High-Tech Dairy Production Meets Strong Craftsmanship

Professional dairy staff and innovative process technology join forces at the Løgismose micro-dairy, Denmark. The entire plant is connected via an EtherNet/IP network to manage all processes and safety functions from a few centrally-located touch screens.  Perfection is more important than profits at the Løgismose micro-dairy in Tivoli Gardens. Here, in one of Copenhagen’s most attractive locations, the Danish dairy industry has a unique showcase both for its proud craftsmanship traditions and for its groundbreaking production technology. The micro-dairy is an integrated part of the magnificent NIMB complex, one of the oldest and most beautiful buildings in Tivoli Gardens. NIMB has been transformed into a connoisseur’s paradise in recent years, and now comprises an exclusive hotel, a gourmet restaurant, a chocolate factory, a delicatessen and its own production of organic dairy products. Everything at NIMB has been handpicked to be the best: the furniture, the service concept and even the packaging. Of course, the dairy’s production equipment is no exception and the Løgismose dairy specialists have every imaginable monitoring and control technology at their disposal as they work with the delicate organic milk products. Despite its small size and limited production capacity, the dairy supplies Tivoli’s guests at the hotel, restaurant and delicatessen with a full range of dairy products. Milk, cheese, butter, yoghurt, sour cream and chocolate milk are all produced in just one plant – something that places great demands on production processes. The high-tech plant consists of 10 production tanks, a standardization tank, homogenization and pasteurization tanks, and three cleansing tanks. All supplied by APV in strategic cooperation with among others Rockwell Automation, who provided the overall control system, and Endress+ Hauser, who provided the process instruments. The entire plant is connected via an EtherNet/IP network that allows dairy specialists to manage all processes and safety functions from a few centrally-located touch screens. Dairy staff control each and every pump and mixer equipped with a PowerFlex drive connected to the EtherNet/IP network. This solution gives dairy specialists complete control of pump speeds, mixing frequencies, air mixtures and other factors that affect milk and dairy end products. “Quality is a fundamental principle for us – and this requires monitoring, control and precision. The Rockwell Automation solution gives us the same control of raw materials as dairies used to have using old-fashioned, manual methods. At the same time, we comply to all the food safety requirements that modern food processing companies must meet and that legislation requires,” says Kim Ernstsen, Dairy Manager at Løgismose MicroDairy:NIMB. The network provides dairy specialists instant access to all data collected in the production plant. All processes are registered in order to create a reliable basis for quality control and quick action if products do not meet the dairy’s exacting demands. Should electricity fail, a centrally placed UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) provides complete data backup. Process data also play a key role in the dairy’s day-to-day production and in product development. “Process data provide a treasure chest of information and give us a high-quality, empirical foundation for what we do. For example, if we make a really delicious butter product, we can dig into the data to see what the pasteurisation temperature was and determine exactly what we did to the cream to achieve just that taste. We do not make standard products where productivity is the main priority – we keep our focus on quality. In our constant search for the very best, data is a key parameter so it is a great advantage for us that everything is recorded and can easily be retrieved by our dairy specialists,” says Kim Ernstsen. Machine safety is also managed through CIP Safety over the EtherNet/IP network and an Allen-Bradley GuardLogix controller that combines automation and safety control into one. With the use of I/O blocks on EtherNet/IP for both automation and safety data, the dairy is not locked into a hard-wired solution and achieves great flexibility when it comes to changing the production set-up without installing new cables. Everything is controlled on screen, so dairy staff can easily transfer control from one safety zone to another and define which tanks and pumps stop when tank doors are opened. The solution provides more than just flexibility: it reduces the possibility of mistakes and safety breaches, and also makes it easier to keep the dairy clean since the number of cables is greatly reduced. “This is a state of the art solution that meets all directives for machine and product safety. The interaction between the modern dairy plant and its high-tech control system is a perfect demonstration of both APV’s and Rockwell Automation’s global competencies in the dairy industry,” says Morten Kiil Rasmussen, APV’s business development manager. “All programming was carried out abroad, and the development process has been quite flexible, and is a good example of Rockwell Automation’s global support.” Løgismose MicroDairy:NIMB has two key tasks: to demonstrate the very best Danish dairy production and to develop new gourmet products based on organic milk. Rockwell Automation has supplied an integrated EtherNet/IP solution that provides dairy staff with full control of all processes and safety aspects. The flexible, userfriendly solution can rapidly be reconfigured to produce all types of products in just one plant.