Through the NutriGen 4.0 project, Hifas da Terra will study how to apply Industry 4.0 technologies to the smart, sustainable production of its food supplements.
Hifas da Terra will receive €1.5 million from the Xunta de Galicia to launch NutriGen 4.0, together with the technology centre ANFACO-CECOPESCA, to implement new Industry 4.0 processes for pilot-scale production of food supplements.
The project will allow exhaustive control of the critical parameters of production, concentration and formula stability. According to our R&D department, the new processes will include real-time sensor monitoring, connection with warehouse-management software, automated production orders and automated quality-analysis protocols.
NutriGen 4.0 will use tools such as NIR spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging from the arrival of raw materials onwards, alongside computational modelling, mathematical simulation and Big Data analysis of our fungal strains. The results will help select the most promising processes for industrial implementation.
The NutriGen 4.0 consortium
The consortium is made up of Hifas da Terra, a biotechnology company with 20 years' experience in mushroom R&D, and ANFACO-CECOPESCA, a leading technology centre with research lines in Industry 4.0, NIR spectroscopy, biotechnology and molecular biology.
'Fábrica Intelixente e Sostible' programme
The project is part of the Xunta de Galicia's 'Smart and Sustainable Factory' programme, which mobilised around €56.8 million for nine projects in strategic sectors such as automotive, food, renewable energy, timber and logistics. The other projects are led by Pescanova, PSA, Benteler, Finsa, Cupa, Gri Towers, Galigrain and Ferrosolar Silicon.