Transform dairy and beverage production with GEA’s new condition monitoring tool

In order to increase production dependability and operational efficiency in dairy and beverage operations, GEA has introduced GEA InsightPartner EvoHDry, a new digital service offering.

The system was designed especially for intricate industrial settings where continuous operation is necessary to produce high-quality goods including cheese, cream, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and new-born formula.

GEA InsightPartner EvoHDry uses real-time condition monitoring, a maintenance strategy built on ongoing machine data collecting and analysis, to find early indicators of equipment deterioration.

Operators have a clear picture of the system’s operation because to real-time tracking of parameters including temperature, pressure, vibration, and flow. The system provides real-time machine health information via an app and web-based component status.

A slow reduction of suction pressure in vacuum pumps in evaporation systems is one of the most common reasons for unscheduled downtime in the dairy industry. Due to decreased evaporator efficiency, output will drop below desired performance criteria, necessitating an unscheduled closure. Predictive analytics is used by GEA InsightPartner EvoHDry to identify these trends early and produce pre-alarm alerts that trigger action.

Beyond specific equipment failures, many dairy and liquid plants face broader operational challenges. Modern process plants rely heavily on SCADA systems (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) to monitor operations, but the number of alarms generated can overwhelm operators, making it difficult to filter and prioritise issues. At the same time, shortages of skilled technicians mean fewer personnel are available to interpret alarms or carry out diagnostics.

Traditional manual checks consume time and resources, while the absence of an integrated view of machine health often forces teams into reactive, emergency-driven maintenance.

GEA InsightPartner EvoHDry addresses these problems by combining expert maintenance guidance with data-driven decision-making. Through real-time insights and predictive trends, operators can focus on the most critical issues, optimise maintenance schedules, and keep production on track.

The technical setup of GEA InsightPartner EvoHDry is designed for both accuracy and security. It includes sensors for vibration, flow, and pressure, as well as links, cables, and an edge gateway – a local computing device that collects and pre-processes data before sending it to the cloud.

By processing data locally, the gateway ensures rapid response times and reduces dependence on external networks. The system operates independently of the customer’s IT infrastructure, so no direct access to plant networks is required, minimising cybersecurity risks. Once pre-processed, data is transferred securely to the –GEA Cloud and GEA Portal, where GEA’s proprietary modelling algorithms evaluate equipment condition. Certified vibration specialists then validate diagnostics, adding human expertise to automated analysis.

According to Angela Yeung, digital portfolio and strategy lead for liquid & powder technologies at GEA, the system offers significant operational benefits: “Unplanned downtime remains the biggest challenge for dairy processors. By using predictive insights, customers can intervene before failures occur, reducing costs and improving efficiency.

“With GEA InsightPartner EvoHDry, operators gain clear insight into machine health. Instead of reacting to unexpected shutdowns, they can plan maintenance based on reliable diagnostics — keeping production stable and output consistent.”

The solution draws on GEA’s role as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), embedding decades of equipment and process expertise directly into its digital services.

GEA InsightPartner EvoHDry has been tailored for evaporators, spray dryers, pumps, and rotating equipment, with monitoring extending from the vacuum stage through to CIP (clean-in-place) cycles, providing full coverage of peripheral systems. By aligning maintenance schedules with predictive recommendations, operators can extend equipment lifespan, minimise costs linked to downtime, and stabilise long-term production performance.

GEA InsightPartner EvoHDry is part of the broader GEA Service Performance Partnership, which integrates digital tools with GEA’s service expertise to support plant operators in improving availability, productivity, and sustainability. By embedding advanced diagnostics and predictive analytics into dairy and beverage production, GEA aims to give manufacturers a more proactive, data-based pathway to operational reliability.