The nature of the dairy business has changed over the past few decades. Manually operated small local dairy farms are outdated and replaced by factory-produced Milk Processing Plant.
This trend has had many far-reaching consequences. The process of the small dairy farm is supervised and controlled by a small number of technicians who perform most of the operations manually and also clean the equipment by hand at the end of each run. With the expansion of dairy farms, the number and size of machines are increasing, and the number of manual operations required is also increasing. In particular, cleaning is a laborious task – every machine that comes into contact with the product must be disassembled and cleaned at least once a day by hand. In-place cleaning (CIP), introduced in the mid-1950s, is used in most dairy farms today. CIP means that it is no longer necessary to disassemble the equipment for cleaning. The machine is designed to be cleaned with a detergent solution that is circulated through the production line according to a set cleaning procedure. The extensive mechanization of dairy operations has become a reality, with the result that more and more heavy manual labor has been replaced by machines. Mechanization, coupled with the rapid expansion of production capacity, has also led to a significant increase in the number of operations that must be performed. More valves must be operated and more motors must be started and stopped. The timing of individual actions has also become crucial. For example, operating the valve too early or too late can result in product loss. Every failure in the process, as well as every operator's error, has serious economic and quality consequences. Automation is the way to solve these problems.
Process control
Automation is a fast-growing area. Just a few decades ago, process control systems were based on electromechanical relays that were connected together in a logical mode. They are replaced by hardwired electronic control systems because they do not contain moving parts, so they are faster and more reliable. The next improvement is a programmable control system whose logic is represented by data bits stored in electronic memory rather than the physical arrangement of the wiring. This not only makes modifying the program easier, but also reduces hardware costs. In modern control systems, the ever-increasing capabilities and reduced costs of computers and microprocessors have been used to distribute control functions to local units. This gives the entire system greater flexibility and high potential. The new processor can be used to control a single machine or to build a comprehensive control and management system to increase productivity throughout the plant.
Fully integrated factory control
Today, the next step in the evolution of automated processes is toward a fully integrated plant control system. A factory consists of more than one processing area, such as the receiving area, the cheese area, and the liquid milk production area. Each zone has its own configuration of one or more process controllers, and they typically have an operator's user interface that handles product transfers from one process area to another. Tracking the production and economy of the plant is very important. The process controller generates a large amount of data from the process, day and night, week and month. Knowing what is going on is the key to running your plant more efficiently and economically. The process controller itself provides all raw data for the Manufacturing Execution System (MES), where the data can be further processed and stored in a database. This is handled by a separate computer. Modern MES systems are dedicated to processing large amounts of data. It calculates and processes the data to convert it into useful information. Visualizing this information in various types of reports helps users analyze the production economy and more. And assist in planning and making preventive maintenance forecasts.
Jimei Food Machinery Co., Ltd. provides professional equipment for various types of beverage and dairy processing companies, and we also design a more efficient and automated Fruit Juice Production Line.