Production partners
Technology giant Cisco has been a partner from the beginning. The two companies spent a year in discovery and design, making sure the technology was both functional and accessible to workers in the plant but remotely and securely accessible to staff in other SugarCreek plants or equipment vendors’ engineers for troubleshooting purposes. Collaboration is an integral design principle. A large wireless infrastructure was built into the plant for both voice and data communication, especially as the data volume from scanners alone would be huge.
There are also 50- and 75-in. television monitors mounted in stainless steel enclosures to feed information back to workers on the floor in real time during processing, instead of waiting until the end of the shift. There is also an instant messaging system to allow workers to get video to iPads or iPhones. Engineers can monitor equipment, get help from other plants and actually show team members or equipment vendors what is happening on the floor.
SugarCreek also partners with VMWare, and is in the process of refreshing their data centers using VMWare NSX which will enhance data security.
Rodden’s background includes working with injection molding, an industry well advanced in process control. The food industry is not as progressive, especially in meat processing, but SugarCreek is aiming to advance that.
For example, the company processes a lot of pork bellies. In two plants, the curing process can take up to half of the plant. Bellies come in raw, are injected and then a “comb” hooks into the belly, with the combs then hooking into a “tree,” 24 combs to a tree. Some 700 to 1,000 trees may be hooked into an overhead rail system at a time.
Some time ago, they put an RFID tag on each tree and integrated the tags with their inventory system. The trees are scanned, compared to orders, lots assembled and weights monitored through scales integrated into the system. Every 10 trees, core samples are taken for temperature and other curing markers. The bellies are monitored all the way through from one process to another, with weights and shrink tallied.
In the Indiana plant, the implementation of the next stage is beginning – Real Time Location Service (RTLS), in which an active RFID tag is embedded in each worker’s ID tag, in large part to increase worker safety.
They have 88,000 lbs. of ammonia on site, Rodden explained. If there is a release, their system will know where every employee is in the plant, the local emergency responders will be tied into the system so they also know if someone is still in the plant and needs evacuation or rescue. Even the emergency responders themselves will be tied into the system, so that the chief knows where his people are in the plant.
The system will also be used for area safety, preventing operation if someone is in an area they should not be in while a process is running.
The RTLS system will also be designed so that workers in a raw section would be denied access to a cooked section to avoid accidental cross contamination. The system will also automatically record how much labor time is spent in certain areas of the plant, to aid process adjustment or redesign.
They are also beginning the implementation of video analytics using 250 HD video cameras, some connected with specialized analytic software. With this, cameras will scan for foreign objects in food material. Others will make sure cutting blades or grinders will not operate if a human hand is in a vulnerable location. This kind of technology can be deployed where fixed guards are hard to install.
It’s not surprising that Rodden said analyzing all the data they are collecting is the most difficult part of what they’re doing, given the volume and the different types of information. Sifting through the data to find out what is the most useful is a challenge.
“We think we’re pioneers on some of this,” Rodden says. Their curing process data collection system, for example, is a real advance from a small company.
“We’re trying to be leading edge without being bleeding edge,” he says. Moisture, room temperatures and humidity and refrigeration are all networked and recorded. Most customers check temperatures going into trucks and upon arrival. SugarCreek uses systems, in cooperation with some customers, that will tell them what happened in transit, for example, if a trucker left his reefer system off awhile.
SugarCreek’s system for scanning every incoming belly and long-term analysis determines how each belly can best be used, especially for the pre-cooked bacon products.
The company applies the same process control principles to producing meatballs, sausage patties, cooked sausage products and steaks for foodservice. They are also producing snack kits, sandwich spirals and seasonal party trays, while developing more expertise in starches and vegetables.
Rodden reflected a bit on younger generations, their lack of historical reference about why the food industry uses these tools to preserve food, prevent spoilage and lessen the risk of foodborne illness.
“I tend to point out to these folks that a large number of food safety issues have come from organic and clean label products,” he says. “Too often a ‘kill step’ is left out in those foods. With sous vide, the product is never handled after the kill step. No one touches it and the result is a safer, ‘cleaner’ product.”
