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Basque SME offers technology combining photonics and IoT sensors to monitor quality in food production industrial processes

Summary

Profile Type
  • Technology offer
POD Reference
TOES20231110025
Term of Validity
10 November 2023 - 9 November 2024
Company's Country
  • Spain
Type of partnership
  • Commercial agreement with technical assistance
Targeted Countries
  • All countries
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General information

Short Summary
A fast-growing innovative Basque startup founded to achieve more efficient and sustainable production by applying photonic solutions to industrial processes is looking for partners interested in in either adopting the technology for their quality monitoring processes or integrating it into their portfolio as an added-value feature (joint venture). A commercial agreement with technical assistance is envisaged.
Full Description
The company has developed a platform consisting of two main components: sensors based on near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and an IoT platform for storage, visualisation and generation of alarms and reports related to the quality of food products.
The platform's sensors will be able to provide in real-time the most characteristic parameters of food products, such as percentages of fat, protein, moisture, lactose, etc. Moreover, the sensors work installed in the production line itself, as it has been demonstrated with a first pilot project together with an Spanish dairy company, dedicated to the manufacture of dairy desserts. These sensors can work both with contact, installed in pipes, tanks or hoppers, and without contact on conveyor belts. It is also important to mention that they are valid for characterising different types of products, such as liquids, powders, solids, and doughs, among others. The data generated by the sensors can be sent to a PLC or SCADA system for real-time decision-making, or to the IoT platform where the characteristics of the product can be displayed, alarms can be generated if one of the parameters does not comply with certain conditions, reports on the different batches produced, etc.
This SME has successfully carried out a few pilot projects in different food sectors such as dairy, bakery, oil and sauces. In one of them, the company collaborated with a small dairy to homogenise their yoghurts produced in different batches. A reduction higher than 70% in the variability of their final product was achieved, measuring the percentages of fat and protein to adjust the recipe in Greek yoghurt production.
Also, this SME participated in three pilot projects in the bakery sector. In the first one, the goal was to obtain in line the percentage of fat, protein, and salt in the pie dough. In the second one, the fermentation process of bread was characterised to know its optimal fermentation point and decide when it is ready to be baked. Finally, in the third one, a model to monitor the kneading and lamination processes in cookies production was developed.
To conclude, this Basque innovative SME has carried out a pilot project on the oil and sauces sector with a company dedicated to producing canned food, with two objectives. Firstly, to determine the quality of the olive oil received from suppliers. Secondly, to develop a system to measure the fat content of mayonnaise.
Advantages and Innovations
As a whole, the AONIR platform will be able to control in-line and in real-time the entire production process, from the input of the raw material to the final product. This continuous monitoring of the quality of production, from incoming goods to final product output, will prevent deviations in product characteristics. These deviations can result in out-of-specification products that may require rework, selling products at a reduced price, wasted batches or even product recalls. This system is also suitable for the optimisation of processes such as mixing and kneading times, fermentation monitoring, or real-time determination of moisture in the drying process.
In conclusion, more efficient and sustainable production can be achieved with this control system.
Stage of Development
  • Available for demonstration
Sustainable Development Goals
  • Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Partner Sought

Expected Role of a Partner
The company is exploring a range of options to support the validation, industrialization and commercialization of this technology. With the aim of reaching TRL9, the company seeks food processors, bakeries or dairies to further support the validation of the technology in real environments. The type of agreement for this collaboration will be through a technical cooperation agreement.
This company is also seeking financial agreement(s) with investment partners to fund the industrialization of the complete system. Potential investors should be trustworthy companies with experience in transnational commercial activities. Food industry companies would be preferable in order to start soon the industrialization.
Type and Size of Partner
  • SME 50 - 249
  • Big company
  • SME 11-49
Type of partnership
  • Commercial agreement with technical assistance

Dissemination

Technology keywords
  • 02003005 - Information processing & Systems, Workflow
  • 01001001 - Automation, Robotics Control Systems
  • 01001002 - Digital Systems, Digital Representation
  • 02003001 - Process automation
Market keywords
  • 007003005 - General food products
  • 07003002 - Health food
Sector Groups Involved
  • Agri-Food
Targeted countries
  • All countries