Enabling future-oriented meat production Efficient and sustainable use of resources with our energy measuring devices, the open PLCnext Technology ecosystem, and our Smart Services.

• Frigosorno is one of the leading meat companies in one of the largest meat regions in the world.
• Since its founding in 1945 in Osorno, Chile, the company has stood for the highest quality standards along all steps of its value added chain.
• Not least because of its innovative production processes and sustainable energy concepts, Frigosorno is one of the international market leaders in future-oriented food production.

Large quantities of raw materials and energy are required for the production of premium meat: from watering the grain fields to producing animal feed, to the high electricity requirement in the slaughter, right through to the complex cooling process of the processed meat from the production facility through to delivery.
Frigosorno wanted to provide the most accurate possible overview of when and for what exactly the company uses how much electricity and water. The aim was to develop a high degree of transparency regarding the actual use of energy and other resources. This enables the efficient design of production processes. Savings potentials will be recognized and exploited in the future.
In one of the production steps, for example, a large quantity of water is heated to a certain temperature. The company wanted to investigate how much electricity and water was used at the beginning of the adjustments. In addition, Frigosorno wanted to find out how much work has been reduced after the implementation of measures to reduce consumption.

New legal requirements come into effect from 2025. The Chilean government is calling for a precise list of what amounts of water used are from groundwater and how much comes from alternative sources, such as reprocessing plants. To this end, different measuring points and sensors are required that accurately record and document both the quantity and condition of the water. These requirements present companies with the challenge of ensuring a high degree of transparency regarding the actual use of water resources and precisely meeting the legal requirements.

The use of production system components from different manufacturers is a particular challenge when it comes to implementing the new legal requirements. The measuring instruments were not compatible and did not provide uniform results. This led to difficulties in the acquisition and documentation of the water resources. Other providers were unable to solve the challenge of interface openness without replacing the existing measuring devices and sensors.

The close cooperation between our experts in Chile and the Frigosorno team was a key factor in the success of this project. At the beginning of the project, just one EMpro energy measuring device from Phoenix Contact was used to monitor the current consumption. The employees at Frigosorno have familiarized themselves with the operation of the user-friendly plug-and-play solution. During ongoing production, more and more measuring devices were gradually installed and put into operation.

The openness of our manufacturer-independent interface for the connectivity of OT and IT enables Frigosorno to easily network all existing components of the production process. The data from the existing and newly set up components is combined in the three installed PLCnext controllers. The data is transmitted to the Proficloud.io IIoT platform in accordance with cybersecurity standards via the open PLCnext Technology ecosystem and the IIoT framework. There, it is processed via the Smart Services from Phoenix Contact for visualization, analysis, and management. Proficloud.io is an IIoT platform that enables Frigosorno to easily connect its devices –whether Phoenix Contact hardware or components from other manufacturers – to a cloud infrastructure via plug-and-play.

With its clear analysis functions, Frigosorno always has full transparency and control over its own energy and resource consumption, enabling it to identify and exploit potential savings. The Time Series Data Service from Phoenix Contact is used to improve electricity and water consumption as well as to comply with legal requirements and reporting regulations. The data collected by the hardware is displayed in dashboards in this Smart Service. The company employees can view the entire energy consumption of the integrated areas on individually tailored dashboards. It is possible to display individual areas and systems separately. For example, the dashboard shows how much water is consumed in the various sectors and how much wastewater is discharged for recycling. Reports with the relevant data are created and forwarded easily to the relevant authorities.

The Time Series Data Service from Proficloud.io features a powerful alerting function. This function allows Frigosorno to specify user-defined threshold values for various parameters such as electricity and water consumption. As soon as these threshold values are exceeded, notifications are automatically sent to the responsible employees. This helps the company to respond immediately to unusual consumption patterns and to take appropriate measures. This means that resources can be used more efficiently and costs reduced. With these comprehensive monitoring and alarm functions, Frigosorno has full transparency and control over its in-house energy and resource consumption at all times. This enables the company to detect and exploit savings potentials.

Feel free to contact us. We will consult with you to find the ideal solution together.

Through the step-by-step introduction of various digital factory solutions, Frigosorno gained an almost real-time overview and control of the entire electricity and water consumption. With the scalable and open PLCnext Technology, all existing components and measuring systems were able to be integrated into one intelligent system. With the Smart Services, data can be clearly visualized, and analyzed, and reports can be created. It should also be possible to monitor all steam and gas cycles within the production process in the future. The aim is to use energy and natural resources even more efficiently in order to minimize the carbon footprint and to maximize the sustainability of all processes.