to use & to upgrade

ABB's Distributed Control System ABB Ability System 800xA provides connectivity packages for a wide range of systems. It comes with the unique batch and recipe management solutions and pre-engineered liquid routing control library for automating production processes requiring routing. They have been created according to demands and descriptions from major industry consultants and provide tools to achieve compliance. 

Some of ABB brewery references

ABB’s automation and electrification solutions to help South American barley malt house boost production

Control system expansion increases productivity, performance and quality at top beverage producer in Chile

System 800xA for CBN brewery, Bolivia: system integrator goes beyond beer production automation, also reducing water & energy consumption

Quick and flexible replacement at Belle Vue Brewery, Belgium

Preserving knowledge by evolving the automation system instead of simply migrating at brewery in Bolivia

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