SMC Corporation Australia and New Zealand continues to pioneer energy-efficient solutions for the ANZ region's food and beverage sectors with the launch of two new products designed to meet the ever-changing demands of the industry – the VBA and AMS series.
According to the latest statistics from Statista, Australia’s food industry has surged to a substantial US$92 billion, with an anticipated 4.59 per cent growth rate over the next four years.
The largest part of the market segment is attributed to meat processing, which currently equates to around US$18.5 billion.
Beverage processing, on the other hand, sits around US$4.17 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow at an annual rate of 3.09 per cent.
The food sector is also at the centre of New Zealand’s economy, accounting for 62.8 per cent of the $67.3 billion of exported goods, according to the Ministry of Primary Industries.
When looking at these numbers, it becomes evident that energy savings would play a vital role in the sustainability of the industry and the bottom-line of the companies involved.
And according to SMC, significant savings can be realised at the very core of the supply chain – the manufacturing system.
This is where two of SMC’s new champion products for energy savings on the factory floor come in – the VBA and AMS series, which incorporate smart, energy savings solutions into the factory for big benefits to be achieved.
VBA air booster regulator
The latest air booster regulator, the VBA-X3145 model, has the capability to reduce air consumption by as much as 40 per cent, while increasing main line pressure by up to 1.7 time.
Designed for easy installation (horizontal and vertical), the VBA requires low maintenance, with a service life of 50 million or more cycles.
The VBA series saves money and reduces energy consumption, while ensuring any equipment downstream of the unit is protected against pressure fluctuations. It also boosts local line pressure without requiring additional power, and the desired output pressure can be adjusted easily, giving the user more control.
Air Management System (AMS)
The recently released, new-generation compressed air management system (AMS) has been catching the market’s attention due to its ability to reduce CO2 emissions and energy consumption by up to 62 per cent.
Research shows that many plants are still privy to air leakage rates of between 20 to 50 per cent, with energy wastage at manufacturing and process plants being largely attributable to factors such as poor control of air consumption, undetected leaks, and processes that are not optimised for standby and shutdown times.
Three key benefits of the AMS are – visualisation, CO2 emission reduction, and scalability, and is compatible with OPC UA, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP and EtherCAT.
In addition, SMC offers a comprehensive range of automatic control equipment, which include chillers, pneumatic cylinders, dryers, ionisers, electric actuators, fieldbus systems and more.
