Smart Farm-to-Factory Management with Food Safety Traceability

Smart Farm-to-Factory Management with Food Safety Traceability

Key Challenges
1. Limited Visibility into Farm Conditions

• Without real-time monitoring, maintaining ideal temperature, humidity, and ventilation is difficult, increasing the risk of disease, feed spoilage, and production losses.

2. Labor-Intensive Operations and Fragmented Data

• Feeding, inspections, and environmental checks rely heavily on manual labor, increasing costs and the risk of human error.
• Processing data, such as cutting, packaging, and product weights, is often recorded manually, resulting in incomplete records and limited traceability.
• Manual entry of inbound livestock and outbound product weights can lead to inaccuracies that affect inventory and logistics management.

3. Lack of Centralized Multi-Site Management

• Farms, slaughterhouses, and processing facilities operate independently, making centralized monitoring and management challenging.

ICP DAS USA Smart Retrofit Solution

To improve operational efficiency and food traceability, ICP DAS USA implemented a smart monitoring system built around the WISE-5231 Edge Controller. The solution integrates temperature and humidity sensors, climate control systems, ventilation, lighting, and automated feeding equipment to enable real-time monitoring and automated environmental control.

At the slaughterhouse and processing plant, WISE-5231 controllers and a uPAC-7186EG Programmable Automation Controller collect and integrate data from weighbridges and key production processes. The system captures critical information throughout transportation, slaughtering, processing, and packaging, including weights, environmental conditions, equipment power consumption, process temperatures, and production timing.

All data is sent to a centralized SCADA platform and integrated with the existing ERP system, providing real-time visibility across all sites. This enables centralized management, improved traceability, faster decision-making, and greater operational efficiency.

1. Farm Environmental Monitoring System

Automated Poultry House Ventilation and Cooling

To automate ventilation and cooling in poultry houses, ICP DAS USA implemented the M-7055-G Isolated Digital I/O Module with relays and electromagnetic switches to control exhaust fans and evaporative cooling systems.

The DL-302 Industrial Sensor continuously monitors CO₂ levels, temperature, and humidity, sending real-time data to the WISE-5231 Edge Controller. Using built-in IF-THEN-ELSE logic, the controller automatically activates exhaust fans and cooling equipment via Modbus RTU when conditions exceed preset thresholds. This ensures optimal temperature and air quality, improves flock welfare, and reduces the need for manual intervention.

Automated Lighting and Natural Ventilation Control

To improve poultry house conditions, ICP DAS USA implemented the WISE-5231 Edge Controller and tM-P3R3 Isolated Digital Input and Power Relay Module to automate the opening and closing of side windows, maximizing natural lighting and ventilation.

The lighting system is managed by the WISE-5231, M-7055-G Isolated Digital I/O Module, relays, and electromagnetic switches based on predefined schedules. Using the controller’s scheduling function, farm managers can easily adjust weekly lighting programs to match breeding cycles, helping maintain stable conditions and consistent egg production.

To reduce stress on the flock, lighting is dimmed gradually by switching off fixture groups at 30-minute intervals rather than turning all lights off at once, creating a smoother transition from light to darkness.

Automated Feed and Energy Management

To streamline feed management, ICP DAS USA integrated electronic and hanging scales with the TPD-433F-H HMI and WISE-5231 Edge Controller to monitor feed levels in real time. When feed drops below a preset threshold, the WISE-5231 automatically activates the feeding system through the M-7055-G Module. The solution also supports scheduled feeding and sends data to the central SCADA system for real-time monitoring and visualization.

The farm’s existing hatchery temperature controllers were also integrated into the system, allowing all operational data to be centrally collected and monitored through the AVEVA Edge SCADA platform.

For facilities equipped with solar power systems, ICP DAS USA implemented an energy monitoring solution using the PM-3133 Three-Phase Smart Power Meter and PMC-5231 Power Meter Concentrator. The system provides real-time visibility into power generation and consumption, helping operators improve energy management, analyze performance, and support predictive maintenance.
2. Processing Monitoring System
In poultry processing plants, every stage, from live poultry receiving and slaughtering to cooling, grading, packaging, and shipping, plays a critical role in product quality and food safety. However, traditional operations often rely on manual data collection and recordkeeping, resulting in incomplete information and limited visibility into production processes. This makes real-time monitoring, quality traceability, and operational management more difficult, while increasing the risk of errors and compliance challenges.

Processing and Logistics Monitoring

To improve logistics management, ICP DAS USA deployed the uPAC-7186EG Programmable Automation Controller to integrate with electronic weighbridges and automatically record the weights of incoming livestock and outgoing shipments in real time.

At the slaughterhouse, M-7000 Series RS-485 Remote I/O Modules and TPD Series HMI Devices collect data from electronic scales, temperature controllers, and power monitoring equipment. Key information, including temperature, humidity, bleeding time, process temperatures, equipment power consumption, and weight measurements, is transmitted to the WISE-5231 Edge Controller for processing and data logging.

At the processing plant, the same I/O and HMI infrastructure integrates with electronic scales to automate chicken weighing, grading, and production data collection, including cutting and packaging quantities.

In addition, the DL-100TM485S Temperature and Humidity Data Logger and WISE-5231 Edge Controller continuously monitor environmental and refrigeration conditions. All production and facility data is sent to the central SCADA system, providing real-time visibility, improved traceability, and centralized management across the entire operation.

Centralized Monitoring, Traceability, and ERP Integration

The AVEVA Edge SCADA system provides real-time alarms, trend charts, historical reports, and production traceability records, giving operators full visibility into key metrics such as incoming poultry volumes, production output, and weight grading results. This allows management to quickly identify issues, improve operational control, and strengthen food safety compliance.

With AVEVA Edge Mobile Access, authorized users can securely monitor production data and equipment status from iOS, Android, and Windows devices, enabling remote oversight of farming, slaughtering, and processing operations.

The monitoring system is also integrated with the company’s ERP platform, linking production and inventory data to establish complete traceability from live poultry receiving through processing, packaging, and shipment. This improves transparency, product quality, and food safety management.

Key Benefits

Optimized Farm Operations

• Automated environmental control and feeding schedules help maintain ideal conditions, reduce feed waste, and lower manual workload.

Improved Management Efficiency

• Real-time monitoring and mobile access enable faster responses to abnormalities and more agile decision-making.

End-to-End Food Traceability

• Integrated production, grading, inventory, and ERP data provides complete traceability from live poultry arrival to finished product shipment.

Lower Costs and Better Data Accuracy

• Automated data collection and centralized monitoring reduce labor requirements, minimize human error, and improve operational efficiency.

Conclusion

ICP DAS USA delivers comprehensive automation and smart monitoring solutions that unify data from farming, slaughtering, processing, and inventory management into a single platform. The result is centralized multi-site management, real-time operational visibility, and complete food traceability.

By automating data collection and process monitoring, the solution reduces manual effort, improves production efficiency, enhances data accuracy, and helps management make faster, more informed decisions.