Berentzen is gaining more insight through digitalization

Paper is out. Thanks to big changes at the Berentzen Group’s Minden site. While it used to be that production data were recorded manually, orders were printed out and then handed on, and tracing a batch required someone to manually search through archived documents, that is no longer the case. Since 2024, Krones’ digital services have made all of these processes much easier. They were implemented under Project “Mehrblick” (which translates to “more insight”), laying the foundation for the digital transformation of the Berentzen Group’s production processes in Minden.

From a production order right through to quality control testing – every manufacturing company has information that needs to be documented. At the Berentzen Group’s Minden plant, this was, until recently, mostly done on paper – that is, by hand. As a result, fulfilling a production order entailed a lot of communication and time, in addition to what it took to actually get the job done. Adding to the challenge was the fact that production-relevant information was often located in different places within the various documents. All in all, it was hard to keep a clear overview. But precisely that is essential to ensuring that processes run efficiently and production and management are optimally aligned.

In other words, it was time for a change. And so, the Berentzen Group decided to fundamentally restructure their production and administrative processes. In August 2023, in collaboration with Krones, they kicked off a comprehensive digital transformation project at Minden under the name “Mehrblick”. “Thanks to their expertise and years of experience in the beverage industry, Krones was already familiar with many of our processes. The way they approached the project was exemplary and really just super. We never thought of Krones as a service provider but as part of the project team,” says Christian Redeker, Technical Manager at the Berentzen Group.

Smooth

In this project, we’ve digitalized all production-relevant processes – like order management, seamless batch tracing and in-line quality control testing – and integrated them into Berentzen Group’s enterprise resource planning tool, SAP ERP. So they will all be centrally managed now. Production-specific applications ensure that everything that is planned under SAP ERP is executed in production. The new digital solution organizes production orders in accordance with the schedule and keeps everything running smoothly during execution. Any adjustments relating to changes in the production schedule can be made quickly. “We have developed a solution that is pioneering for the bottling and packaging sector,” explains Christian Schreglmann, Project Manager for Krones.

The foundation on which the applications are built is SAP’s Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), which provides a unified environment for developing and running cloud applications. The advantage of using an SAP-based solution? SAP BTP makes it possible to map out a wide variety of integration scenarios. Besides the standard capabilities, its modular structure enables users to address the specific needs of the beverage industry – and it’s precisely this individual touch that keeps everything running smoothly.

The solution also provides a centralized, reader-friendly visualization. The applications are smart and tailored to the Berentzen Group’s own processes, giving users a clear line of sight across everything – plus intuitive controls. For the employees using them, they are a simple tool that eliminates the need for paper documentation.

The user interface is tailored to the beverage maker’s own processes and requirements.
The order management application enables shopfloor personnel to not only view but also start, pause or cancel orders. Anytime, from anywhere, even from a mobile device.
Documents for traceability can be pulled up and made available to quality management and laboratory teams at the push of a button.

The main focus with this project was on digitalizing production planning, order management and quality management and on reducing manual processes. The new solution automatically sends production orders from SAP ERP to the relevant operator interface in the line. The advantages are obvious:

Less time and effort required of shopfloor staff.
Shorter make-ready and start-up times at change-overs – with far fewer errors.
In-line quality control results are recorded digitally and available for laboratory and quality management to access at any time for batch tracing.
In addition, a feedback monitor sends data on material consumption, volumes and times within the context of a production order to the SAP ERP module. That significantly improves planning because analysis of the collected data provides important insight for continuously optimizing production, reducing costs and conserving resources.

Project “Mehrblick” delivers more insight

It’s the cornerstone of the digital transformation of production processes at the Minden plant, closing the gap between the management and production.

Project scope:

Develop applications based on the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) for the digital transformation of order management, batch tracing and quality control processes
Integrate production processes into existing SAP ERP
Precisely match the visualization of production data to lines and orders
- Advanced Analytics: Reports on line performance and KPIs
- Integrated Analytics: Customized reports at the enterprise level to facilitate comparing lines, varieties or entire plants

Main objectives:

Transparency of the production processes
Precise mapping to lines and orders
Transparency of process and production costs
Increased production efficiency

Analytics solutions keep data in view

In order to maintain transparency across all levels of an environment as complex as the Berentzen Group’s, all the data collected from every area needs to come together in one place. That means, not only do the processes have to be digital but interfaces also need to be established between the levels. Otherwise, the various digital systems can’t communicate with each other. That is precisely the idea behind the Krones Ecosystem – the network in which Krones bundles its digital solutions.

And now, the Berentzen Group is able to benefit from this integrated approach: By connecting all systems – from the individual machines to the Krones Operating Platform and the Krones IIoT Platform right through to the SAP Business Technology Platform – line and production data are linked with the Berentzen Group’s business processes. That holds massive potential, as Thomas Faust, Head of Operations, affirms: “The combination of real-time data analysis, root cause analysis and scheduled optimization enables us to significantly increase our productivity.”

Counters and downtimes from the Krones digital solution Advanced Analytics are placed within the context of the production order. The digital service, which can also be accessed from a mobile device, makes it possible to collect machine data in real time and keep sight of everything. As a result, the staff at the Berentzen Group can see the line’s status in real time and analyze the most important KPIs of the production process right down to the line and order. The system translates a large amount of complex information about a line into informative KPIs, showing which areas still hold untapped potential for improvement.

Advanced Analytics enables real-time and historical analyses of machine and line performance and visualizes the most important production-process KPIs. 
Integrated Analytics enables comprehensive, tailormade analyses of filling and packaging operations and reports that cover multiple lines and sites, thus allowing meaningful comparisons.

A further service, Integrated Analytics, provides enhanced reports on the line’s performance at the enterprise level based on the data provided by Advanced Analytics. It enables the Berentzen team to generate comparative analyses for benchmarking the most important key figures – in keeping with the group’s own specific requirements. The reports used can be preconfigured by Krones or generated by the Berentzen team. The diverse array of analysis options makes the machine data transparent for management while also supporting shift and production supervisors’ decision-making. Information is contextualized to compare lines, varieties or even entire plants, so that sound actions for increasing performance and reducing manufacturing costs can be developed.

To be continued...

Because the project was so successful in laying the foundation for the digital transformation of the Berentzen Group’s production processes, the collaboration continues. The Berentzen Group and Krones are already working on an AI-based solution for production fine planning, which initial tests suggest will increase performance by up to 15 per cent. The solution is to be applied across the entire portfolio.