Retrofitting fieldbus technology in food industry

This paper discusses the system integration aspects of an automated system. Several fieldbus systems based on different standards are in use since a decade. Bearing in mind that a dedicated fieldbus for food plant operation and management does not exist, this paper highlights its applications in this sector. A case study for realizing low cost solution for distributed production line automation with control networking technology has been presented. A conveyor system that integrates sophisticated driving system, robotic platform, inspection system, color coding system, palletizing system, and safety measures was designed by using DCS (Distributed Control System) philosophy. PLC and control network technology were used to automate this laboratory based food processing and packaging demonstration cell.