Food insecurity continues to be a pressing issue in the United States. Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks, food pantries, and meal programs, reported that in 2020 about 42 million people, including 13 million children, lacked access to sufficient food for an active, healthy life.

One solution to food insecurity is the ongoing effort to reduce waste in food manufacturing plants, often brought on by production downtime. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in 2019 a staggering 40 million tons of food was wasted in the food and beverage manufacturing and processing sectors.

Food processing plants typically run their equipment for 16 to 20 hours a day. Unfortunately, downtime is an inevitable part of manufacturing operations. Recent surveys have shown that downtime can lead to a loss of at least 5% of production capacity for most manufacturing sites, and sometimes it can take up to 20% of operational hours. This translates into increased operation costs and to disruptions in the supply chain, causing delays in deliveries. Because the processing plants often handle delicate and time-critical products, delays in getting materials across production lines can cause raw materials to spoil, and bacterial growth on damaged machines, resulting in the disposal of whole batches of contaminated food if production cannot resume in time.

Facing down downtime in Texas

For over a century, Dallas, Texas, has been a hub of the food and beverage industry, home to over 15,000 food-related companies, including major players like Frito-Lay, Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages, and Dean Foods. Amid this rapidly evolving industry, Ambassador Controls & Engineering, an industrial engineering solution provider in Dallas, is revolutionizing food and beverage manufacturing by providing cutting-edge solutions incorporating digital transformation and automation. As the industry continues to advance, adopting new technology is crucial in shaping its future and reducing food waste.

Brian Msal, the director of engineering at Ambassador Controls, explained that the company typically serves as a Tier 1 partner to their customers, providing essential support for mission-critical production tasks. Msal emphasized the importance of efficient and prompt issue resolution in maintaining the company's position as a technology partner.

“As a leading provider of support services to manufacturing sites, Ambassador Controls aims to expand its exceptional service support to over 10 manufacturing sites annually,” explained Msal. “However, permanently stationing professional personnel at each site is not a cost-effective option, posing a challenge in ensuring timely resolution during breakdowns.”

Remote access anytime, anywhere with Moxa MRC

Ambassador Controls faced the challenge of providing timely support to customers across multiple manufacturing sites. To address this, Ambassador Controls partnered with Moxa to deploy a secure remote access solution. Moxa Remote Connect (MRC) secure remote access gateways were installed onto manufacturing equipment panels at customer sites, enabling easy and secure remote diagnostics, maintenance, and troubleshooting, regardless of the location or time zone. An MRC server was hosted on AWS, providing end-to-end secure tunnels between the MRC client — Ambassador Controls’ engineering team — and the machine behind the MRC gateway.

This setup allows Ambassador's engineers to prioritize support, conduct preliminary troubleshooting, and offer real-time support to customers, resulting in a more streamlined and efficient process. The VPN secure tunnel incorporated in the MRC solution also addressed concerns about customer's internal systems' security. By providing a safe and secure connection, customers no longer had to worry about unauthorized access.

"The interface provides ease of use to our customers and engineers, which is a top priority for us. After evaluating multiple solutions, Ambassador Controls selected Moxa MRC for its user-friendly web-based interface to better serve our customers and streamline our maintenance processes,” said Msal.

Another unique feature of the MRC solution was its user-friendly interface, which enabled both on-site manufacturing operators and Ambassador's engineers to access specified devices and connect to the MRC gateway easily with role-based control. This allowed for greater flexibility, ensuring that general operating personnel could assist with system checks and troubleshooting, even during labor shortages.

By implementing remote access solution, Ambassador's engineers can reduce the carbon footprint of traveling and solve manufacturing problems from their office, making it easier to prioritize and serve customers efficiently from anywhere.

"Remote access service is a standard we have nowadays, so we use Moxa MRC to facilitate that communication," said Msal. “Besides improving customer experiences, remote access contributes to sustainability by preserving more food, while reducing downtime and operating losses for clients. By reducing the need for on-site maintenance, it is also reducing the amount of disposed waste.”

Since 2020, Ambassador has upgraded its service level through instant response using Moxa MRC solution. Moxa's MRC revolutionized Ambassador Controls' response time, resulting in high levels of customer satisfaction. The previous day-long wait is now reduced to instantaneous access in emergencies, securing Ambassador Controls' position in industrial maintenance.

Source: Moxa