How AI can help companies optimize production

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How AI can help companies optimize production

18 Jul 2024

Lily Cota

Lily Cota is a writer, editor and photographer from Kansas City, Missouri. She graduated from Missouri State University with a Bachelor of Science in English and a minor in Photography. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading fantasy novels, thrifting, trying out local coffee shops and spending time with her nieces.

CHICAGO — The use of AI tools in the food science industry was a hot topic at the Institute of Food Technology’s IFT FIRST event, held July 14-17 in Chicago.

During the “Harnessing AI and PLM for Next-Level Food and Beverage Innovation” session, industry professionals discussed how integrating AI and product lifecycle management (PLM) software can transform the food and beverage industry.

PLM is a system designed to manage the entire lifecycle of a product, from initial concept through design, manufacturing, service and disposal.

Eric Krums, senior solution associate at Infor, explained PLM can serve as a foundation for companies to build upon with other AI tools, expressing the importance of properly feeding the model with the right data.

Krums shared that the first step is transitioning from the spreadsheet to the PLM system and learning how to leverage data effectively to streamline processes and expedite market entry.

“It only works if you have nice, clean data in there, but the advantages are that you’re going to have a speedier process, and then you’re going to be able to apply things like AI to it,” Krums said.

According to Sandeep Anand, senior director and head of machine learning solutions at Infor, AI is a broad topic with different subcategories and technological applications that can be utilized in several steps in the production process.

“Part of where AI can help with that value chain is being able to reassess your recipes, look at them from your actual practical experience, and say, ‘These recipes need to be changed and take into account some of the external parameters,’” Anand said. “These recipes need to be able to evaluate different types of milk properties and create better formulas. In general, I would say that the value comes in being able to use AI across that entire ecosystem and being able to do this data-driven decision-making that can be leveraged to create this connected ecosystem of different uses.”

He noted that AI isn’t perfect or a magic problem solver. It takes time and effort to be able to utilize the resource to its full potential.

“It’s so hard not to think of all those anecdotes where AI has just interestingly and magnificently solved something extremely complex, but 90% of the time that’s not going to be your reality,” Anand said. “It’s always through that incremental evolution. You have the end goal in mind, break it down into smaller goals and say, ‘How do I get that done very quickly and pragmatically?’”

“In general, I would say that the value comes in being able to use AI across that entire ecosystem and being able to do this data-driven decision-making that can be leveraged to create this connected ecosystem of different uses.” — Sandeep Anand | senior director and head of machine learning solutions | Infor

While one of the main benefits of AI in the food and beverage industry is the ability to automate work and efficiency, it can also make the lives of food scientists and supply chain managers easier.

Machine learning (ML), a process that involves the development of algorithms capable of learning from and generalizing data, offers a way to use AI without removing the integral people that keep things moving.

“You don’t want to completely abandon the human element,” Krums said. “There’s still a lot of that hands-on work that’s going to have to happen, sensory evaluation, all those kinds of things. You can’t expect AI to make this magically tasty thing for you. There’s still the human element.”

Michael Warter, senior VP and chief information officer at Ruiz Food Products, discussed ways that his company is using PLM. The Mexican food manufacturer uses PLM module Optiva to stay connected with the work its R&D team is conducting and optimize the process in whatever ways it can.

“All of our manufacturing, speed of equipment, whatever else gets put into Optiva so we can do costing for new raw materials and what the product is going to be worth,” Warter said.

He explained that Ruiz Foods also uses ML for different parts of its processes, including identifying different factors across facilities and shifts that impact yield, as well as any missteps.

“Our plants don’t always do things in the correct order,” Warter said. “Infor is coming out with this cool tool that I’m excited about called process intelligence. And the concept is that it knows when data hits the database, and you can see that and track if the steps went in order.”

The uses of AI in food and beverage production are vast and always changing, with new technologies and systems being created regularly. Food manufacturers can utilize systems like PLM and ML to identify growth opportunities, enhance business agility and expedite market entry.

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