Food & Beverage Asia August/September 2021

12
NEWS
Krones Ecosystem to combine all digitalisation activities
In line with the one-stop-shop concept,
Krones is now bringing the fields of
mechanical engineering and digitalisation
even closer together.
With immediate effect, everything will take
place within the Krones Ecosystem, which
will stretch over all the Group’s new machines
and interlink them at the data level. The
resulting line and production data will provide
the basis for using existing cloud services
and other digital solutions that Krones will be
offering in future.
A SINGLE IIOT PLATFORM AND
KRONES.WORLD
The first step will be to locate the existing
IIoT platform at Krones. This platform is the
key and hub of the new portal – Krones.
world – which will offer customers central
access to Krones’ digital solutions. When
beverage producers log on to Krones.world
in the future, they can access cloud services
and other digital services of the Group, like
the Krones.shop, for example. The long-term
goal is to bring together all the Group’s digital
solutions on a single portal.
Syskron will retain its role as the technical
enabler of Krones.world and the services it
provides. The Krones subsidiary will continue
to operate autonomously within the Group
as its digitalisation specialist. However, the
first point of contact for all customers and
the general partner for everything to do
with digitalisation will be Krones. Beverage
producers will thus obtain both innovative
machine technology and matching digital
solutions from one central point of contact in
the future.
ACHIEVING A BETTER TCO, THANKS
TO THE KRONES ECOSYSTEM
Logging on to the IIoT platform is the first
step into the Krones Ecosystem’s world.
Customers who use more than one of the
digital applications will be able to reap the
full benefits of the digitalisation services
provided by Krones. This is because they can
put together a digitalisation package that is
tailored to their needs from a variety of cloud
services and other solutions. ■
In line with the one-stop-shop concept, Krones is now
bringing the fields of mechanical engineering and
digitalisation even closer together
CropLife Asia echoes FAO call to transform food systems
With the release of the United Nations (UN)
2021 State of Food Security & Nutrition in the
World (SOFI) report, CropLife Asia highlighted
the need for the region's food value chain
stakeholders to work together in transforming
global food systems to better enable food
security, improved nutrition, and affordable
healthy diets for all.
The challenge of achieving the UN's
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 of
'zero hunger' globally by 2030 has been
complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest UN report estimates that between
720 and 811 million people are affected
by hunger worldwide in 2020 — a marked
increase of over 100 million more people from
2019. The prevalence of undernourishment
(PoU) has also increased to around 9.9%
in 2020 compared to 8.4% the previous
year. The report also confirms that Asia is
failing to deliver food security for many
— particularly among the vulnerable. Asia
continues to be home to the greatest number
of undernourished people with 418 million
suffering from hunger in 2020.
"The challenge of feeding Asia and the world
requires us to explore all possible solutions.
This can only be achieved through greater
collaboration with others," said Dr Siang Hee
Tan, executive director of CropLife Asia.
"The innovative technologies of the plant
science industry have a key role to play, but it
is only one part of the solution," Dr Tan added.
"Ensuring that an ample supply of affordable
and nutritious food reaches those who need
it most is a shared responsibility. Farmers'
access to innovation is an increasingly crucial
component to combatting food insecurity in
Asia and around the world."
Global crop losses due to pests and disease
are a major contributor to global food loss and
waste, and would be twice as high without
the use of crop protection products. It can be
further reduced through more effective crop
protection stewardship practices. Without
innovations such as crop protection products
and plant biotechnology, global pre-harvest
crop losses could double. Meanwhile, biotech
crops are developed with improved traits
such as increased yield, better resistance
to pests and/or improved nutrition, among
others. These traits are crucial tools that
enable farmers to produce more food using
fewer resources to feed the growing world. ■
FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2021