The consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry is the foundation of modern society, providing access to essential goods, jobs, and community support. However, the industry faces challenges from global megatrends like supply chain disruptions, energy costs, and talent retention. To overcome these, manufacturers need rich data insight across their value chain while meeting operational and financial goals. Converging IT and OT provides crucial data for better decision-making, from day-to-day operations to strategic planning. Software-centric control and IoT integration drive automation, enabling faster process changes and optimised control. This digitisation is pivotal for the CPG industry, enhancing agility and access to vital information for improved operations.
Forget everything you know about automation. Today, it is software, not hardware, which is at the core of the industry’s future.
In an ideal modern manufacturing facility, all installed equipment–including ingredient tanks, silos, pumps, mixers, conveyors, robots, warehouse racks, or electrical panels– would be connected via sensors and monitoring devices to an open software-based control platform like EcoStruxure Automation Expert™ This allows for a comprehensive, big-picture view of all equipment, assets, machines, and production lines.
This added insight simplifies and accelerates production lines’ design, operation, and maintenance. It reduces hardware constraints and minimises interruptions caused by proprietary applications. The software-based control platform is interoperable with native and third-party devices, fostering innovation and reducing the total cost of ownership.
The next evolution of universal automation will be driven by dynamic resource modelling and open standards. EcoStruxure Automation Expert is based on this principle. The platform runs real-time operations control solutions, unifying people, processes, and assets across all facilities. This provides valuable context for operators, enhancing engineering flexibility and operational efficiency.
Operations data management trusted by engineers and IT alike.
In CPG environments, the software control platform provides real-time contextualised data to cloud-based systems and applications, enabling end-to-end visibility. With AI-based analytics, it offers predictive capabilities, validates business decisions, sustainability tracking, and more, giving you the confidence of accurate and timely insights.
Alongside EcoStruxure Automation Expert, the Industries of the Future software-based edge automation and control platform, Schneider Electric offers an extensive application portfolio, facilitating business intelligence, analytics, and AI tools for industrial operators and management. Data generated from connected assets and processes can create dynamic visualizations and asset frameworks for contextual data insights.
Accelerating digital to stay competitive in the market.
Today’s CPG operations often rely on decades-old automation, limiting flexibility. By embracing software-defined automation and open standards, manufacturers can simplify complexity, enabling easy system updates. Contextualised real-time data unlocks digital applications, paving the way for sustainable performance, resilience, and talent retention in the industry.
What could this look like for you?
In a cyber-secured cloud data platform, real-time contextualised information is readily available. This empowers operators, production staff, maintenance teams, and managers to receive alerts, identify issues, confirm status, and analyse digital information from connected assets. It enables them to take immediate action, prevent disruptions, improve operations and maximise profitability.
