As of March 2009, the estimated turnover of the food processing industry was around Rs 400 billion. In rupee terms, this shows a growth of around 25 per cent as compared to that of the previous financial year. With increasingly urbanised lifestyles in India and other developed parts of the world, most of the food being produced is consumed in highly processed form. To cater to the growing demand for processed food products, a range of processing techniques such as emulsification, baking, mixing, pasteurisation, and packaging have become commonplace in the food industry.

However, to achieve a high degree of efficiency in production and optimise product quality, automation must be integrated with these processing technologies. Different automation technologies based on mechanical devices and mechanisms have been used during the early twentieth century. Later, the development of electronic equipment gave a new dimension to automation technology. With the development of different types of sensors and control elements, automation became more efficient and versatile.

Automation Scope in Food Processing
Due to the urgent needs of the growing food processing industry, automation technologies have emerged, with a wide scope for application in the domain. A few critical aspects of automation technology from the perspective of food processing are discussed below.

Quality consistency
Product consistency is an indispensable attribute of virtually every industry; failing to achieve consistency can result in customers opting for alternative brands or product manufacturers. Automation systems, with their automated and programmable functions, ensure perfect repeatability of food processing operations along with precise control over ingredient proportions, as well as uniformity at all stages of manufacturing. This helps manufacturers obtain high-quality food products with consistent characteristics in every production lot. This also helps in creating an identity for the food product in terms of its uniquely recognised properties.

Timely delivery
Like other industries, another important attribute of the food processing industry is timely delivery of processed foods, for which it is essential to manufacture multiple products on existing production lines. Rapid product line changeovers and system conversions are the key to maintaining the competitive edge, which is possible through specialised automation systems. Automation systems not only help to enhance quality but also improve productivity, leading to timely delivery of goods.

Process flexibility
Consumer preferences change quite continuously. Food manufacturers generally experience a 30 per cent product changeover each year, which creates a steady influx of new product recipes in the manufacturing process. Manufacturers can gain a competitive edge by incorporating flexibility and scalability in their manufacturing processes. An automation system integrated with a production specification module can provide food processing facilities with the capability to adapt according to the changing market requirements and varying environmental conditions.

Cost optimisation
Food manufacturers face the dilemma of ensuring customer satisfaction while meeting the company goals for reducing costs and improving efficiencies. To achieve this goal, they install automation and information systems in the mixing area to improve production efficiencies, minimise inventories and maximise asset utilisation.

In this regard, the modern concept of integrated architecture platform enables processors to reuse engineering designs and practices to reduce development time and cost, and respond quicker to fluctuating market demands. Such systems also reduce maintenance costs and downtime, and facilitate access to plant and production information for improved management and decision-making. Automation systems with an integrated architecture deliver faster process control at significantly lower costs.

Facility integration
Automation systems with integrated architecture also address plant needs in terms of information flow, quality and compliance, production management and asset management. By emphasising third-party connectivity, interoperability and use of open industry standards, integrated automation systems enable seamless information flow and sharing within the rest of the processing facility.

Unlike traditional systems, automation systems reduce the total cost of ownership by using a single control infrastructure for the entire range of factory automation applications. This allows users to reuse engineering designs and practices to reduce development time and cost, and respond quickly to market demands.

Real-time decision-making
Today, many food processing companies use different control and information systems for individual production operations. This approach needs expensive system integration. Also, decisions are made based on the limitations and boundaries of disparate systems, diminishing the ability to make timely, fully informed decisions. Real-time information exchange between the production team and the rest of the enterprise is critical for making business decisions that improve responsiveness, increase productivity, reduce costs and assure regulatory compliance. Unlike conventional architecture, integrated automation systems provide fully scalable solutions for better control, hence, providing users the capability to optimise production, respond quickly and reduce costs.

Bakery Processing
The business of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods is one of the fastest developing businesses across the world. In India, various bakery products are manufactured by small and medium-scale industries. Bakery products such as bread, biscuits and cakes have become popular among people of all income groups. While bakery products have become popular among lowerincome groups due to their affordable prices, higher-and middle-income groups consume greater quantities of such products due to their changing food habits and fast-moving lifestyles. Of all the varieties of bakery goods, bread has become a popular staple food in the Indian market.

Bread is prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water, sometimes with the addition of other ingredients. The dough undergoes different processes, depending on the desired flavour. Dough is usually baked, but in some cuisines, breads are also steamed, fried, or baked on a skillet. Salt, fat and leavening agents such as yeast and baking soda are common ingredients, though bread may also contain other ingredients such as milk, sugar, spices, fruit, vegetables, nuts or seeds.

Fresh bread is prized for its taste, aroma, quality and texture. Retaining freshness is important in ensuring that bread is appetising. Bread that has stiffened or dried past its prime is said to be stale. Modern bread is sometimes wrapped in paper or plastic film, or stored in a container such as a breadbox to reduce drying. Bread that is kept in warm, moist environments is prone to the growth of mould. Bread kept at low temperatures, in a refrigerator for example, will develop mould growth more slowly than bread kept at room temperature, but will turn stale quickly due to retrogradation.

The soft, inner part of bread is known to bakers and other culinary professionals as the crumb, which is not to be confused with small bits of bread that often fall off, called crumbs. The outer hard portion of bread is called the crust.

The process of manufacturing bread includes the following steps:
• Flour, water and other ingredients are obtained according to the recipe and batch size.
• These ingredients are mixed in proportion and dough is prepared
• Lumps of fixed sizes are prepared from the dough
• These lumps are then baked
• Leavening process
• Packaging
• Storage
• Delivery

Switching to the Automation Perspective
Due to the range of processes in a bread manufacturing facility, automation systems have great scope to take care of most of the overall process cycle. The major processes that can be automated at a bread manufacturing facility are outlined below.

Batching and Mixing
This part of the process can be fully automated. Ingredients are added in pre-defined quantity, according to the recipe and required batch size of the final product. Ingredients are stored in hoppers which have electrically operated gates. A bucket or vessel on a conveyor belt is placed on the load cell.

The programmable logic controller (PLC) has a load cell interface to measure the weight, which helps control outputs to the control gates of the hopper. Once the batch operation start command is given to the PLC, it senses the position of the conveyor belt through limit switch inputs, opens the gate of first hopper for the first ingredients, and monitors weight.

Once the desired quantity is fed, it closes the gate. Once all ingredients are added, the conveyor belt starts and the material on the belt is discharged into the mixer. Water and other additives are also added to the mixer. The mixer is switched on and remains so throughout the pre-programmed mixing time. Once the mixing interval is over, the mixer switches off automatically. The dough thus obtained is floated on another conveyor belt.

Cutting and Slicing
The nest cycle of the process begins, during which the dough moves on the conveyor belt. During the process, the automated cutter senses the desired size and cuts lumps accordingly. Meanwhile, the lumps of dough are also sliced.

Heating and Baking
After the cutting and slicing stage, the sliced lumps are moved to the oven. The oven comprises an inbuilt temperature sensor and heating element. The PLC starts the heater and maintains temperature at a certain specific value for a predefined time. One can set the temperature and time for baking. The lumps thus undergo the leavening process inside the oven.

Packaging
Leavened lumps are taken through the conveyor belt to the packaging machine. In the packaging machine, vapour is applied over these lumps. Besides, details such as batch numbers, expiry date, and price are also printed on the packaging material. Thus, packets of bread are assembled for the final quality check and delivery. These are stored in cool and dry storage areas, which have controlled temperature and humidity.

Seeking the Automation Advantage
With the growing demand for processed food products and heightened consumer expectations in terms of quality and taste, large-scale implementation of automation technology has become important. Processed food items like bakery products, which involve a variety of precision operations and time-varying elements, need automated facilities for quality and speedy production. Moreover, to realise better returns, ensure customer satisfaction and minimise downtimes, automation has a great part to play in the modern food processing industry.

The author is VP, Samyak Infotech Pvt Ltd