Summer, sun and sensors

Summer, sunshine and sensors –
Cool technology for hot days

When the thermometer climbs above thirty degrees, only delicious ice cream and cold drinks help. Fortunately, the invisible heroes at autosen don’t take time off due to heat. Our sensors work tirelessly to help secure the supply of BUSSY ice and optimise flaschenpost’s logistics.

When the sun shines, it’s “BUSSY weather”. That’s when ice production at Germany’s largest water ice manufacturer Busemann runs at full speed. On three filling lines, scratch ice in cups and, of course, BUSSY MIX ice pops in their transparent strips are produced – up to 15 different flavours at the same time.

Ice-cold enjoyment

The production process is largely automated. Filling, sealing each strip and packaging require no manual intervention. autosen sensors are used for process monitoring. Typical parameters such as valve positions at the fillers are checked, as well as whether the correct product reaches the correct machine. Colours, aromas and essences must never mix to ensure a consistent – and safe – taste experience. Production, packaging and filling processes are subject to the strict requirements of German and European food legislation. BUSSY water ice production is certified in accordance with IFS 6 Food (International Featured Standards). Accordingly, the sensors must be robust and resistant enough to withstand both the internal CIP cleaning and the external high-pressure cleaning – a refreshing experience for our sensors!

So the supply won’t run dry any time soon. But what about those who don’t like ice cream at all? We don’t really know them, but if they prefer a cold beer or mate tea on ice, there’s flaschenpost – the most convenient drinks delivery service, without having to carry crates, with delivery in under two hours. And with a selection of around 1,200 different products.

Optimised returnable goods handling

Normally, delivery logistics and the handling of drinks, returns and returnable goods are not only complex but also involve a lot of manual work. This applies to the obvious aspects, such as planning routes for the distinctive delivery vans, but also to the behind-the-scenes processes. Deposit processing poses a challenge for every beverage retailer. A lot of time and money can be lost if bottles and crates are recorded incorrectly or not booked properly. flaschenpost is therefore testing a semi-automated process that significantly reduces the error rate and is much faster than conventional methods. For tech enthusiasts: the state-of-the-art system is several evolutionary stages ahead of known deposit machines. Its basis is a machine specifically developed for industrial deposit value detection, which flaschenpost’s technical team equipped with plenty of intelligence and autosen sensor technology and integrated into the warehouse operations. This allows returnable goods to be assigned to the corresponding delivery route at any time. The actual deposit machine autonomously determines the deposit value of crates and bottles and triggers an alert if manual post-processing is required. Every single step is continuously monitored and controlled via autosen sensors. Using this process, the error rate drops towards zero while throughput increases significantly – with the sensors playing a key role.

Ice pops for every taste and drinks for everyone, delivered immediately via the internet: Busemann and flaschenpost demonstrate how to rethink an established business. And autosen helps make it happen. In other words: summer is peak season for us too!