Bühler Insights is one of the first secure, high performing and reliable cloud-based frameworks for digital services in the food and feed processing industry. MoisturePro™, one of Bühler’s digital services powered by the Bühler Insights platform, can reduce energy consumption for industrial drying processes and save customers hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. The Bühler Insights platform combines the power of Bühler’s leadership in food processing with Microsoft’s leadership in delivering intelligent Azure cloud technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities, and blockchain to unlock a new degree of food safety, traceability, transparency, and data intelligence.
Partnership with Microsoft
Partnering with Microsoft and using its Azure cloud platform enabled Bühler to develop Bühler Insights – a single IoT platform that runs all of Bühler’s digital services and enables customers to access these services via a single portal. Bühler Insights provides the platform from which Bühler can deliver its process know-how directly to customers. Bühler currently has the capability to connect more than 85% of its solutions to Bühler Insights.
Digital services
Bühler is showcasing a selection of its digital services at Microsoft Ignite, including MoisturePro, a cloud-based digital service that drives significant improvements in yield, reduces energy costs and the environmental footprint of thermal processing in the food and feed industry. Harnessing the power of cloud connectivity, it can deliver a return on investment of USD $300,000, translating to an annual energy savings of USD $20,000. Bühler Insights, with its first set of digital services running on this platform, is just the start of this endeavour. Bühler and Microsoft are already looking into blockchain to secure total traceability for the food industry and consumers. Blockchain is an ideal way to record actions and transactions, because it’s very difficult to change or tamper with. Bühler and Microsoft are working together on the development of a blockchain solution that will increase food safety and transparency across the food value chain. Satya Nadella said that Bühler is transforming its business with AI, and the broader industry with blockchain.
Helping the food industry
Blockchain can help the food industry in many ways. Take food contamination for example, in the first eight months of this year, the US Food and Drug Administration recorded around 120 cases of food and feed contamination in the US. This included contamination from salmonella, listeria monocytogenes, glass, metal, and rodent droppings. With Blockchain, companies can quickly trace the source of contamination and try to prevent it from resulting in illness, lost food production, and damaged brand reputation. With blockchain, companies can also track quality and location.
