Smart monitoring and collaboration securing the future of manufacturing
As manufacturing sectors face a mounting financial toll from unplanned equipment failures, Alfa Laval has unveiled a new technological vanguard to safeguard production continuity.
The company’s latest AI-based condition monitoring solution, Clariot, is now being deployed across the global food and pharmaceutical industries to transform reactive repairs into a strategic foresight that secures both revenue and resources.
Unplanned downtime remains one of the most significant drains on modern manufacturing, costing the industry billions of euros annually in lost production, emergency cleaning, and wasted raw materials.
In high-stakes hygienic environments where every minute of idle time results in product loss and potential damage to complex machinery, the need for constant surveillance has never been more urgent. Clariot addresses this by providing 24/7 monitoring and diagnostics for pumps, agitators, and other critical rotating equipment.
The system was built upon the digital foundations of more than 3,000 condition monitoring units already in operation worldwide. According to commercial head of condition monitoring at Alfa Laval Fluid Handling, the solution offers a “complete digital handshake” specifically engineered for the rigorous hygiene standards of the food sector. This next-generation platform leverages AI-driven insights to detect potential mechanical failures, installation issues, or process anomalies long before they escalate into a line stoppage.
The financial incentive for adopting such predictive technology is substantial. In a standard facility operating 50 pumps, a single unplanned stoppage per quarter can lead to annual losses exceeding 80,000 euros.
Alfa Laval reports that the cost of implementing Clariot is typically less than one-tenth of that potential loss, offering manufacturers a rapid return on investment. Beyond the bottom line, the system supports sustainability goals by preventing the massive water and energy waste often associated with restarting process lines and conducting extra cleaning cycles.
Cybersecurity and ease of integration were also primary focuses in the development of the platform. Clariot operates as a standalone system, ensuring it remains independent of a manufacturer’s internal business-critical networks to meet high security standards. The hardware, including the specialised Clariot VX sensor designed for wet production environments, is compatible with most equipment brands and can be scaled seamlessly across multiple factory sites for global benchmarking.
To support industry leaders in navigating this digital transition, Alfa Laval has released a comprehensive Buyer’s Guide detailing maintenance strategies and implementation best practices. The guide and further technical details are available through the official Clariot digital portal.
