Aseptic packaging provider SIG has created an integrated asset performance management (APM) and field service management (FSM) digital solution for the food and beverage industry.

Developed in partnership with GE Digital, Plant 360 Asset Management is a modular solution designed to improve filling line reliability and availability, while also reducing costs. It will feature a range of on-demand digital services designed to help manufacturers with efficiency, productivity and connectivity in their operations.

“GE Digital’s asset performance management and ServiceMax’s field service management software help OEMs ensure their installed base of equipment is performing optimally and their field service resources are managed efficiently,” said Dan Lohmeyer, senior vice president of digital product management at GE Digital.

“Our integrated solution allows SIG to detect and correct potential equipment issues in advance, before they result in unplanned customer downtime, delighting end-customers through improved OEE and driving improved NPS scores for SIG,” Lohmeyer explained.

Plant 360 Asset Management creates a direct link between condition-based and predictive maintenance alerts in APM and the work being scheduled for field-service engineers in FSM. According to SIG, this helps translate alerts into efficient action on the ground and ensures field service teams receive as much advance notice as possible of an issue, which they can address before it impacts a customer’s operations.

“With Plant 360 Asset Management, any changes to equipment strategies – for example, changing service intervals or maintenance steps – can be quickly reflected in new FSM work,” said Klaus Andresen, senior vice president of global technology at SIG. “This improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the overall SIG maintenance process. Data captured by field-service workers is immediately available for analysis by APM and the global SIG reliability engineering team, allowing us to better and more quickly detect emerging issues and trigger preventative steps.”

Almarai, one of Saudi Arabia’s largest food and beverage producers, is the first company to use Plant 360 Asset Management in what will eventually be a global rollout. “Digital Solutions are vital for us to analyse exactly what is happening in our plant and going forward to produce reliably,” commented Robert Ross, manufacturing manager of dairy and juice at Almarai.

Ross added that the “partnership with SIG and GE will greatly help us in root cause analysis and in providing valid answers. This will ensure reliable production and to improve our OEE. We are very proud to be an early adopter of this cutting-edge solution.”