Unlocking the power of process data in the bakery industry with Factry Historian

Puratos is a multinational organisation, specialised in developing ingredients for the patisserie and chocolate industry. It has over 65 sites worldwide. Factry enables Puratos to centrally manage and easily access data from any location or manufacturing plant. Read how we implemented an open source historian solution in over 10 sites worldwide.

A clear brief

Due to its rapid international expansion and numerous acquisitions, Puratos is spread out over many production sites, both small and large. Therefore, centralised management is a priority: the organisation required a solution to gain insight into these production sites, in a quick and cost-effective manner.

• Easy scalable software
• Solid support desk
• Fast implementation
• Centralised management
• Future-proof platform
• Cost-effective development

About Puratos

Since its founding in 1919, Puratos has built a solid reputation for itself as a developer of ingredients and solutions for bakers, pâtissiers and chocolatiers around the world. As Puratos is present in over 70 countries, a network of 463 technical advisors in 81 Innovation Centers are committed to supporting their customers. With over 9,000 employees and over 2 billion euros in revenue, Puratos is a true innovation stronghold.

A solid reply

Before Factry arrived at Puratos, process data were only available for a restricted period of time, for a limited number of users, and solely on-site. We set out to better collect, store and visualise the company’s manufacturing process data, making the data more accessible to those who need them.

• Automated data collection
• User-friendly data visualisation
• Seamless data integration
• Data management strategy
• 24/7 machine monitoring
• Custom user dashboards

The power of Factry Historian solution lies in its ability to unlock existing data so it can be useful to a broader user community. It allows people to work together on data more easily and to gain insights more quickly. - Klaas Dobbelaere

How we rolled

Factry set up a proof-of-concept in Pennsauken, USA, to demonstrate its benefits, user-friendliness and fast set-up. After a positive assessment by Puratos, the collaboration expanded to Europe. The next step in the process was a roll-out - on which a copy of the technology stack was running - to three other sites.

The third stage in the transformation was building a centralised Historian infrastructure, to increase manageability and roll-out speed for new implementations. As an added bonus, data from various sites around the world could now be accessed through one interface.

• Build a proof of concept
• Roll-out to multiple sites
• Build a central infrastructure
• Create a master interface

Factry Historian gives our facility the information we need to improve our overall OEE performance and to drive cost reduction, while drastically reducing complexity. - Jerry Nunes

Problems solved - what is next?

Finally, we created a cost-efficient service framework that enables us to roll out the historian solution quickly to new sites worldwide. In less than a week, a new system can be up and running. The whole set-up is built using open source software, from back-end logic and databases to front-end development.

Today, Puratos mainly uses Factry’s Historian tool to capture data, to look back at the past, do causal analysis and create custom dashboards and graphs. The software has now been successfully launched on sites in the USA, France, Belgium, Latvia and Poland, with further roll-outs planned.

Factry Historian brings a lot of value to our sites. I think the best way to showcase our satisfaction is that, in a mere two years’ time, we have rolled out Factry Historian in over ten sites. - Klaas Dobbelaere

Key benefits of Factry Historian

• Better process insights

Significant increase in process insights within any department

• User-friendly dashboards

Extract data and create custom dashboards and graphs in no time

• No artificial data limits

Unlimited amount of data and number of users

• Higher efficiency

Lower Cost of Ownership and improved overall efficiency

• Open source technology

Eliminate vendor lock-in using open source software

• Data integration

Integration with other automation systems such as SCADA

• On-premise or in the cloud

Store your data on any location, with maximum security

• Web-based interface

Access and amdminister data from any production site within one web-based interface

• Fast implementation

No extra local infrastructure needed to collect the machine data, if an OPC-UA server is already in place

Factry Historian shifted our paradigm from chart recorders to databases that allow us to capture and store data. It has really propelled us into a brand-new age. - Jerry Nunes