Developing innovative and efficient technologies for F&B industry

June 9, 2021 2:13 pm

Any discussion of Industry 4.0 or 5.0 would be incomplete without addressing the proposed technology’s data security.

Discussing the wide offerings of VEGA to the F&B industry Ravindra Borse, Product Manager, VEGA India Level and Pressure Measurement Pvt. Ltd., says they will continue to develop safe, reliable and efficient technologies to measure the temperature required for F&B industry.

Kindly walk us through your company’s profile and journey.

Innovative level and pressure measurement technology that combines high safety standards and efficiency with easy operability – this is what VEGA has stood for, for the past many decades. VEGA India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of VEGA Grieshaber KG, Germany, has been catering Indian market for a decade now. In this short span, VEGA India has been successful in instilling the same trust that the brand VEGA holds worldwide. The product portfolio includes sensors for the measurement of level, point level and pressure as well as hardware and software for integration into process control systems. All our products and services are designed to uphold ‘made in Germany’ quality promise. As an instrumentation specialist, we cater to a host of industries like water and wastewater, pharmaceutical, food and beverages, chemical, oil and gas, steel, cement among the others. The company holds all necessary certificates and approvals that indicate its products are compliant with safety and quality standards worldwide.

What kind of business opportunities do you foresee for pressure management and instrumentation in India?

As the global manufacturing industry is moving towards complete automation and process digitisation. Indian Manufacturing industry is also taking a giant leap towards complete automation, of which instrumentation is the key element. VEGA offers a complete range of level and pressure instrumentation, which are perfectly tailored to standard applications that nevertheless require high quality. The standardised adapter system of the compact versions provides the flexibility needed to keep effort and costs at a reasonable level through optimised spare parts stock-keeping. Their process fittings can be selected as needed and flexibly adapted to local requirements. And there is also a lot of sensor intelligence on board: the standard IO-Link protocol ensures especially simple, intelligent communication. This means that the instruments have a universal communication platform that enables seamless data transfer and simple integration into the control system. They are thus prepared for the production processes of the future – and are already today making their contribution to the deployment of Industry 4.0.

How is VEGA India contributing to meet the increasing instrumentation and measurement demand for the pharma and F&B sector?

Level and pressure measurement technology from VEGA has been making a significant contribution to safety and efficiency in the food and pharmaceutical industry. Thanks to its modular design concept, it has always stood out in terms of quality and efficiency, as the highly compatible design and the standardised operating concept have made particularly flexible applications, possible. The intelligent modular system is based on the plics® instrument platform which enables simple, customer-specific configurations: from the selection of the measuring principle, its connection to the process and device setup, through to service. With its decades of experience, VEGA offers groundbreaking level and pressure measurement technology for the automation and monitoring of future- oriented production systems that operate under extreme conditions and strict requirements on system safety and flexibility. A uniform standard extends through all areas of application. This applies especially to the fully hygienic adapter system, which is designed to be compatible with VEGA level and pressure sensors. It can therefore not only be selected according to individual needs but also adapted to local requirements. All the new instruments are built to withstand intense CIP and SIP processes. And not least due to their hygienic design and surface finish, they comply with all standards and approvals of the industry.

How do you ensure easy and efficient cleaning and maintain hygiene throughout the processes for the F & B and Pharma sector?

VEGA Sensors are designed according to the principles of hygienic design and current industry standards such as FDA, EC 1935/2004 or GMP. The design of the instruments is certified according to the European EHEDG Directive and the North American 3-A Sanitary Standards Inc. Efficient cleaning is an important factor in food and pharmaceutical processes, and hygienic production, in particular, requires a lot of it. CIP cleaning is one of the most time-consuming process steps. The potential for savings here lies essentially in cleaning and sterilising systems more quickly through consistent hygiene design. VEGA sensor components’ geometry does not allow microorganisms to collect in dead spaces and are also capable of withstanding the cleaning and sterilisation processes themselves. These sensors are also resistant to media that demand a lot from the materials of the measuring instruments are, for example, substances with a high-fat content as well as aromatic, high potency substances or volatile oils. In addition, they also withstand high temperatures. We believe that automation can be both simple and highly efficient without sacrificing reliability, hygiene or accuracy. Standard applications, in particular, can be automated very economically with these new pressure sensors and level switches. Integration into the system as well as the adjustment is especially easy to carry out. In this performance class, multiple process connection options are also guaranteed, which helps support the continuous improvement of production facilities. The focus here is on compactness, flexibility, safety and optimised hygiene.