Glenrothes firm selected by Siemens to drive digitalisation in the Food and Beverage sector

The revamped Solution Partner Programme focuses on the productivity and decarbonisation agenda

A Glenrothes business has been handpicked by Siemens to support its drive to empower the Food and Beverage sector with cutting-edge technology to boost productivity and improve energy efficiency to help combat climate change.

DPS Group, based in Glenrothes, is among seven leading system integrators in the UK and Ireland chosen for Siemens’ enhanced Solution Partner Programme.

They have been hand-picked for their specific process knowledge and technology capability to deliver Siemens’ holistic solution for the needs of the UK Food and Beverage industry, which had a turnover of more than £104.4bn in 2020 and represents almost 20% of total UK manufacturing1.

The revamped programme brings to the table the whole gamut of offerings, including automation integration concepts, process optimisation, cloud and data analytics and energy reduction initiatives.

Keith Thornhill, Head of Food & Beverage UK and Ireland, Siemens Digital Industries, said: “Siemens’ global focus on the Food and Beverage sector is giving great insight into solving many of the sector’s manufacturing challenges.

“The new expert partners will have access to this best practice and with their domain knowledge will be able to assist customers with value added solutions, driving production efficiency with the deployed integrated technology.

“Our portfolio covers the depth and breadth of automation and digitalisation. By combining this incredible end-to-end offering with solution delivery expertise of the solution partners we are opening a whole new world of value driven solutions in Food & Beverage manufacturing.”

A key aspect of the F&B Siemens module is that it is in sync with the sector's challenges around productivity, agility and the increasing priority of a decarbonisation agenda, which is set to attain huge importance in view of the climate change crisis and government’s decarbonisation programme.

Thornhill explains: “With our new module, our expert partners will get monthly solutions training based on best practices from our experiences from around the globe. This will drive efficiency into their solution delivery and have the evidence to show ROI. Our goal is to give the end customer a de-risked integrated package, that is future proof and attainable.

“Our partners will be able to offer advanced technology lead solutions with various financial options to cater for all budgets and aspirations. This will accelerate the decision-making process, deployment and bring business performance improvements from day one.”

Siemens chose leading Scottish systems integrator companies Kigtek, DPS Group and iTech to serve the growing F&B industry in Scotland.

Martin Brownlee, Technical Director at DPS Group said its two-decade partnership with Siemens has been further cemented with the new programme.

He said: “We are delighted and excited to join the new Solution Partner Programme. We are into our 21st year providing totally integrated solutions for our clients many of whom are within the Food & Beverage sector. This presents a fantastic opportunity to further enhance our strong partnership with Siemens, gaining valuable knowledge from around the world.

“We look forward to using the new resources available and the fantastic digitisation technologies in providing innovative solutions to our clients with the full support of Siemens.”

The other businesses chosen for the programme include adi Automation – part of adi Group, Briggs of Burton PLC, CG Controls Ltd, and Rockbrook Engineering Ltd.

The Siemens Solution Partner Programme is a global initiative which certifies companies to integrate Siemens’ technology into businesses.

Siemens works with over 1,600 solution partners in more than 80 countries, including 50 in the UK and Ireland’s F&B sector.

The systems integrators’ role includes upgrading equipment, retrofitting the upgrade and generally looking at the bigger picture, with the ultimate goal of turning data into value.