Nuscience has received the Factory of the Future Award 2017 for its state-of-the-art factory in Drongen, Belgium. It is the first company within the animal nutrition sector to win the title.
The Factory of the Future Award goes to forward-looking manufacturers who systematically strive to meet the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution: digitization. The competition is audited by a team of Belgian industry experts.
One year after commissioning and start-up, the Nuscience plant was evaluated by industry experts on seven transformations: World Class Production Tools, End-to-end Engineering, Digital Factory, Human Centered Production, Networked Factory, Eco Factory and Smart Production Systems. The process started with the writing of an extensive self-assessment report, followed by a full-day visit of an expert jury, who checked the maturity on the shop floor. When a maturity score of 4 on a scale of 5 is reached for every transformation, the company receives the award for a period of three years.
Nuscience stands out because of its strong vision of growth, competitiveness and sustainability. Designed entirely in 3D by an in-house project team, the plant’s uniqueness lies in the combination of proven best practices and new concepts. “We are the first company that can guarantee zero mistakes in the micro dosage process due to fully automated processes and double checks,” said a company spokesman. “There is also a lot of flexibility towards our customers, so we can answer the rapidly changing market demand.”
The Drongen plant opened in October 2015 and has replaced the previous production sites in Drongen and Baasrode, enabling the company to double its Belgian production capacity to more than 10,000 tons per month.
