June 4, 2010
Executive Talk: Prediktor offers Asia its brand of real-time solutions
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Norway-based industrial IT solutions provider Prediktor, works to strengthen its presence in Asia, offering precise and real-time knowledge amid a backdrop of increasing consumer awareness on issues pertaining to traceability and quality.
Prediktor has delivered advanced industrial IT solutions to a wide range of industries since 1995. The basis of Prediktor''s solutions is its proprietary real-time APIS software which is currently being used in areas ranging from oil and gas, to feed manufacturing.
In the following interview, Jan Arvid, Senior Vice President, Business Development for Prediktor Singapore Pte. Ltd., elaborates on how the company helps feed manufacturers and meat processors maintain accurate control of production, amid the industry''s growing emphasis on traceability and quality.
As a company involved in traceability solutions and quality checks, what are the importance of your tools to the feed and meat industries?
Traceability and quality are two separate issues, but they are also interconnected. Traceability is not only important because of regulations, but also because it is an effective tool for product recalls. A good traceability solution helps the producer to effectuate precision recalls and thus minimise or avoid business damage.
Further, if online measurements of quality are implemented, traceability tools will multiply the benefits of such online measurements. That is because the quality measurements then can be correlated to quality of raw materials, production parameters and recipes and online adjustments of parameters and recipes for most cost effective and efficient operation.
One of Prediktor''s customers in the meat industry claims a payback time of three months calculated based on reduced raw material cost only.
Do you observe a higher demand for your products now especially with customers quite keen on safety and quality issues?
Yes we do. And I foresee a very bright future for what we deliver, as there will be more demand for online real-time measurements. Looking ahead, there will be a closer linkage between information systems (that we supply) and business systems. Many of the big players will be looking into this.
In a nutshell, how do your products, the Spektron Feed and Spektron Meat Optimizer work and what makes them easy to use and understand?
The philosophy behind the Spektron Feed and the Spektron Meat Optimizer is to gather, process and present data of importance for feed or meat-based producers on operator screens. NIR measurements alone give little meaning for operators unless they are presented together with target values and limits.
The Spektron Feed system presents tonnes per hour produced together with the maximum capacity for that particular feed and graphically displays if the target is reached. The system is also capable of presenting product cost and energy use. Other data, like temperature measurements, can be recorded and presented on screens or reports as well. To achieve this, Spektron Feed is communicating with equipment and other software present in the factory.
The Spektron Meat Optimizer analyses in real time the chemical composition (fat, protein, water, etc) of meat ingredients or finished products. The system may be used for all types of ground fresh and frozen meat, and gives continuous updated average and real time measurements of a processed batch, eliminating the need for sampling or sample preparation by continuously presenting measurements in numbers, graphs and trends to the operator.
The Spektron solutions are IP65-classified, so there is no need for extra protective covering to be operated in an industrial environment.
These solutions are easy to use and understand because the instruments are embedded in preconfigured, ready-to-operate solutions, where the operator screens and the instrument maintenance screens are designed based on extensive user involvement.
The solutions are simple to run, requiring only normal operators on the ground floor, and after very short trainings, everything will be up and running.
How can your products best help the producers/customers? What are the accuracy levels of these?
Our products utilise a proven technology that measures in real time. The system is easily maintainable, stable and effective. It works for various industries, including feed manufacturing, solar energy, oil and gas, and healthcare. We believe our products can make a real difference to clients.
Further, we have mathematical models that run in real time producing simple measurements for the customer or user. Previously, when people don''t have this, they take the sample (feed or meat) to the laboratory to be analysed. However, complex processing like this (lab analysis) takes time, so you may get the sample back three hours later and it''s very difficult to adjust the production by then.
The accuracy level of both Spektron Feed and the Spektron Meat Optimizer is comparable with laboratory analyses accuracy.
How are your solutions different from the others existing in the market?
The Spektron solutions are different in a number of ways.
First of all, the solutions are not only instruments, but total solutions including readymade operator screens, a database for storing historical data of measurements as well as data aggregated or sorted on batches, raw material suppliers, produced quality, recipe data and much more. If several instruments are installed in a plant, all of these are connected to a Spektron server hosting the database. Calibration data are also stored and processed in this database.
Secondly, our instruments are made for online industrial plant floor use from the ground. They are not adapted lab instruments, and have built-in real-time qualities based on Prediktor''s deep knowledge and experience within this field.
The Spektron systems also have embedded auto-calibration facilities where calibration is regularly updated, to compensate for drift in the light source or other drifting parameters.
Then, we have the unique sampling technology for the Spektron Feed, where an automatic sampler is drawing a sample from the feed stream at regular intervals to get a representative, non-segregated measurement situation.
What is/are the company''s goal/s this year to strengthen its presence in the market?
We have developed and tested our solutions in the Scandinavian and the European markets during the last years. The main goal for this year is to enter the Asian market. This will be done by establishing a network of distributors and agents throughout the region. This network will be supported from our subsidiaries in Singapore and China, as well as from Prediktor''s headquarter in Norway.
We expect three-digit growth for our products this year.
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