Bühler’s Tubex Pro digital weighing system set for confectionery and bakery sectors

A next generation weighing system is set to be launched by Bühler for use across a number of sectors including confectionery, snacks and bakery manufacturers.

The Tubex Pro, which was showcased recently at the Hannover Messe technology event, builds on a century of intellectual property within the business. It has been devised with advanced connectivity and digital applications through the company’s Insights IoT system that is powered by Microsoft’s Azure platform.

“Our Tubex scales are groundbreaking thanks to measuring and control algorithms, and connectivity features. With Tubex Pro, we have made the next step in advanced connectivity,” says Matt Kelly, managing director, digital Technologies at Bühler.

In 2017, Bühler introduced the first Tubex. It processes three times more measurements than conventional scales. With its electromechanical drive system, rather than standard pneumatic cylinders, the Tubex has saved its customers up to 95% of energy for the last two years. A traditional scale can easily consume up to $10,000 of energy a year.

The electromechanical drive also enables much more precise motion and position control. An integrated diagnostic system helps to detect and repair problems. The scale has a hygienic design, and drive components are wear free, which substantially lowers maintenance costs.  As the company added, it has gathered customer feedback over the past two years and made a number of upgrades that have been incorporated into its latest version of the system.

In addition, the system has been designed for advanced digital connectivity for production facilities, and according to the company, it is has been developed to easily integrate into plant control systems. It is also simpler to transfer its data into cloud applications in order to analyse and visualise data for better yield management, predictive maintenance, or to support customers remotely through the company’s global service network.

Tubex Pro will be connected to the Bühler Insights IoT platform powered by Microsoft Azure. It is designed to make it easy for food and feed processors to collect and analyse key production data such as yields, or to trace and track products, and raw materials.

One example of the new digital applications is the Bühler Yield Management System, a cloud-based monitoring solution that provides remote oversight of production data. It visualises and compares deviations from recipes. With it, customers can monitor and benchmark their production sites. The digital yield management system is one of the first of its kind and works together with Tubex Pro via Bühler Insights to increase production efficiency and yield.

“So far, we have optimised components or subsystems. Now, with devices such as Tubex Pro, entire systems such as milling plants become transparent, comparable, and can constantly be digitally optimised. We can simply connect devices via plug and play to reach a new level of efficiency and food safety,” says Matt Kelly.

This will help millers and other food processors to stay competitive in a fast-changing environment. “Competition and issues like food safety are becoming more demanding,” says Stefan Birrer, Bühler’s head of milling solutions.

“To be successful, you have to be very efficient and very flexible. Product recalls and contamination have made customers feel insecure. So, the need for food safety and traceability has dramatically increased. With digital applications, services and technologies such as blockchain we can achieve breakthroughs and meet these challenges.”

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