More effective food packaging solutions through food product and machine data monitoring

Manufacturer of turnkey food packaging solutions Pattyn offers a cloud-based solution centralising and storing all machine status information for its customers. In this way the packaging machines can be operated and troubleshot   more efficiently, which contributes to the quality and productivity of the food processing.

Pattyn is a manufacturer of turnkey packaging solutions, to pack, count or weigh fill industrial products into 5-30 kg containers or pallet-sized containers. Its packaging machinery is mainly intended for the food processing industry.

Why this product?

In the food processing industry, the quality of the food product and control of the production process keeps gaining in importance. Pattyn already had experience with customer-specific on-premise solutions to monitor food product data. The next step was to provide their customers with a more generic connected solution to collect data of their food products. Another main objective is to maximise equipment performance and availability for their customers. With a machine that is always connected, the right information can be provided at the right time and at the right place. Finally, usage data from machines in the field help the R&D department in taking well-founded decisions on which new developments to prioritize.

Value for the customer

Pattyn 360 is an online customer portal centralising all technical how-to information and machine status information. In this way the packaging machines can be operated and troubleshot  more efficiently. With Pattyn 360 Connect the portal can also exchange data directly with the machines and the data is stored in the cloud. In that case, the access to historical machine data and the ability to deliver remote technical support allows Pattyn to resolve remaining issues even more quickly. The collected data allows customers to follow up on the condition of the machine and to analyse performance differences between production shifts, recipes, etc. These optimisations contribute to the quality and productivity of the food processing.

Technology behind Pattyn 360 Connect

The cloud-based solution provides the necessary data storage, device and user management, and dashboarding capabilities to collect machine data, organise and visualise it, and exchange information with the online customer portal. All machine PLCs are connected to a central industrial PC that collects and stores data locally and sends it to the cloud. Alternatively, Pattyn also offers an on-premise solution for those customers preferring data storage on their own servers. Easy integration with the MES software of the customer is foreseen as well. Both the local and cloud components of the solution have been developed by an external partner. 

Capturing revenue

Pattyn 360 Connect is offered via a monthly subscription. Next to additional revenues, the connected solution also brings a higher operational efficiency of Pattyn’s remote support: most of the issues can be solved remotely and much faster than before.

Next steps

A next step on Pattyn’s roadmap is predictive maintenance. Shifting from prescriptive to predictive maintenance would bring significant value to customers by reducing machine downtime and avoiding unnecessary replacement of parts. Pattyn is currently developing solutions for this, together with lead customers.

Smart Product Scenarios

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