Processing's Weekly Mixer: AI comes to advanced process control, and more
Welcome to the latest installment of Processing's Weekly Mixer, which highlights recent content from EndeavorB2B brands relevant to process manufacturers.
This week's entry features content from Chemical Processing, Pharma Manufacturing, Food Processing and Automation World, as well as this week's content from Processing.
AI comes to advanced process control
The demonstration floor at the AspenTech Optimize conference in early May was bustling with customers, analysts and journalists watching live demos of new technology releases in action. More than 1,500 people, including 600 process-industry customers, attended the conference in Houston.
AspenTech had just announced several new releases, including the introduction of its AI-powered adviser, AVA AI, for the company’s process technology offerings.
Like many other industrial software companies, AspenTech was stirring excitement around the potential of AI-enabled process technologies. To those new to the process industry, AI tools like AVA look like a genuine leap forward, automating tasks that once required an experienced engineer's judgment.
But some experts who work closely with process technologies say the advantages of AVA and similar AI platforms are more incremental and less visible than many vendors are suggesting. For the cautiously optimistic, AI is still limited in the value it can provide.
A critical challenge is that AI advisers often can't explain how they arrived at their conclusions. Operators and engineers will abandon them when they can't get that explanation, said Brian Ashcraft, a central engineering specialist at Dow.
“Everybody who is experienced has experienced that,” Ashcraft told Chemical Processing during Optimize. “If you see something and you can’t explain it, the operator is obligated to turn it off because it’s his job to keep the plant safe and running.”
Single-use tech: From convenience to core biopharma strategy
Biopharmaceutical manufacturing is changing as biologics pipelines become more diverse and manufacturers place greater emphasis on flexibility, speed, and operational agility. Single-use technologies (SUTs) have emerged as key tools for supporting those priorities.
Much of the conversation surrounding SUTs has shifted beyond their traditional benefits to the role they play in enabling the next generation of manufacturing. Increasingly, discussions around SUTs focus more on the manufacturing strategies it enables, including process intensification, continuous manufacturing, hybrid facilities, and digital bioprocessing.
The global single-use bioreactor market is projected to jump from $3.61 billion in 2025 to $15.11 billion by 2034, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 17.27% between 2026 and 2034, according to an estimate by ResearchAndMarkets.
“Single-use systems offer flexible and sterile manufacturing solutions, significantly cutting capital and operational costs by eliminating the need for cleaning and sterilization,” the report states. “This makes them particularly attractive to emerging biotech firms and CDMOs. Innovations like enhanced scalability, automation, and advanced sensor integration further bolster the efficiency and appeal of these bioreactors for both R&D and commercial production.”
No whey! As shortages mount, cost of the protein has skyrocketed
This country’s protein craze has finally hit a plateau. Not with demand – consumers still are looking for protein in every product they buy, and processors in all categories are finding places to add protein. (Protein donuts anyone?)
No, the problem is a shortage of whey protein concentrate, the most widely used protein additive, prices of which are five times what they were two years ago. Not only is that a huge expense, it may be inhibiting some new product launches.
Assign blame – or credit – to a convergence of things.
In past decades, protein, specifically whey protein, was relegated to a fringe aisle of the health & beauty department; only male body builders knew where it was. Then the broader sports nutrition category starting catching on.
“Protein is no longer a niche sports ingredient; it's become a mass market food formulation tool,” says Joshua White, vice president of dairy ingredients at T.C. Jacoby & Co. (www.jacoby.com), a dairy commodities trading company. “You see protein in just about everything at this moment.
“Consumers are self-educating. Social media content seems to be aligning with the scientific evidence, and it's driving more and more people into our space,” he continues. “It feels less faddish and more structural.”
Dr Pepper and the chocolate giant: How AI is connecting workers to sweeter outcomes
When manufacturers think of digital transformation in factory settings driven by AI, the first thing that comes to mind usually isn’t chocolate. But the Hershey Company is among the manufacturing companies driving digital transformation in its candy factories, using AI to augment its workforce through various platforms.
The candymaker is using an AI-powered connected-worker platform created by the software company Augmentir to drive workforce transformation in its factories.
As manufacturing companies across verticals are navigating how to implement AI into their workforce processes, Augmentir’s platform, called “Augie,” aims to allow companies to tailor the technology to their own needs.
“There's been a lot of advancements in digital transformation of equipment, machines, and making machines smart and connected, but little in terms of making humans smart and connected,” said Chris Kuntz, chief marketing officer of Augmentir.
“So we said, ‘what we want to do is build a platform that empowers humans to do work better,’” he said.
Read the entire article HERE.
