CASE STUDY DAIRY FARMERS OF AMERICA DAVID GREENFIELD | EDITOR IN CHIEF/DIRECTOR OF CONTENT, AUTOMATION WORLD
Connected Devices Enable Continuity in Milk Production Communication technologies accelerate the advance of milk production and help to optimize operations in support of the nation’s food supply during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
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AIRY FARMERS OF AMERICA (DFA) is a cooperative composed of more than 13,000 family farmers from across the U.S. It helps farmers operate their plants, find outlets for their products, and invest in new business opportunities. Brands they represent range from nationally recognized names such as Borden and Breakstone’s to specialty brands like Plugrá and La Vaquita. The cooperative operates more than 85 manufacturing facilities producing milk and dairy products. Like many manufacturers, DFA members have seen their operations’ safety and productivity impacted by COVID-19. To help support the nation’s food supply during the pandemic, Cisco donated an array of collaboration technologies to DFA to help it develop more flexible manufacturing processes, enable workforce continuity, and increase its ability to collaborate in real time. Funded by Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration program, which is active in 34 countries, Cisco supplied Cisco Webex room kits, DX-80 videoconferencing kits, Webex Teams and Webex Expert-on-Demand software, and RealWear HMT-1 hands-free “head-mounted tablet” devices to help DFA connect its teams across the country in multiple manufacturing facilities. The collaboration equipment and services Cisco donated provides manufacturing workers with secure, remote access to experts and first-line support teams working from home or at other plants. Specifically, it gives DFA real-time visibility into operations through hands-free video devices, which enables DFA’s workforce to remain productive while adhering to physical distancing guidelines. The access to experts these technologies facilitate will help DFA “shift production, optimize resources, and increase resolution time as it adapts to changing demand,” says Carlos Rojas, global manufacturing lead for Cisco Industry Solutions Group. The first phase of this donation, which was completed in June 2020, was deployed to four sites
PHOTO COURTESY OF DFA
across DFA’s operations, including its largest processing facility in Portales, N.M. Others included in this first phase are in Ventura, Calif.; Zumbrota, Minn.; and Schulenburg, Texas. The second phase focused on accelerating machine data over the secure Cisco Webex Teams platform for remote diagnostics, according to Rojas.
Team collaboration To enable real-time communication between DFA co-workers, Cisco Webex Teams technology is being used to provide workers with access to documentation using RealWear HMT-1 head-mounted devices for routine process evaluations, maintenance, and training. With everyone using Cisco Webex Teams, users don’t need to rely on disconnected methods such as text messaging, phone calls, or emails to connect. Instead, a quick Teams message in a project space allows for collaboration between the necessary resources and keeps all the related data connected and retrievable. www.profoodworld.com
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The Dairy Farmers of America cooperative helps farmers operate their plants, find outlets for their products, and invest in new business opportunities.
| June 2021 | PROFOOD WORLD
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