Digitalization for a unique source of protein

Insects are delicacy for many animals: chickens and pigs root them out of the soil, fish leap from the water to catch them, and even dogs enjoy chasing and snapping at them. Nasekomo, a company based in Bulgaria, has created a franchise model for farming insects for animal feed. Digital Twin technology from Siemens has been essential for standardizing operations and for helping the company live up to its sustainability goals; Siemens Xcelerator provides a competitive advantage by accelerating digital transformation.

Scientists estimate that there are between 2 million and 30 million insect species worldwide, yet only 900,000 of them have been described. At Nasekomo, though, attention is centered on just one species: Hermetia illucens, commonly referred to as the black soldier fly.Insects are one of the most sustainable animal protein sources, and the demand for sustainably produced, insect-based protein, oil, and frass (a valuable fertilizer) is expected to grow significantly. As a pioneer in industrial-scale insect-based bioconversion, Nasekomo seeks to serve the market by providing technology and know-how to its future franchise partners.

Every businessperson will attest that standardization is the cornerstone of a thriving franchise – and all the more for companies in the future-food segment who want to scale up economically. Nasekomo has partnered with Siemens to lay the groundwork for standardization. The alliance was kicked off over two years ago with a series of workshops. Nasekomo’s people contributed their extensive biological knowledge of the black soldier fly, particularly their understanding of the larvae phase in a controlled environment. Siemens brought in their experts for process industry, IT/OT convergence, data security, cybersecurity, and food and beverage. “By assembling these diverse teams, we were able to come up with an actionable digitalization strategy,” says Rok Koren, Senior Digitalization Advisor at Siemens Slovenia.For Nasekomo co-founder and co-CEO Marc Bolard, one thing stood out at the beginning of the partnership: “Soon after we started collaborating with Siemens, we quickly understood the need for proper simulation.” And that means one thing: a Digital Twin. Siemens’ experts went to work on creating a Digital Twin of production using Tecnomatix Plant Simulation software. The first digital twin was of the Nasekomo demonstration plant, and for each subsequent plant a Digital Twin will be created as a matter of course. The idea of standardization also extends to choosing the same technology from Siemens for all sites, such as Simatic WinCC Open Architecture for the SCADA system, and a common approach for the convergence of IT and OT. This high level of digitalization enables access to open and interoperable digital tools and solutions created with partners in the Siemens ecosystem and available at the Siemens Xcelerator Marketplace.

The Digital Twin data from Nasekomo’s franchisees will be relayed to operators at the company’s headquarters in Bulgaria. From there, they will monitor operations and provide remote support and maintenance. A robust Industrial Cybersecurity concept is in place to ensure secure communications.First and foremost, the goal is to help franchisees make their operations more sustainable. One example is to better manage and control energy flows with Simatic Energy Management Software, which can also pinpoint ways to feed excess heat back into processes. Another is to determine the product carbon footprint from production using SiGREEN, a comprehensive product carbon footprint solution for managing and reporting supply chain and production emissions.