Technology adoption: Brazilian companies pursue production efficiency

Deciding to invest time and money to pursue production efficiency, more than 200 Brazilian manufacturers gathered for a GE Platform Solutions conference in Sao Paulo. Nine companies presented the following manufacturing success stories.

By Control Engineering Staff December 11, 2008

Sao Paulo, Brazil – Deciding to invest time and money in their pursuit of production efficiency, more than 200 Brazilian manufacturers gathered for a GE Platform Solutions conference in Sao Paulo. Manufacturing software systems can give companies a complete quality framework that will ensure quality and support audit regimens and help reap the benefits of decreased production issues. Nine companies presented their manufacturing success stories and encouraged their peers to become more efficient and effective. Nova America : New technologies in sugar and alcohol mills have helped Nova America to realize gains in productivity and efficiency in their production of ethanol.

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Santa Terezinha : Improving visualization and control in sugar and alcohol mills has given Santa Terezinha a complete picture of its production facilities to meet the needs of its growing ethanol business. Sadia : Production efficiency and quality in the food and beverage industry has proven effective for Sadia as they implement product tracking and genealogy in an industrial environment. Ache Laboratories : Managing product batches and recipes in pharmaceuticals, has increased the production effectiveness of Ache Laboratories’ operation. Eurofarma : Implementing an integrated operations center in the pharmaceuticals industry has provided Eurofarma a one-stop shop to manage multiple product lines with less support, training and achieve a faster time to value. Ambev : Measuring process performance in the beverage industry gives Ambev an advantage in producing quality product, therefore reducing waste.According to the customer presentations, Brazil companies operating in the biofuels segment need systems where production can be switched from sugar to ethanol or energy depending on the market price/need of each product. This can happen very frequently. Therefore flexibility in manufacturing is key.“In times of crisis and recession, investments have to be applied in a coherent and decisive way, looking to optimize the assets and maximize available resources,” said João Carlos Felipe Santiago, automation coordinator, Eurofarma Brazil. Santiago added that the event shows, “besides the global economical difficulties, Brazil has a consolidated technological effort in place.”– Edited by Mark T. Hoske , editor in chief Control Engineering Information Control eNewsletter Register here .