From Excel Hell to Automated Production | Ep 7

It starts the same way in almost every plant. A small team, a good product, growing demand. Someone builds an Excel sheet to track orders. Then another for recipes. Then one more for raw materials. Before long, the entire operation runs on spreadsheets, manual counts, and tribal knowledge.In this episode, Erik Søndergaard and Lars Linnet join the FoodTech Podcast to walk through what it actually takes to move a food or beverage production facility from low integration to full digitalization. From walking the factory floor and reading the posters on the walls, to implementing recipe systems, real-time dashboards, and automated job order management, this conversation covers the full journey step by step.What makes this episode especially practical is that Erik and Lars bring two different perspectives. Erik represents the management and financial side, focused on cost, compliance, and customer delivery. Lars brings the engineering view, grounded in what operators need and what the control systems must deliver. Together, they show how these two worlds must connect for digitalization to actually work.00:59 Introduction to the episode and guests Erik Søndergaard and Lars Linnet02:41 Establishing ground zero and why mid-range companies hit a glass ceiling05:05 Walking a real Danish food production plant and identifying opportunities07:30 What management needs from data versus what operations needs to monitor10:43 Label validation, recipe systems, and where manual processes create real risk15:53 What belongs in a MES system: batch IDs, traceability, OEE, and warehouse integration19:32 The levels of integration from PLC and SCADA up to automated job orders22:23 Dashboards, KPIs, and presenting data without creating overload24:41 Change management, operator trust, and why involvement decides success30:46 Quick win examples and why small steps build momentum for larger transformationProductionThis podcast is brought to you by Au2mate, This podcast is produced by Montanus.