The Nairobi Bottler’s Embakasi Plant based in Nairobi, Kenya, a fully owned subsidiary of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), received a Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) training rig from Siemens Digital Industries South Africa to enable skills development in digitalisation technologies.
The training rig, complete with an extensive portfolio under TTIA, will serve a pivotal role in training apprentices and current employees to understand the current and future value of food and beverage manufacturing plant operations. It will prepare engineers and technicians to take complete value from the latest automation solutions, and develop themselves to carry out technical activities related to migration and management of S7-1500 PLC, HMIs, servo drives etc. This rig was configured and supplied in conjunction with International Energy Technik (IET), a local Kenyan company and a Siemens Partner.
As Eric Nyakundi, Electrical Engineer at CCBA’s Embakasi plant, explains, “It perfectly fits into our business goals and overall strategy of capability development and asset care strategies. The bulk of our control systems are based on Siemens products, hence the direct transfer of skills and knowledge acquired in training for our manufacturing facilities. This is in line with the new supply chain philosophy of growing and developing engineering capacity and an overall asset care strategy.”
Nyakundi continues, “The automation teams, the machine specialists, the electrical artisans and the apprentices at CCBA will be trained on this rig. These teams are responsible for supporting the manufacturing facilities in realising the company’s manufacturing business goals.”
“The soft drink market is characterised by frequently changing and often short-lived trends,” adds Ralf Leinen, senior vice president for Siemens Digital Industries, southern and eastern Africa. “Soft drink manufacturers must always be able to adapt their production to new requirements, always working efficiently to produce optimal quality. Digitalisation gives them the flexibility they need to accomplish this, while also boosting energy efficiency. Siemens and CCBA have a historically successful partnership in Africa, where Digital Industries has contributed towards a fully automated solutions that can assist with engineering skills.”
Siemens also created a 3D point cloud scan of the entire plant. This data from the scan can be utilised with Siemens NX platform tool to analyse and plan projects. This is a step closer towards digitalisation, where engineering time will reduce thereby reducing time to market. Automation products, showcased in the rig, help to collect the necessary data from process and packaging lines, which ultimately can add valuable information in the NX tool for further analysis.”
“Ongoing education and training have a positive effect for both business and society,” concludes Sabine Sabine Dall’Omo, CEO, Siemens southern and eastern Africa. “At Siemens we believe in investing in the long-term and creating value for our customers and the societies we operate in. We will continuously support CCBA’s vision in shaping their digital future.”
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