SIEMENS

The town of Karanjveri in the western Indian state of Gujarat is dusty and parched much of the year. The sun bears down on villagers at temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius. Thirty-seven year-old Kaushikaben Deshmukh lives here in a tribal community with her husband, 16-year-old son, and 15-year-old daughter. The family owns eight cows and earns a net monthly income of 25,000 rupees, or about $460, by supplying around 1,650 liters of milk to the village’s milk cooperative. This is a princely sum for the Deshmukhs, who were farm laborers with no land of their own only ten years ago.

Theirs is a story oft repeated in the small towns and villages of the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Thousands of families have the “Valsad District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd. (Vasudhara)” to thank for providing them with a regular income and improved living conditions.

Vasudhara began operations in 1973 and consists of over 370 village cooperatives with around 100,000 milk producers and farmers. The village cooperatives buy milk from the farmers and facilitate the implementation of technology and professional management techniques in milk production. At Vasudhara’s plants in Alipur, Nagpur, and Boisar this milk is either packaged for sale or further processed into products such as yoghurt, quark, cheese, cottage cheese, paneer (cream cheese), butter, ice cream, or ghee (clarified butter). The scope for processing milk into dairy products is huge as only around 35 percent of all milk consumed in India is processed, according to the country’s National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

The NDDB program “Operation Flood,” which is one of the world’s largest rural development programs, is credited with having made India the world’s largest producer of milk. The program was started in 1970 with the objectives of increasing milk production, raising rural income, and providing affordable milk to consumers. In 1990, along with 12 other cooperatives, Vasudhara became a full member of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), India’s largest marketing organization for food products. The GCMMF operates plants in Alipur and in Boisar, in Maharashtra.

“For us, it’s not only about running a profitable business,” says Darshan Mehta, general manager of Vasudhara Dairy’s Boisar plant, “but also about providing a reliable income for dairy farmers. It sounds like a cliché, but our business can only grow when the farmers are thriving.” Today, the Boisar plant provides 300,000 liters of milk per day to India’s financial capital, Mumbai

Vasudhara’s processed products are marketed under the popular “Amul” brand and must consistently conform to the high quality standards set by the GCMMF. The cooperative competes with large private dairies as well as small local creameries, so it constantly has to invest in a more efficient production process. Automated facilities account for a large part of that efficiency – which is where Siemens plays an important role.

“Totally Integrated Automation” (TIA) from Siemens has been installed throughout the Vasudhara Dairy’s operations. This technology integrates all of the hardware and software used in the production line – from the receiving point for milk tankers to milk processing, packaging, and delivery. Thanks to TIA, Vasudhara Dairy is able to transport milk safely, manage milk tanks reliably, and track the movement of materials, while continuously meeting product specification requirements. A process control system that is customized to meet the requirements of milk processing provides the latest digital tools for dairy operations. All of the steps involved in processing – from cleaning and separating skimmed milk and cream, to setting fat content, pasteurization, homogenization, sterilization, and refrigeration – are controlled through online instrumentation.

Why Quality Pays. At the same time, every tanker-load of milk is run through 14 quality control tests. If a delivery has become spoiled or contains a lower fat content than is specified, it is rejected. Dairy farmers also have an incentive to provide high-quality milk, as they are paid according to the quality of milk they deliver. Using a code-identifier, the automation technology at the receiving point assesses the fat content of the milk supplied by an individual dairy farmer and then credits the appropriate amount into the farmer’s bank account within 24 hours. The previous system was only able to make monthly payments.

“Siemens has a special area devoted exclusively to the requirements of the food and beverages industry,” says Bhaskar Mandal, South Asia Head of Industrial Automation at the Siemens Industry Sector. “Over the last 15 years, the technology provided by this area has become the standard for the Indian dairy industry. Thanks to our technology, Vasudhara Dairy has reduced its operating costs, can guarantee more consistent product quality, and can flexibly expand its capacity. These improvements benefit consumers and suppliers alike.” Adds Darshan Mehta: “Thanks to automation, we save money. This money can then be reinvested in expanding our capacity and modernizing our process technology. At the same time, we can produce enough milk to supply an entire city.”

Vasudhara Dairy has plans to expand its capacity in the near future to 1.1 million liters per day as part of its “Journey 2015” program. And that would be a tremendous success story for the company – and for many Indian dairy farmers.