Modernization in the Mexican food industry

Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK), the world's largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, today announced a joint effort to modernize key processes within the food industry in Mexico. The collaborating companies, Rockwell, Zenit Automation and Golden Foods have developed an automation project that optimizes vitamin dosing and improves operational efficiency at a cereal production plant located in Celaya, Guanajuato.

Golden Foods, an international food manufacturer, needed a more efficient control system for vitamin delivery in its cereal production line. Before the collaboration, this process relied on multiple operators and presented risks of inconsistencies, production flow interruptions and physical strain on the staff.

Zenit Automation, a bronze level system integrator based in Irapuato, led the design and implementation of a comprehensive solution, proposing a tank control and dosing system using flow control with sensors and a FactoryTalk® Optix™ human-machine interface (HMI) to control the dosing of vitamins, which had to meet the specific criteria determined by the client in the nutritional table of the finished product.

This technology enabled the centralized monitoring of the six production lines, allowing remote monitoring so operators can now manage and supervise the entire process from a tablet, while ensuring precise dosing according to the customer's required nutritional parameters. This improvement not only increases efficiency but also reduces ergonomic risks and eliminates reliance on outdated systems.

One of the main advances achieved is the minimization of downtime due to tank depletion and the reduction of product waste. In addition, the system now allows data recording, configuration of dynamic links and communication with external databases, facilitating traceability and decision-making.

"This application has enormous potential, given its great development capacity, over the years, I have developed many machines and processes from scratch, and I am confident that we can implement this solution in many projects" explains Diego Martínez, General Director of Zenit Automation.

For Golden Foods, which operates under a contract manufacturing model for various brands, the project also represented an important step towards technological standardization through solutions from a globally supported supplier.

This joint effort underscores the importance of collaboration between manufacturers, integrators, and technology companies to boost industrial competitiveness in the region, while demonstrating how automation can improve safety, accuracy, and efficiency in critical processes.