Schneider Electric, a leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, said it is accelerating digitisation in the food and beverage industry with a new application for managing product data.

With evolving distribution systems and consumer needs, food and beverage manufacturers are looking for solutions to improve the organisation, management and security of their product data in a shared system. Schneider Electric is offering a new tool, PIM Powered by Agena3000, which is capable of centralising, standardising and distributing all updated product data with complete security, said a statement from the company.

For this solution, Schneider Electric is drawing on the expertise of Agena3000, a French specialist in food and beverage product information management (PIM), it said.

With the global trend for digitisation and growing consumer demand for trusted, transparent access to more relevant, reliable information on their choices, mass retailers and e-tailers are using innovative technologies, such as connected objects (IoT) and mobile apps, to meet their customers’ needs.

According to an IDC report published in 2017, the production of data should increase tenfold by 2024. Processing production, consumer and logistics data, and sending it to the right people is becoming a headache for manufacturers. They need to send this data in increasingly short deadlines, with near real-time becoming the norm in e-commerce.

At its recent Innovation Summit which hosted more than 5,000 experts, customers and partners from all over the world at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, in France, Schneider Electric presented the latest innovations in its EcoStruxure IoT-enabled, plug and play, open, interoperable, architecture and platform, said a statement.

EcoStruxure delivers enhanced value around safety, reliability, efficiency, sustainability, and connectivity. It leverages advancements in IoT, mobility, sensing, cloud, analytics and cybersecurity to deliver innovation at every level, from connected products, edge control to apps, analytics and services, it said.

EcoStruxure has been deployed in 480,000+ installations, with the support of 20,000+ system integrators, connecting over 1.5 million assets. On this occasion, Schneider Electric also unveiled its new PIM Powered by Agena3000 app for reliable, efficient product information management. PIM Powered by Agena3000 will be part of EcoStruxure for food and beverage, it added.

Benjamin Jude, food and beverage segment solution architect at Schneider Electric, said: “PIM is a system of reference that centralises all end-product data and makes it available to stakeholders internally and externally, from e-commerce platforms to stores.”

All the data handled by PIM Powered by Agena3000 will be constantly updated and comply with GS1, the global standard for encoding information produced by the food and beverage industry (product codes, ingredients, additives, consumer information, composition, allergens, etc.) adopted by all major retailers and e-tailers, it said.

Stéphane Lopez, channel director at Agena300, said: “The GS1 standard is a mark of trust and security for distributors with which we bring our expertise in data standardisation and ensure updates, especially local adaptations of GS1 from one country to another.”

Agena300 is also able to address specific requests by a distributor, such as a specific format and definition for product photos, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service