The Nairobi Bottler’s Embakasi Plant based in Nairobi, Kenya, which is a fully owned subsidiary by Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), received a Totally Integrated Automation training rig from Siemens Digital Industries South Africa (Siemens.com) to enable skills development in Digitalization Technologies.

The training rig completed with an extensive portfolio under Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) will serve as a pivotal role in training apprentices, trainees and current employees to understand the current and future value of Food & Beverage manufacturing plant operations.  It will prepare engineers and technicians to take complete value of the latest automation solution and develop themselves for carrying 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 to our manufacturing facilities. This is in in line with the new supply chain philosophy of growing and developing engineering capacity in our manufacturing facilities and the overall asset care strategy.”

Nyakundi further states, “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 business goals in manufacturing.

“The soft drink market is characterized by frequently changing and often short-lived trends. Soft drink manufacturers must always be able to rapidly adapt their production to new requirements – and to always work efficiently and produce optimal quality. Digitalization gives them the flexibility they need to accomplish this while also boosting energy efficiency, states Ralf Leinen, Senior Vice President for Siemens Digital Industries, Southern and Eastern Africa. Siemens and CCBA have a historic successful partnership in Africa. Digital Industries is proud to have contributed towards a fully automated solution 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 utilized with Siemens NX platform tool to analyze and plan projects. This is a step closer towards digitalization, where engineering time will reduce thereby reducing time to market. Automation products, showcased in the rig, help in collecting the necessary data of process and packaging lines, which ultimately can value add information in the NX tool for further analysis.

“Ongoing education and training have a positive effect for both business and society. 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,” concludes Sabine, Siemens CEO, Southern and Eastern Africa.