IDM ¦ Technology/IT
Monitoring dairy operations
German dairy uses IP cameras in its plant
to monitor the filling line and outside area
As one of the leading dairy companies in Germany (as
of mid-2020), over 180 employees produce an average
of 200 tons of yogurt and dessert specialties, 32
tons of butter, 100 tons of cheese, and 61 tonnes
of milk and whey powder per day under the brand
name “Weideglück”. Milchwerke Schwaben processes about 426
million kilograms of milk and whey each year. “Weideglück” products
are exported to 70 countries around the world.
High quality and security thanks
to network cameras
The plant in Ulm looks back on a long tradition. To keep the quality
and safety of their sensitive milk products high and to reduce
raw material losses and thereby save costs, Milchwerke Schwaben
decided to upgrade its video surveillance both inside and outside
the production hall.
As a first step, the plant entrance was equipped with new network
cameras to enable number plate recognition of the incoming
and outgoing trucks, as damage sometimes occurred as the trucks
were being maneuvered. The outside area is now monitored by an
AXIS P1447-LE and an AXIS P3719-PLE multi-sensor camera. In addition
to the simple and inexpensive installation, the latter offers a
good overview of the outside area in several directions – doing the
Info at a glance
Milchwerke Schwaben, a leading dairy company in Germany, has
equipped its plant in Neu-Ulm with several network cameras to
monitor production. In addition to securing the plant entrance and
delivery zone for simple access control of entry, employees needed
to be notified acoustically as soon as any malfunction occurred
in the filling line, the valve manifold or a powder silo.
The solution is based on a combination of high-resolution Axis
cameras and speakers that can be operated efficiently and easily
using AXIS Camera Station Video Management Software.
Milchwerke Schwaben used the Neu-Ulm-based electrical company
Reimer Elektrotechnik as their advisory consultant for the
project and chose Axis Communications, innovation leader in the
field of network cameras.
Thanks to the AXIS Camera Station video management system,
system expansion with additional cameras or speakers can be implemented
easily and flexibly at any time.
work of four cameras in a single device. In addition to the outside
area, the live transmission of images of the filling line was a key
point of the installation: Milchwerke wanted immediate acoustic
notification as soon as there was any malfunction in the filling line.
“We now have 25 cameras in use both inside and out, giving us a
full view of the filling line and the intersection leading to the plant
entrance,” explains Holger Gebauer, Head of the Electrical Maintenance
Workshop at Milchwerke Schwaben.
Malfunction in production immediately
triggers an acoustic signal
The interior of the plant is covered by two AXIS P1435-LE and
five AXIS M2026-LE MK II Network Cameras that monitor the
(photo: MW Schwaben)
28 · November/December 2020 ¦ international-dairy.com
/international-dairy.com
