Nineteen engineering talents from ten countries have completed Sidel’s Nextgen Innovation Lab, spending three weeks exploring real-world challenges in packaging, sustainability and automation.
Held at Sidel’s Octeville-sur-Mer site in the north of France, the programme brought together university students to collaborate with Sidel experts on real industrial challenges, including: sustainable operations and packaging, digital technologies and industrial AI, robotics and human-machine collaboration, computer vision and AI-based inspection for quality and mechatronics and intelligent machine control.
Designed to strengthen connections between academia and industry while inspiring the next generation of engineering talent, the three-week programme combined technical workshops, site visits, customer engagement and hands-on project work. The group of 19 worked in teams to develop proof of concepts, prototypes and business cases, before presenting their final results to a panel of senior Sidel leaders and technical experts.
The programme ended in an awards ceremony recognising outstanding achievements across five categories, including Best Overall Innovation, Most Customer-Centric Solution, Most Disruptive Concept, Most Inspiring Speech and Most Ready-to-Apply Solution.
SEW-EURODRIVE and SAFELOG enter into a strategic partnership
SEW-EURODRIVE and SAFELOG announced a strategic partnership to jointly develop and establish a high-performance software system for controlling mobile and stationary processes in intralogistics. The collaboration combines the software expertise of SAFELOG, a specialist in software for controlling intralogistics processes, with the drive and automation expertise of SEW-EURODRIVE.
As part of the collaboration, SAFELOG will serve as the software provider and will further develop its existing system in a targeted manner to meet specific requirements. SEW-EURODRIVE will continue to focus on the development of mobile and, now, stationary robots, as well as other automation solutions that can be integrated into the software system in a modular and highly productive manner. In the future, SEW-EURODRIVE will be able to market this as a standalone product, as a bundle with drive technology, or as an integrated solution. Under the MAXOLUTION brand, the Bruchsal-based family-owned company will also implement complete projects as a system integrator.
“The goal of this partnership is to establish a software system on the market that sets new standards in the control of intralogistics processes – one that is flexible, scalable, and consistently tailored to user requirements”, emphasizes Dr. Hans Krattenmacher, Managing Director of Corporate Innovation Mechatronics at SEW-EURODRIVE. This allows both partners to focus on their strengths and benefit from a forward-looking, collaborative approach.
Michael Wolter, owner and Managing Director of SAFELOG, is also convinced of the added value of the collaboration: “We are combining our strengths to develop a state-of-the-art software system for the automation of the future. This allows us to offer customers perfect solutions today for goods-to-person applications as well as for classic logistics processes – with powerful mobile and stationary robotics.”
The solution is intended not only for use by customers but also, step by step, in SEW-EURODRIVE’s own plants to demonstrate its potential in real-world operation. “With this collaboration, we are taking a decisive step together toward a software-defined factory based on powerful mobile and stationary robots and powered by SEW-EURODRIVE’s MOVI-C automation module, regardless of the application”, adds Dr. Hans Krattenmacher.
The FRUIT LOGISTICA Trend Report 2026 reveals how artificial intelligence is reshaping global fruit and vegetable supply chains and accelerating change across the industry.
Artificial intelligence and automation are transforming every link in the global fruit and vegetable supply chain. The newly released FRUIT LOGISTICA Trend Report 2026, titled Ctrl+Alt+Refresh, explores how emerging technologies are driving efficiency, resilience, and sustainability throughout the fresh produce industry. The title itself suggests a system-wide reboot – a global fresh produce sector reconfigured with the help of AI to become faster, smarter, and more sustainable.
Produced by Fruitnet Media International in partnership with FRUIT LOGISTICA, the report combines exclusive survey insights with real-world case studies from leading companies and innovators worldwide. “AI is no longer experimental, it’s essential,” says Mike Knowles, Managing Director of Fruitnet Europe and author of the report. “The fresh produce business is undergoing a complete transformation as technologies become more useful, affordable, and intelligent. Those who fail to adapt risk being left behind.”
Artificial intelligence in action
Across production, logistics, and retail, AI applications are already delivering measurable impact. Smart greenhouses, predictive crop modelling, and autonomous robotics are improving yield consistency and reducing waste. In logistics and retail, AI-driven analytics enhance demand forecasting, cold chain performance, and shelf-life management.
Dole has implemented AI tools across forecasting, crop monitoring, and quality control to improve efficiency and data-driven decision-making. “Anywhere in the business where there are large volumes of data, AI will provide opportunity to streamline, speed up, and report,” says Drew Reynolds, Technical and Sustainability Director. “Logic suggests that crop forecasting – and matching that forecast to packaging, shipping and sales – could be revolutionary.”
Clarifresh uses AI to automate and standardise quality control across the supply chain, helping producers cut waste and boost accuracy. “The impact is twofold,” explains Elad Mardix, CEO and co-founder. “Doubling inspector productivity and expanding sample size by 50–100%, while reducing waste or claims by 25–35% through more objective inspections, standardized QC, and broader sampling. These results were reported by three major customers in North and Latin America over the past nine months, including leading citrus, grape, and berry exporters.”
Agriplace applies AI to simplify compliance and transparency in global supply chains by extracting and structuring data from supplier documents. “We leverage AI to quickly scan and extract relevant data from documents, reducing what used to be weeks of manual work to just minutes,” said Nico Broersen, CEO. “This combination of human expertise and automation not only gets companies started more quickly, it also ensures their supply chain data remains structured and trustworthy in the long run.”
A connected and predictive future
Surveyed industry leaders foresee rapid advances in autonomous harvesting, non-destructive quality analysis, and cold chain optimisation. A recurring theme is the need for data interoperability – systems that can securely connect and share insights across the chain.
“Smart agri plus smart logistics and smart merchandising equals a super-smart food system,” the report concludes. “The Ctrl+Alt+Refresh button has been pressed – the system is rebooting.”
Availability
The FRUIT LOGISTICA Trend Report 2026 offers a comprehensive overview of the technologies and strategies shaping the future of the fresh produce business.
The report is available now for free download: Download the FRUIT LOGISTICA Trend Report 2026
Tetra Pak’s next-generation Automation and Digitalisation portfolio, Tetra Pak® Factory OS™️, delivers contextualised, real-time insights for smarter, faster decision-making in food and beverage production.
Tetra Pak unveiled its next-generation Automation and Digitalisation (A&D) portfolio, Tetra Pak® Factory OS™ ️at Gulfood Manufacturing in Dubai. This new suite of modular, open and scalable smart factory technologies will transform food and beverage (F&B) production and lay the foundation for AI-ready factories.
A recent comparative study1 shows that highly automated beverage factories achieve 20 % higher overall equipment effectiveness, 45 % lower product waste and 20 % fewer packaging line stops compared to less automated facilities. Yet, many producers struggle to adopt automation due to limited digital expertise and difficulty of finding a holistic end-to-end solution providers with industry expertise2. Tetra Pak® Factory OS™ bridges this gap, by combining advanced technologies with deep food and beverage know-how to help producers tackle cost pressures, meet sustainability goals, and prepare for AI-driven manufacturing.
At the heart of the next-generation portfolio is a new data integration platform, powered by open technologies, powerful analytics and industry standards. It connects equipment and systems throughout the factory, transforming fragmented data into one unified, real-time view. This can empower food and beverage producers to deliver consistent product quality, enhance efficiency, reduce utility usage, and lower total cost of ownership (TCO)3.
Designed for flexibility and scalability, Tetra Pak® Factory OS™ allows F&B producers to adopt automation and digitalisation at their own pace: starting small, scaling up, and tailoring solutions to their unique requirements.
Tetra Pak® Factory OS™ standardises data collection across all equipment, regardless of age or supplier, ensuring full compatibility and scalability. Other key features include a unified user experience that enables seamless interaction across lines, equipment and control rooms; a suite of digital applications for real-time monitoring of materials, quality, production and asset performance; and enterprise-level insights powered by contextualised, factory-wide integration.
Developed in collaboration with Accenture, the portfolio is supported by a robust ecosystem including Siemens, Rockwell Automation and Inductive Automation – but it’s Tetra Pak’s deep food production expertise that ensures these technologies deliver real impact for food producers.
1Tetra Pak Studie: How automation improves efficiency, quality andwaste https://www.tetrapak.c…ion-v2.pdf
2https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/industrials-and-electronics/our-insights/unlocking-the-industrial-potential-of-robotics-and-automation#/
3Consistent product quality and enhance efficiency: Tetra Pak Comparative study: How automation improves efficiency, quality and waste [https://www.tetrapak.com/content/dam/tetrapak/media-box/global/en/gated/automation/automation-digital-products/automation-digital-solutions/documents/comperative-study-improvements-through-automation-v2.pdf] Reduced utilities usage and lower total cost of ownership: https://www.tetrapak.com/insights/cases-articles/future-of-dairy-production
Ziemann Holvrieka and partners receive project funding
How can production systems in the food industry be made more efficient? Automation is often the only solution. Ziemann Holvrieka is now contributing its engineering know-how to the virtASI project. Its goal is to make digitalisation of process engineering faster and simpler. The Bavarian Research Foundation is providing support with a grant of some 703,000 Euros.
Plant engineers and plant operators in the food industry are facing steadily rising prices for raw materials and energy. They also have to deal with increasing complexity and shortages of skilled labor. Moreover, variable market demands are creating problems for producers by requiring greater product variety and reducing lifecycles. The remedy for these problems is automation, because it ensures flexibility and efficiency. Automation also accelerates the development and commissioning of production facilities.
In order to promote faster and simpler digitalisation, Ziemann Holvrieka is participating in a project led by the Chair of Brewing and Beverage Technology at the Technical University of Munich. The project, known by its German abbreviation virtASI (virtual facility planning, simulation and commissioning), is being supported by a grant of approximately 703,000 Euros from the Bavarian Research Foundation. “The purpose is to facilitate automated, model-assisted, virtual engineering in the food industry 4.0 based on modular planning data,” says Tobias Becher, Head of Technology, Research and Development at Ziemann Holvrieka. “Our solution, ‘Module Type Packages’ (MTP), is making a substantial contribution to establishing a standard for automation.” The other participants in the project are the simulation service provider SimPlan from Munich and the technology company Gimbio from Freising.
GEA will invest around EUR 50 million in the modernization of its German centrifuge production facilities in Oelde (North Rhine-Westphalia) and Niederahr (Rhineland-Palatinate) by the end of 2024. The engineering group made the announcement at a press conference marking the 130th anniversary of GEA separation technology at its Oelde site. By investing in sustainable production, digitalisation and automation, GEA is targeting further growth in its key markets, which include the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries.
GEA centrifuges are used in more than 3,500 different processes in a wide range of industries. Growth drivers include applications for alternative protein production and global demand for dairy products. The investment package for the centrifuge plants is based on four pillars: sustainability, digitalisation, automation and modern manufacturing technologies.
Climate-friendly production through the use of renewable energy
Already today all GEA production sites are powered by green electricity. In the long term the electricity supply for GEA’s sites will come from local renewable energy sources. At the Oelde facility, several large-scale photovoltaic systems will cover about one-tenth of the site’s electricity requirements, including the provision of electromobility. An in-house combined heat and power plant already generates around 30 percent of the electricity required. Since waste heat is also used, 94 percent of the primary energy utilised is recycled. Process heat generation, which is important for production, will also be converted to alternatives such as electric steam generation, which will enable the Oelde and Niederahr sites to operate without gas in the near future.
Since March 01, 2021, Uwe Keiter has been actively supporting A+F Automation + Fördertechnik GmbH, Kirchlengern, as new Vice President Sales and Business Development. He succeeds Uwe Hüsener who retires at the end of 2021. “With the help of such an internationally experienced sales expert we will be able to decisively intensify connections with our current and future customers. This will enable us to offer even better end-of-line packaging solutions for the dairy, food and beverage industries in all relevant market segments“, comments Thomas Lehmann, CEO of EOL Packaging Experts GmbH and managing director of A+F.
Uwe Keiter studied electrical engineering, specialising in automation, at Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences. He successfully completed his studies with an engineering degree. After leaving university Uwe Keiter worked as a project engineer. He then changed to national and international sales of automation technology for the food industry. Uwe Keiter then went on to hold responsible positions in international key account management in the pharmaceutical, food beverage and care product segments.
His last position before joining A+F was in the development and sales of Industry 4.0 digitalisation solutions. Besides his activities in sales, Uwe Keiter has been doing voluntary work for over ten years for the non-profit organisation OMAC which addresses issues concerning standards for production companies, especially in the packaging industry. Uwe Keiter has been chairman of the OMAC Packaging Workgroup for many years.
About A+F Automation + Fördertechnik GmbH:
A+F was founded in 1974 and, as a leading supplier of end-of-line packaging machinery, enjoys an excellent reputation worldwide for its expertise in the development of high-quality packaging solutions. A+F offers integrated solutions for the dairy, food and beverage, as well as the cosmetics industries. The company develops digital solutions for the evaluation of machine and ambient data, the results of which are used to increase production output.
About EOL Packaging Experts GmbH:
EOL Packaging Experts (EOL) was founded in 2017. It is an international group of companies headquartered in Germany and offers end-of-line packaging machines and systems. Under the umbrella of the parent company EOL a strong international industrial group has been established. This group comprises the companies A+F Automation + Fördertechnik GmbH, Kirchlengern, as leading supplier of integrated and innovative system solutions for secondary and tertiary packaging, Standard- Knapp, Inc., Portland, Connecticut, as leading manufacturer of end-of-line packaging machines on the American market and BMS Maschinenfabrik GmbH, Pfatter, as leading system provider for innovative sorting systems, state-of-the-art dry part solutions and flexible repacking solutions.
• Future viability of the beverage industry the key issue
• One extra hall to meet moderate growth
• New hall configuration facilitates event navigation
How time flies! The scheduled break in the BrauBeviale cycle is already over and preparations for the next three-year programme, specifically the first event in Nuremberg on 13 to 15 November 2018, are already in full swing. Visitors will follow a new route along the process chain for beverage production at the world’s most important capital goods fair this year. The event sees itself as the regular meeting place for the industry, and where else if not there do you get to talk about the issues that you care about? The beverage industry is facing huge challenges. As the key platform for the sector BrauBeviale will be providing inspiration on the future viability of the industry during the event’s next three-year cycle.
The last three-year cycle was one of the most successful in the history of BrauBeviale and because it was fully booked in 2016 an extra hall has been added in 2018. And this was a good enough reason for the exhibition team to rethink the hall configuration. “We are delighted about the huge response and that there is moderate growth from within the industry,” says Andrea Kalrait, Exhibition Director BrauBeviale. Even with nine halls, the relaxed atmosphere that is typical of BrauBeviale will be retained and the fair will be as compact as ever. How does this work? “It’s quite simple. We have made it even easier for our visitors to navigate around the exhibition. From now on the exhibitors will be positioned in the order of the beverage production process chain around our exhibition park,” says Kalrait about the new concept. “However, regular visitors should still do a bit of preparation before their visit this year so that they can find the exhibitors that interest them quickly,” Kalrait recommends.
Thinking about tomorrow today: future viability
“In the past year we have seen again and again that the beverage industry is currently facing major challenges. These affect all companies, regardless of their size,” says Andrea Kalrait, summing up the numerous conversations held with industry players during the break year. Digitalisation, automation, changing consumer behaviour, commercialisation versus passion for the product, and scarcity of raw materials are just some of key issues that came up. And underlying is all this is the issue of future viability. But what do we need to put in place now so that we can continue to operate successfully in the market in the next five to ten years? “Of course there is no magic formula,” says Kalrait. “But BrauBeviale is the right platform for addressing and discussing these issues and providing inspiration.” The range of solutions on display and the supporting programme at the international capital goods fair for the beverage industry offer drinks manufacturers a comprehensive and informative range of ideas and approaches to equip them for the future.
Highly satisfied regulars and curious first-time visitors expected
The just under 38,000 trade visitors at BrauBeviale 2016, more than 16,000 of them from outside Germany, came from the technical and commercial management segments of the international beverage industry, i.e. from breweries and malt houses, companies producing and bottling alcohol-free drinks, wine and sparkling wine cellars, distilleries, dairies, specialist beverage retailers and wholesalers, the hotel and restaurant sector and service providers for the beverage sector. Trade visitors from overseas came primarily from Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Russia, Belgium, Poland, the UK and France. Almost all (99 %) beverage specialists were satisfied with the range of products on display. After a year’s break, Andrea Kalrait is delighted to be able to finally welcome the industry back to Nuremberg again: “91 percent of industry professionals had already determined by the end of their visit in 2016 that they would be attending BrauBeviale again in 2018. We are looking forward to welcoming our regular attendees as well as first-time visitors!”
Dates of the current three-year BrauBeviale cycle:
BrauBeviale 2018: 13 – 15 November 2018
BrauBeviale 2019: 12 – 14 November 2019
BrauBeviale 2020: 10 – 12 November 2020
Beviale Family: International expertise in the beverage industry
NürnbergMesse Group demonstrates its expertise in the beverage industry on an international stage, beginning with BrauBeviale, the international capital goods fair for the beverage industry in Nuremberg. This is where, for over 40 years, the sector has been showcasing all aspects of the production process chain for beverages, such as raw materials, technologies, logistics and marketing. Other members of the product family are operating in important growth markets worldwide: For example, Beviale Moscow is the first and only trade fair for the entire beverage industry in Eastern Europe. CRAFT BEER CHINA in Shanghai is the gathering place for the Chinese craft beer community, while CRAFT BEER ITALY in Milan is the B2B platform for the Italian sector. In Bangalore, CRAFT DRINKS INDIA is designed to meet the needs and interests of the fast-growing drinks market in India. The Beviale Family also supports other projects through collaborations. It is represented in Brazil, for example, through the Feira Brasileira da Cerveja in Blumenau. SIBA’s BeerX, Britain’s largest trade fair about beer and brewing, is also an official partner to the Beviale Family. And ProPak Asia is likewise a part of the global network for the beverage industry. The “international sponsors” of the Beviale Family are Doemens Akademie and the VLB (Versuchs- und Lehranstalt für Brauerei), the Berlin-based teaching and training institute for brewing. Other projects are in the planning phase. For details and dates go to: www.beviale-family.com
