For F&B manufacturers, the value comes from making the motor, drive and automation work as one system

Brith Isaksson, Global Food and Beverage Segment Manager, ABB.

How do you see the food & beverage manufacturing technology landscape evolving globally, and what are the key priorities driving manufacturers’ investments in automation, digitalisation and intelligent equipment today?

The food and beverage industry is evolving quickly. Across markets, manufacturers are being asked to produce more, maintain consistent quality and keep products affordable, while using energy and resources more responsibly. From my perspective, three priorities are becoming especially important: productivity, sustainability, and food safety and hygiene.

In India, we are also witnessing evolving landscape of the segment with new global F&B players exploring ways to establish a presence here through manufacturing or assembly facilities, partnerships with established companies, and local sales offices. As their businesses grow, some may consider setting up their own manufacturing operations, creating new opportunities for the industry and its technology partners.

At the plant level, this evolution is driving interest in automation and intelligent equipment that can give manufacturers better control over processes and help them respond faster to demand. The goal is not technology for its own sake; it is to make production more consistent, efficient and responsive.

Energy efficiency is becoming an increasingly important business priority for F&B manufacturers. Where do you see the greatest opportunities to reduce energy consumption and operating costs, particularly in energy-intensive processes such as refrigeration, pumping, conveying and compressed-air systems?

Energy efficiency is a practical business priority for F&B manufacturers because energy costs affect the economics of producing, processing, storing and moving food. Cold storage is a particularly important area to examine: refrigeration can account for a significant share of a facility’s energy use, so even incremental improvements can matter.

When we look at an existing installation, we often find opportunities to save energy by changing how equipment operates, without necessarily replacing the whole system. Pumps and fans, for example, may continue running at full speed even when demand changes. Variable speed drives can help match motor speed to the actual requirement, while monitoring and automation can help identify inefficient operation, avoid unnecessary overcooling and flag deviations earlier.

The starting point is to understand where energy is being used and how the process behaves throughout the day. That allows manufacturers to priorities improvements in refrigeration, pumping, conveying and other utilities based on the potential operational benefit not simply on replacing equipment.

How are integrated motors, drives and automation solutions helping F&B manufacturers improve process control, productivity and efficiency across applications ranging from processing and packaging to material handling and refrigeration?

For F&B manufacturers, the value comes from making the motor, drive and automation work as one system. A motor provides mechanical power, a drive controls how that power is delivered, and automation helps coordinate equipment with the needs of the process. Together, these technologies can improve control, reduce unnecessary energy use and support more consistent production.

The applications are broad: from conveyors and packaging lines to processing equipment, pumping and refrigeration. In packaging and conveying, production requirements can change with product type, line speed and throughput. A variable speed drive can help adjust operation to demand rather than running equipment at one fixed speed.

We also see the potential for more precise process control in applications such as feed milling, where combining drives with Model Predictive Control can reduce unnecessary corrections and help balance production and energy performance. The focus is on improving the performance of the process as a whole, not optimising one component in isolation.

In an industry where production continuity is critical, what role can automation and drive technologies play in improving equipment reliability, predictive maintenance and overall uptime?

In food and beverage production, unplanned downtime can disrupt an entire line, delay deliveries and create waste. Reliability is therefore about more than keeping an individual motor running; it is about helping the plant maintain production and identify problems before they escalate.

Modern drives can provide useful information about how an application is operating, including parameters such as current, torque, operating hours and energy consumption. Changes in these signals can help indicate that equipment is not behaving as expected and support a move from reactive maintenance towards condition-based maintenance.

For example, drive functions such as anti-cavitation for centrifugal pumps can help identify abnormal operating conditions. In feed milling, torque monitoring and data logging can also help maintenance teams make more informed decisions. These capabilities do not remove the need for sound maintenance practices, but they can give teams earlier insight and help them plan interventions more effectively.

F&B plants often operate in demanding environments involving frequent washdowns, humidity, corrosion and potentially hazardous materials. How is technology evolving to address these challenges in applications such as flour, grain, sugar and ethanol processing?

F&B plants have very different operating environments, and equipment needs to be selected for the conditions in which it will work. Frequent washdowns, humidity, dust and corrosive substances can all affect performance. In applications where hygiene is critical, appropriate equipment protection and hygienic design help support cleaning requirements and reliable operation.

The requirements also vary by process. Flour, grain, sugar and ethanol handling can involve combustible dusts or potentially explosive atmospheres, so equipment must be selected in line with the application’s risk assessment and applicable certification requirements. In relevant environments, appropriately certified motors and other equipment are essential. The important point is that there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Manufacturers need to consider the specific combination of hygiene, environmental conditions, process demands and safety requirements. Matching motors, drives and automation to those conditions helps support dependable operation while protecting people, products and production continuity.

As manufacturers pursue both productivity and sustainability, how are they balancing investments in automation with the need to reduce energy consumption, emissions and lifecycle operating costs?

When investment budgets are limited, manufacturers need to see a clear operational case for an automation upgrade. I would start by looking at the cost of the current problem: how much energy is being consumed, how often equipment stops, whether production speed is constrained, and whether waste or maintenance is adding to operating costs.

The next step is to identify an improvement that can be measured. For example, a drive upgrade on a pump or fan may reduce energy use by matching speed to demand; an auto-mation improvement on a conveyor or packaging line may help improve throughput or re-duce interruptions. 

The business case should compare the investment with the expected savings or productivity benefit over the equipment’s operating life, while also  considering installation costs, maintenance and the impact of any planned shutdown. Manufacturers do not always need to modernise an entire plant at once. A focused upgrade in an energy-intensive or production-critical application can be a practical first step, provided the baseline and expected outcomes are clear. In that way, energy efficiency and sustainability become part of a sound business decision: lower resource use can go hand in hand with better operational performance.

ABB offers motors, drives and automation technologies that can work together across diverse F&B applications. How does this integrated approach help manufacturers improve reliability, energy efficiency and operational performance, and what are you seeing in terms of customer adoption?

We are seeing manufacturers take a more integrated view of their operations, rather than treating motors, drives and automation as separate purchasing decisions. When these technologies are designed to work together, they can help a plant control processes more precisely, respond to changing demand and improve energy performance.

In F&B, that matters across applications such as packaging, conveyors, pumping, processing and refrigeration. A move from fixed-speed operation to variable speed control, where the process allows it, can give manufacturers greater flexibility and help avoid using more energy than the application needs. Drive data can also provide useful insight into operating conditions, supporting more informed maintenance and process decisions.

Adoption depends on the needs and maturity of each customer, so the right solution starts with understanding the application and its business priorities. For some manufacturers, the first step may be a targeted upgrade to a specific pump, fan or conveyor; for others, it may be a broader automation project. Our focus is on helping customers improve the performance of the complete application with reliability, productivity and energy efficiency considered together.