Weihenstephan Standard wins 2012 international FoodTec Award

Industry partner Bizerba oversees development and implementation of the WS Food interface

Balingen/Munich/Cologne, February 9th 2012 – The German Agricultural Society (Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft) (DLG) has now announced the winners of the International FoodTec Award. A gold medal has been awarded to the University of Technology in Munich (Technische Universität München) for the development of the Weihenstephan Standards for operational data capture.

"We are delighted to have won this award," says Dieter Conzelmann, Director of Industry Solutions at solutions provider Bizerba. "As a committed industry partner, Bizerba has taken a leading role in overseeing the development and implementation of the WS Food interface from the start. The Weihenstephaner Standards are an innovative new concept for manufacturer-independent, all-process data capture in the food and beverage industry. The solution we have developed considerably improves the industry's opportunities for ensuring quality and increasing efficiency."

The prize-giving ceremony will take place on 27 March 2012 as part of Anuga FoodTec (hall 5.1, aisle D 021), the international trade fair for food and beverage technology in Cologne.

The 2012 FoodTec Award

This year the German Agricultural Society, joint organisers of the international trade fair for food and beverage technology, AnugaFoodTec in Cologne, will be awarding exemplary innovative projects from the food and supply industry with its "International FoodTec Award" (IFT award) for the eighth time.

19 innovative projects are being awarded the prestigious prize this year: nine innovations will receive the gold International FoodTec Award; ten will receive the silver award. The award winners include companies from Sweden, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The International FoodTec Award is awarded every three years.

The Weihenstephaner Standards for operational data capture

The transparency of internal processes is having an increasing impact on the competitiveness of companies. A key element in this respect is digital networking of the production and management level with the help of manufacturing execution systems (MES). For the MES to be successful, it is essential that it is established on a systematic and standardised base of data, ensuring correct data processing and preparation. This is exactly where the problem lies with systems that have been used thus far in the food industry, as every machine manufacturer uses different interfaces and communication protocols.

The Weihenstephan Standards (WS) allow manufacturer-independent linking of MES systems and machines in the filling and packaging industry (WS2005) and in the food industry (WS Food). For the user, this means considerable simplification in the process of connecting machines and production lines to software such as operational data capture software. The standardisation encompasses data content, physical interfaces and an owner command structure. This facilitates standardised and consistent evaluation of operational data in an MES (for example the calculation of key performance indicators) or a detailed analysis of disruptions.

The Weihenstephan Standards were developed under the direction of the department for food packaging technology at the University of Technology in Munich in close cooperation with partners in the fields of research and mechanical engineering, associations, food and beverage manufacturers and IT suppliers.

About Bizerba

Since 1866, Bizerba has been leading technological progress in weighing, labeling, information and food service systems. We are creating the future. Bizerba offers all its solutions from a single source: hardware and software, consulting, financing and services. We are active around the globe and present wherever you need us.

As market and technology leaders, we provide state-of-the-art, comprehensive solutions. Retail scales with multimedia databases, cash-point solutions and checkout scales, materials and store management systems, slicing and meat processing machines, labels and consumables, software-supported control scales, foreign body detectors, labeling systems as well as industry software for data flow – from goods receiving through to shipping. Bizerba’s consistently high quality is the result of systematic Global Quality Management. We are always a step ahead and with clear targets in the foreground, so that our customers can capitalize on the best available solutions today. Bizerba quality stands for technological leadership.

Bizerba is represented in over 120 countries around the world – with 41 partnership holdings in 23 countries and 54 representative offices. Company headquarters are located in Balingen, Germany, where we employ a staff of close to 3,000. Further production facilities are located in Messkirch and Bochum (Germany), Vienna (Austria), Pfäffikon (Switzerland), Milan (Italy), Shanghai (China), Forest Hill (USA) and San Luis Potosi (Mexico).

For enquiries, please contact:

Bizerba GmbH & Co. KG
Claudia Gross
Director Global Marketing and Communication
Wilhelm-Kraut-Straße 65
D-72336 Balingen
Germany
Telephone +49 7433 12-33 00
Fax +49 7433 12-5 33 00
E-mail: claudia.gross@bizerba.com

Constancia Consulting
Patrick Schroeder
Coburger Straße 3
53113 Bonn
Telefon +49 228 620 43 84
Telefax +49 228 620 44 75
E-Mail: schroeder@constancia-consulting.de

This release was published on openPR.