Siemens and Sachsenmilch Collaborate on Predictive Maintenance Solution for Food and Beverage Industry

Siemens has been supporting Sachsenmilch Leppersdorf GmbH in Germany – one of the most modern milk processing plants in Europe – on its path toward developing a cutting-edge predictive maintenance system. Siemens'AI-powered solution, Senseye Predictive Maintenance, helps Sachsenmilch ensure continuous operation 365 days a year following strict quality standards.
The production environment at Sachsenmilch in Leppersdorf features modern interconnected machines that generate large volumes of data – an ideal setting for a pilot project using Senseye Predictive Maintenance, the advanced predictive maintenance solution.
Senseye Predictive Maintenance utilizes AI algorithms to identify both immediate and future machine issues, which allows proactive maintenance to be performed and prevents downtime. This capability has proven to be extremely valuable in Sachsenmilch's heterogeneous production environment during the pilot project.
One of the biggest challenges was analyzing relevant plant data like temperature,vibration levels, and frequencies to detect anomalies early on and draw the right conclusions. The implementation process involved a careful analysis of specific failure scenarios and the integration of existing data from the control system. New vibration sensors and the Siplus CMS 1200 measurement system for vibration monitoring were also installed.
Siemens supported the maintenance team at Sachsenmilch with technical andproject management expertise. "What we like about this project is that Siemens has know-how on both the technological and the technical sides as well as in project management," said Roland Ziepel, technical manager and head of project management at Sachsenmilch in Leppersdorf. After being trained and the solution’s implementation, the Sachsenmilch team was able to independently continue and successfully complete the pilot.
Reduced downtime: Pump replacement pays off in the pilot project
The pilot with Senseye Predictive Maintenance has already achieved significant costsavings by reducing unplanned downtime. "We can confirm that the pilot project with Senseye Predictive Maintenance has already paid off. Detecting a faulty pump at anearly stage saved us a lot of expense – in the low six figures," Ziepel concluded.
"We’re pleased that with Senseye Predictive Maintenance, we were able to successfully support Sachsenmilch in integrating a preventive maintenance strategy in its existing processes. This promotes efficiency and competitiveness in increasingly complex industries. And the continuing development of our Maintenance Copilot Senseye is another significant step toward transforming maintenance operations," said Margherita Adragna, CEO of customer services at Siemens Digital Industries. 
Sachsenmilch and Siemens plan their next project
Building on this success, Sachsenmilch plans to further integrate Senseye Predictive Maintenance with their SAP Plant Maintenance System, with the goal of automatically transferring maintenance notifications from the Siemens solution to SAP Plant Maintenance to improve maintenance planning.