The Eurecat Technology Center has developed an intelligent platform to optimize production planning for food industry companies, integrating variables such as costs, quality, lead times, traceability, food safety, and sustainability.
It is a multicriteria platform that applies artificial intelligence to support decision-making, “with the aim of optimizing processes and resources in food companies, which operate in complex production environments where the various factors that influence production must be analyzed simultaneously,” explains Pol Torres, head of AI Technologies for the agri-food sector at Eurecat’s Applied AI Unit.
“The tool aims to contribute to increasing efficiency, competitiveness, and adaptability of companies, thanks to industrial management aligned with market demands and current regulations,”
adds.
Industry Limitations and Challenges
To achieve this, the platform evaluates scenarios and optimizes complex processes, taking into account the relevant factors and the industry’s specific constraints, such as producing foods that must be consumed within a short time frame, hygiene, and traceability.
“With this data and information, the tool improves production planning with efficient resource management and gives companies greater flexibility to adapt to changes in production orders, customer demand, the availability of raw materials, or potential disruptions in the supply chain,” specifies Xavier Domingo, director of Eurecat’s Applied AI Unit.
In this context, Eurecat’s Food Market Business Lead, Carol Benedí, highlights, “artificial intelligence together with biotechnology is redefining the value chain of the agri-food industry with precision processes that enable greater efficiency and resilience.”
Sustainable Textile Materials for Packaging and Packaging Recyclability
On the other hand, Eurecat is also working on sustainability-focused solutions, such as new sustainable textile materials for agri-food packaging, produced from valorization of agroforestry by-products, offering circular alternatives to conventional plastics. It also presents textile recycling technologies for the hotel and restaurant sector and the RecyClass certification for the recyclability of plastic packaging.
In the realm of food production, the center advances safer and more sustainable ingredients obtained through innovative precision fermentation processes and technologies for the nutritional and functional study of new alternative protein ingredients.
