Automation Engineering for the Agri-Food Industry

Automation optimises the use of raw materials and eliminates waste. Intelligent control systems help improve process efficiency, increasing safety and cutting costs while raising product quality. This means less waste and greater profitability for your plant.

By digitalising operations and controlling them automatically, error-prone manual interventions are kept to a minimum. Feed recipes or winery procedures are carried out exactly the same way every time, ensuring uniform production and avoiding unexpected stoppages caused by human error. Your team can focus on value-added tasks instead of correcting mistakes.

Our solutions let you track every batch and every stage of the production process in real time, from the raw material to the final product. This full traceability guarantees the quality and safety of the food, while making it easier to comply with industry regulations and standards. You will be ready for any audit, meeting food safety requirements with no extra effort.

Automated production runs at maximum efficiency, optimising time and resources. With real-time monitoring, you can adjust parameters instantly and prevent deviations. This translates into higher productivity and better use of the plant. Studies show that a good automation system improves efficiency, reduces costs and raises quality at the same time, strengthening your company's competitiveness.

ER Ingeniería has more than 11 years of specialised experience in the agri-food industry. Over that time we have refined our approach, and today our track record includes more than 45 automated plants across Spain. This journey has given us a deep knowledge of feed manufacturing, winemaking and food production in general, which we apply to every new project.

Continuous improvement is one of our core values. We are committed to developing new technologies for the agri-food industry, as shown by the creation of our SuitER suite more than a decade ago, anticipating market needs. We see customisation as the axis of our work, adapting every solution 100% to the requirements of the client and their specific production process. We do not offer standard products, but a made-to-measure technology suit that maximises results.

We are driven by a firm commitment to quality and safety in every facility we develop. We work in accordance with current food safety, industrial electrification and environmental regulations. In fact, all our solutions meet the legal requirements and technical standards of the sector, guaranteeing the food safety and energy efficiency of your plant. Our team of highly qualified engineers keeps up to date with regulations (HACCP, traceability, ISO, etc.) and advises your company so it can pass any inspection or audit successfully. The quality of our projects is backed by official certifications and the satisfaction of our clients.

We offer a complete service, from project design through to execution and subsequent maintenance. Each client has a dedicated project manager and continuous technical support. Thanks to our SatER 24/7 after-sales service, we respond to any operational incident immediately. We also plan preventive maintenance to minimise unscheduled stoppages and extend the service life of your equipment. This closeness and responsibility has allowed us to earn the trust of more than 40 agri-food factories automated by ER Ingeniería, building long-term relationships based on reliability and results.

Industrial automation in wineries brings multiple tangible benefits: it optimises every stage of the production process (from fermentation to bottling), improving efficiency and reducing errors. It also raises quality control thanks to sensors and real-time monitoring (for example, temperature, pH and humidity control) to ensure consistent standards. It also cuts operating costs by minimising manual intervention and increasing productivity. A key aspect is traceability and food safety: automated systems record and follow every batch of wine, ensuring regulatory compliance and making rapid recalls easier if necessary. Taken together, these benefits translate into greater profitability, consistent quality and even improved sustainability through more efficient use of resources.

At ER Ingeniería we have developed SuitER, a complete and scalable solution designed specifically for automating feed mills. This software combines plant control (PLC/SCADA), production management (MES), food traceability and full connectivity with enterprise systems (ERP), all on a single platform.
SuitER includes:
• Plant control (SCADA): Real-time visualisation and control of all operations, from dosing to dispatch. It lets you apply recipes precisely and monitor every critical process variable.
• Planning and execution (MES): Organises production orders, allocates resources and ensures that every batch of feed is produced with the exact formulation, minimising human error.
• Full traceability: Automatically records every movement of raw material and final product. This guarantees regulatory compliance and makes quality audits easier.
• ERP connectivity: SuitER integrates with your enterprise system, synchronising inventories, costs, orders and production for unified management.
Thanks to SuitER, your factory can operate with maximum efficiency, safety and visibility, eliminating information silos and enabling decisions based on real-time data. It is a tool created by and for the agri-food industry, backed by more than 45 plants in operation.

Food traceability is greatly strengthened by industrial automation. Since 2005 the European Union has required traceability systems at every stage of food and feed production, and automation makes it easier to meet this requirement. Systems automatically capture and record key data at each production phase: receipt of raw materials (with identification of batches and suppliers), processing stages, and dispatch of finished products, linking each input to the final batch. Using sensors and identifiers (barcodes, RFID), the software draws up a complete map of where each ingredient has been. All this information is stored in centralised databases that can be easily accessed for audits or alerts. In the event of a quality incident, the company can immediately trace which batches and distributions are affected and act precisely. In addition, automation reduces human error in data recording and ensures that every product is labelled correctly with its origin, process and date information. In short, implementing automation provides accurate, real-time traceability, essential for ensuring food safety and the confidence of customers and regulators.

The return on investment from automating industrial processes is usually very significant, although it varies from case to case. In general, the initial investment is recovered thanks to the optimisation of resources and the productivity improvements that automation brings. For example, automating a winery increases efficient production (more bottles in less time), reduces losses from errors or waste, and lowers the labour cost of repetitive tasks, all of which shows up in higher margins. Likewise, in a feed mill, exact dosing and automatic control minimise raw material waste and guarantee a product of consistent quality, avoiding costly rejections or rework. Energy savings are also common thanks to more precise control of motors and equipment, and the risk of fines or costs associated with regulatory non-compliance is reduced thanks to automated traceability. All these positive factors add up so that the automation project pays for itself in the medium term. In fact, many companies report that productivity can rise by double-digit percentages after automating, speeding up payback. In short, automation pays off: beyond the initial outlay, the economic benefits in efficiency, quality and production capacity soon outweigh the costs, resulting in an attractive ROI for wineries and food plants.

Yes. Modern industrial automation systems are designed to integrate with the plant's existing infrastructure. Before implementation, a thorough assessment of the current installation is carried out to verify technical compatibility of interfaces, communication protocols and hardware/software requirements. In practice, most solutions use open standards and adapters to connect to equipment and programs that are already installed. For example, it is common to use industrial protocols such as OPC-UA, Modbus or Ethernet/IP so that the new controllers (PLCs) and the SCADA/MES software can communicate with the existing machinery and with corporate databases. This means you do not have to “start from scratch”: a good automation integrator will be able to connect your current sensors, drives, production lines and management systems to the new system without problems. Implementation is also usually planned in phases to minimise downtime: certain critical processes can be automated first and linked to the rest, avoiding stopping the whole plant. With this staged integration and the use of compatible technologies, automation coexists with your legacy systems, enhancing their capabilities instead of replacing them entirely. The result is a smarter factory without having to discard previous investments in machinery or software.

Industrial automation does not mean completely replacing human staff; rather, it changes the nature of the work and calls for new training. In fact, the introduction of robots and automatic systems usually increases productivity (by up to 30% according to studies), but it brings the challenge of training operators in the new technologies. Instead of eliminating jobs, automation eliminates repetitive, dangerous or low-value tasks and creates opportunities for new, more skilled roles. For example, when a production line is automated, fewer operators may be needed to move material by hand, but new positions emerge focused on supervising systems, maintaining automated equipment, programming and analysing production data. Plant staff move on to higher value-added functions: making sure everything works properly, making decisions when alerts arise, and optimising operations with the information the systems provide. That said, to make this transition successful, it is essential to invest in continuous training: employees need to be trained to handle SCADA interfaces, interpret MES reports, or carry out basic maintenance on the new equipment. Many manufacturers offer training programmes during implementation, and since systems are usually designed with user-friendly interfaces, operators can learn to use them in a short time. In short, automation empowers staff — it does not simply displace them — but it does require updating skills. With the right training, the human team and the automated technology work hand in hand, achieving safer, more efficient and more competitive production.