Process automation in the sugar factory: Current state and prospects

Process automation is to be regarded as an important part of modem factory management and organization. This paper looks at the links between the different hierarchical levels and developments at each stage. Decentralized intelligent systems will be increasingly employed in the future in the market and in factories. A new, important aspect of this is to prepare and ensure factory-wide communication to all systems, regardless whether in the field or in a central group office. In tomorrow's sugar factory, data streams will be compiled and evaluated not only by hand but weighted and assessed automatically. From that point, it is only a small step to automated factory management.