The latest news, trends, analysis, interviews and podcasts from the global food and beverage industry

GEA has expanded its digital offering for the food industry with the launch of Changeover Assist, a new application designed to help food manufacturers reduce errors, material waste and downtime during product and format changeovers.

The digital tool provides standardised, recipe-based instructions directly through the SmartControl human-machine interface (HMI), guiding operators through each stage of a changeover. The application is initially available for GEA PowerPak thermoformers and the GEA MaxiFormer drum former, with additional equipment, including the GEA OptiSlicer, planned for future rollout.

The software was primarily developed at GEA's Biedenkopf-Wallau site in Germany, the company's centre of excellence for horizontal packaging machines.

Product changeovers can be a challenging stage of food production, particularly as manufacturers manage increasingly diverse product ranges, high employee turnover and seasonal workforces.

GEA said errors such as selecting incorrect packaging materials or missing individual changeover steps can result in wasted product and materials, rework, quality issues and production interruptions.

Changeover Assist is intended to standardise the process by displaying only the instructions relevant to a particular product changeover. Operators confirm each completed step, with the process documented to provide greater traceability.

The system also supports multiple languages and allows manufacturers to add images, videos and other work instructions to individual steps. Production cannot restart until all mandatory changeover activities have been confirmed.

Michel Theiss, product manager, Digital Solutions at GEA, said: “With Changeover Assist, we make valuable machine and process knowledge available at all times. This helps our customers carry out changeovers safely and efficiently, regardless of individual experience levels. The result is fewer operator errors, less material and food waste, faster onboarding of new employees and greater overall production reliability.”

The application integrates with GEA's cloud-based InsightPartner platform, allowing manufacturers to centrally manage their changeover instructions and update them as processes evolve.

Instructions can be enhanced with multimedia content, creating what GEA describes as a digital knowledge base that can be shared across production sites. The approach is designed to help manufacturers retain operational knowledge while providing a consistent process for operators working across different facilities.

GEA has also introduced an InsightPartner Notification Service and associated mobile app, which can deliver real-time machine notifications to designated personnel.

The combination of operator guidance, centralised instructions and machine notifications forms part of GEA's wider strategy to connect equipment and digital services across food processing and packaging operations.

GEA said Changeover Assist will continue to be developed at Biedenkopf-Wallau as the company expands the application to additional machines.

The company also plans to consolidate the slicing and loading systems portfolio of its Food Solutions business unit at the German site. According to GEA, bringing the portfolio together will reduce interfaces between functions and support more closely integrated development of individual machines and complete line solutions.

By April 2028, GEA plans to consolidate customer-facing functions including sales, service and final customer acceptance testing at Biedenkopf-Wallau.