- 10/06/2025
- Article
- Automation & digitalization
From manual dosing to smart factories – Automation at POWTECH TECHNOPHARM 2025
Automation makes production facilities competitive, traceable, and efficient. At POWTECH TECHNOPHARM 2025, exhibitors such as ESA, OAS, and Eirich demonstrated how companies can gradually make their way to the smart factory – from basic automation and MES systems to AI-supported process optimization.
Written by Dr. Ulla Reutner
Steel, glass, ceramics, plastic. Large machines, small devices. And again and again, colourful pellets pushing their way through transparent tubes, being swirled, shaken, and stirred. Visitors to POWTECH TECHNOPHARM in September 2025 experienced a variety of tangible process technologies they could touch and feel. Process engineering at its finest. Control and automation systems, data-driven process optimization, and artificial intelligence transform it into innovative solutions for a wide range of industries. Many exhibitors offer such systems integrated into the plant technology they provide.
Specialists in automation solutions also presented their offerings at POWTECH TECHNOPHARM. Some, such as ESA, target not only large companies but also the broad range of medium-sized businesses in the bulk solids processing industries. These businesses often have room for improvement in terms of automation. This includes bakeries, which are increasingly developing into central production facilities for chains of stores, as well as manufacturers of spice mixtures, whose operations have grown over the decades. ESA enables process engineers at these companies to produce competitively while ensuring traceability.
From manual dosing to fully automatic filling
Visitors to the trade fair were able to try this out for themselves using spice production as an example. After selecting a recipe, such as “Spicy de Mare,” the ESA software on the touchscreen monitor guided them through the process. After barcode-supported identification of the container and product, the ingredients for the selected mixture were manually dispensed. After filling the mixture into a gift box, it was labelled with an individual label bearing the freely chosen order name. The dosing protocol was sent to the trade fair visitor by e-mail shortly afterwards.
Manual dosing is just one of many modules in the ESAweight process control system. It is based on the ESAweight Manager, which allows users to configure lines, stations, scales, warehouses, etc. be individually. The modules cover the entire production process: from delivery to automatic dosing with the aid of standardized PLC programs and the control of mixing and pressing processes to semi- or fully automatic filling, including labelling and palletizing. The process control system is specially designed for production plants that process bulk materials, viscous and liquid substances. It is suitable for new plants as well as for modernizations and expansions.
MES for the Smart Factory
Automating production lines and controlling and documenting manual work steps are the first steps toward the digital factory. Based on these core functions, OAS has developed a comprehensive production control solution that can be implemented using controllers and PLCs: pronto. This comprehensive MES connects materials management with production technology. It allows you to control minimum shelf-life dates and drying losses in goods receipt, for example. It validates production recipes against the bill of materials and manages process parameters such as mixing times. Order scheduling can be implemented via order queues, manual detailed planning, or an advanced planning system.
Pronto builds the link from SCADA for operation and monitoring to MES (Manufacturing Execution System). It networks machines and production lines and can even integrate signals from machines without control systems via “intelligent clamps”. The scalable system controls all processes carried out in production. It enables seamless documentation and thus also batch traceability. Finally, pronto offers the best opportunities for optimizing processes by calculating OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) and providing a reporting portal for KPIs, statistical process control, etc. This enables the creation of a smart factory that operates at high productivity – energy-efficiently and with minimized setup times and cleaning efforts. Pronto is already used in numerous areas of application such as construction chemicals, chemicals, paints, and the food and beverage industry—all important visitor groups at POWTECH TECHNOPHARM. This meant that OAS, a supplier offering not only production control systems but also equipment for bulk solids and liquid media, was in exactly the right place.
Bulk material processes on the examination couch
Eirich is another long-standing exhibitor with process engineering expertise, showing visitors in 2025 how the path to the digital future can be successful. At its booth, the mixing and processing technology expert humorously illustrated this with a doctor's office complete with an examination table under the motto “Consultation with the process doctor.” With the joint venture Prosio Vision, the machine manufacturer took the step into the field of plant and process optimization in 2022 together with the start-up Prosio Engineering. Within the Eirich Group, Prosio Vision is considered the AI center that aims to advance digitalization in the bulk solids industry.
In the “medical consultation room” at POWTECH TECHNOPHARM, visitors were shown that process problems leading to excessive waste or inefficient processes are considered “symptoms.” These must and can be treated – after all, the plant must be kept “alive.” Like real doctors, process specialists first need data. They use methods for process observation. This is followed by a “diagnosis” based on data evaluation and process analysis. This results in the ‘treatment’: concrete recommendations for action, such as process optimization or retrofitting the plant – comparable to a doctor's advice to “exercise more” or go on a diet.
Better control and optimization of processes with Vision Control
One “examination tool” that Prosio Vision uses is the QualiMaster VC1, which monitors bulk materials directly on the conveyor belt. A special camera continuously captures images of the material, which are analysed in real time using a deep learning solution. This provides real values for grain size distribution, sphericity, surface structure, colour properties, etc., much faster than laboratory evaluations. Plant parameters can thus be corrected quickly.
Prosio Vision’s second vision control system, the QualiMaster VC2, is suitable for rapid trend detection. It compares and evaluates the current consistency of a product, such as finely dispersed, crumbly, or pasty, with reference images. Deviations from the ideal can be visualized using a traffic light or speedometer function, for example, “material is too dry” or “too moist.” The two vision control systems can be combined, for example, VC2 before a drying process for a quick qualitative assessment of the material properties and VC1 at the end of the process to determine exact measurement data. Using them allows for earlier intervention by the plant operator in the ongoing process and process optimization.
Conclusion: Factories of the future are emerging at POWTECH TECHNOPHARM
Visitors to POWTECH TECHNOPHARM found what they were looking for, whether it was sustainable automation solutions, opportunities for better process control, or partners with process engineering expertise for the digitalization of their production. As the three examples above demonstrate, exhibitors are supporting their customers on their journey to the smart factory. They meet customers where they are, whether that means providing basic automation with documentation and tracking, process optimization based on process data, or implementing a comprehensive MES system that improves availability, performance, and quality over time.
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