From Smart Farming to Processing: Achieving Centralized Multi-Site Management and Food Safety Traceability
Taiwan’s hot and humid summers pose challenges for traditional livestock and poultry farming, where manual inspections and operations make real-time monitoring and precise control of environmental conditions difficult. This can affect poultry health, egg production, and meat quality, while labor shortages, rising labor costs, and stricter food safety requirements accelerate the shift toward smarter farming management.
A poultry company in Taiwan partnered with ICP DAS to deploy a smart farming and processing monitoring system integrated with its existing ERP system, creating an integrated management platform for farming, production, and food traceability. Automated control, real-time monitoring, and data integration have improved product quality and operational efficiency while reducing labor requirements, allowing a single operator to manage tens of thousands of chickens.
Key Challenges
1. Difficulty in Managing Farming Conditions:
- Lack of real-time environmental monitoring makes it difficult to maintain optimal temperature, humidity, and ventilation conditions, increasing the risks of disease outbreaks, feed mold growth, and farming losses.
2. Heavy Reliance on Manual Operations and Incomplete Data Records:
- Feeding and environmental inspections are largely performed manually, increasing labor costs and the risk of human error that can affect operational consistency and efficiency.
- Manual recording of cutting and packaging weights during processing results in scattered and incomplete data, making integration and traceability difficult.
- Manual transcription of inbound livestock and outbound finished product weight records can lead to errors and omissions, affecting logistics and inventory management.
3. Lack of Centralized Cross-Site Management:
- Monitoring covers farms, slaughterhouses, and processing plants, with each site operating independently, making centralized monitoring and management difficult.
ICP DAS Smart Retrofit Solution
To improve farming conditions and management efficiency, ICP DAS deployed a smart monitoring system centered on the WISE-5231 Edge Controller. The system integrates temperature and humidity sensors, temperature control, ventilation, lighting, and automatic feeding equipment to collect real-time data and automate environmental control and feeding, improving operational stability while reducing manual workload.
At the processing facilities, two WISE-5231 controllers were installed at the slaughterhouse and processing plant, respectively, along with a uPAC-7186EG Programmable Automation Controller to integrate electronic weighbridge data. The system also collects key information throughout poultry transportation, slaughtering, processing, and packaging, including weight, environmental conditions, bleeding time, equipment power parameters, and process temperatures.
All data is transmitted to the central SCADA system and integrated with the existing ERP system, enabling centralized multi-site monitoring and data visualization while improving management efficiency, traceability, and the quality of decision-making.
1. Farm Environmental Monitoring System
To automate ventilation and cooling management in poultry houses, ICP DAS deployed the M-7055-G Isolated Digital I/O Module with relays and electromagnetic switches to control exhaust fans and evaporative cooling systems.
The DL-302 Industrial Sensor continuously monitors CO₂ concentration, temperature, and humidity, transmitting the data to the WISE-5231 Edge Controller for logic control. With built-in IF-THEN-ELSE logic, the WISE-5231 automatically activates exhaust fans and evaporative cooling systems via Modbus RTU commands when monitored values exceed preset thresholds, maintaining optimal temperature and air quality while reducing manual intervention.
The poultry farm is equipped with side windows to allow natural lighting, with window opening and closing controlled by the WISE-5231 together with the tM-P3R3 Isolated Digital Input and Power Relay Module.
The lighting system operates through the WISE-5231, M-7055-G Isolated Digital I/O Module, relays, and electromagnetic switches based on preset schedules. With the WISE-5231’s Schedule function, management staff can configure weekly lighting schedules according to the breeding cycle, maintaining stable lighting conditions to ensure consistent egg production.
The lighting fixtures are also turned off in stages to create a gradual transition to darkness, with one group switched off every 30 minutes to minimize stress caused by sudden lighting changes.
For feed management, electronic scales and hanging scales are used to monitor feed weight in real time, with feed delivered to feed bins through the distribution system. ICP DAS installed the TPD-433F-H HMI Device to display feed weight information and transmit the data to the WISE-5231 for logic processing.
When the WISE-5231 detects that the feed weight falls below the preset threshold, it automatically drives the feeding motor through the M-7055-G Module to replenish feed. The system also supports scheduled feeding with preset quantities and uploads relevant data to the central SCADA system via Modbus TCP, enabling automated feeding and real-time data visualization.
The existing PID temperature controllers in the hatchery are also integrated into the WISE-5231 system. After processing, all data is transmitted to the AVEVA Edge SCADA system in the central control room, enabling centralized data management and equipment monitoring.
Some facilities are equipped with solar power systems to supply electricity for poultry houses. ICP DAS provides a power monitoring solution using the PM-3133 Three-Phase Smart Power Meter to collect electrical parameters, which are then processed and integrated by the PMC-5231 Power Meter Concentrator before being transmitted to the central control room. Management personnel can monitor power generation and consumption in real time, supporting predictive maintenance, power generation performance analysis, and energy management.
2. Processing Monitoring System
In poultry processing plants, every stage, from live poultry arrival, slaughtering, cooling, and grading to packaging and shipment, is critical for product quality and food safety. Traditional operations often rely on manual process data recording, leading to incomplete records and making real-time production monitoring, quality traceability, and management more challenging.
For logistics management, ICP DAS installed the uPAC-7186EG Programmable Automation Controller in the shipping area to integrate with electronic weighbridge equipment. The system measures and records the weights of incoming livestock and outgoing shipments in real time.
At the slaughterhouse, ICP DAS deployed the M-7000 Series RS-485 Remote I/O Modules and TPD Series HMI Devices, which connect with electronic scales, voltage regulators, and temperature controllers to collect key data, including cooling tank area temperature and humidity, bleeding time, equipment power parameters, process temperatures, and weight measurements. The collected data is transmitted to the WISE-5231 Edge Controller for processing and data logging.
At the processing plant, the M-7000 Series RS-485 Remote I/O Modules and TPD Series HMI Devices work with electronic scales to measure and grade chickens while recording production information such as cutting and packaging quantities.
In addition, the DL-100TM485S Temperature and Humidity Data Logger monitors environmental parameters, while the WISE-5231 Edge Controller monitors refrigeration equipment temperatures through temperature controllers and transmits all data to the central SCADA system.
The AVEVA Edge SCADA system provides real-time alerts, trend charts, timestamped reports, and production traceability reporting, covering information such as incoming poultry quantities, production output, and historical weight grading data. These features enable management personnel to quickly identify and respond to abnormalities while improving production management and food safety traceability.
In addition, AVEVA Edge supports the Mobile Access function, allowing operators to remotely access the system through web browsers on iOS, Android, and Windows devices. This enables them to monitor production information and equipment status across different areas remotely at any time.
Finally, the monitoring system is integrated with the existing ERP system through a database, linking inventory management data to establish end-to-end traceability from live poultry arrival, slaughtering, processing, grading, and packaging to inventory management. This improves production transparency and strengthens food safety management.
Tangible Benefits
- Optimizing Farming Conditions
Automated environmental control and scheduled, quantity-controlled feeding reduce manual workload, optimize poultry house conditions, and minimize feed waste. - Improving Production Management Efficiency
Through SCADA and Mobile Access features, management personnel can monitor farming, slaughtering, and processing operations at any time, quickly respond to abnormal events, and enhance operational agility. - Establishing Complete Food Traceability
Integrating processing records, weight grading data, inventory information, and ERP data enables end-to-end traceability from live poultry arrival to finished product shipment, strengthening food safety and quality management. - Reducing Operating Costs and Improving Data Accuracy
With automated control and centralized monitoring, manual tasks such as inspections and data recording are significantly reduced, lowering labor requirements and human error while improving data timeliness and accuracy, as well as overall operational efficiency.
Conclusion
ICP DAS provides a comprehensive industrial control product portfolio and smart monitoring solutions, enabling businesses to integrate scattered data from farming, slaughtering, processing, and inventory management into a unified platform for centralized multi-site monitoring, real-time management, and end-to-end food traceability.
The system reduces manual workload while improving farming stability, production efficiency, and data transparency. It enables management personnel to monitor operations, respond quickly to abnormal events, and make informed decisions.
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- IP66 Protected
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ICP DAS was established in 1993 and strongly focuses on innovation and the enhancement of industrial automation technology. ICP DAS continuously endeavors to develop a comprehensive selection of products ranging from remote I/O controllers, distributed I/O modules, I/O data acquisition boards, programmable automation controllers, industrial communication modules, web-related products, motion control systems, SCADA/HMI software to automation solutions for applications critical to energy management, motion automation, smart factories, intelligent buildings, and smart cities. Our ambition is to provide a wide range of high-quality products and versatile applications, together with prompt and efficient services, that can be implemented to assist in the continued success of our clients worldwide.