HOCHLAND
SOVATA
From the milk of our childhood to modern efficiency.
WHY?
The story:
Childhood memories
I grew up in the countryside, where simple values shape your life. Each morning, my grandmother would shoulder her bag of fresh milk bottles and make her way to the dairy. She always had the same complaint: “Good milk, low price… but in the store, it’s priced like gold.” That remark stayed with me for years. It made me realize that somewhere between the natural source and the supermarket shelf, something is lost — or, more precisely, consumed.
With this thought in mind, I began my first projects alongside Hochland, driven by the desire to measure and optimize consumption across production lines. What brought us together was not only the ambition for technological progress, but also a shared concern for resources, for the environment, and for the future.
WHAT?
The challenge:
Enhanced visibility. Reduced waste.
Hochland Romania, a leader in the cheese industry, was facing a common challenge in the food sector: optimizing energy consumption across production lines without compromising product quality.
🔧 Lack of centralized visibility of energy consumption — electricity, water, compressed air, gas;
⏱️ Inability to identify areas with losses or excessive consumption in real time;
🧠 The need to correlate energy costs with production volumes in order to make informed operational decisions.
HOW?
The solution:
An EMS that sees everything, without disruption
To address this need, we designed and implemented a scalable Energy Management System (EMS) based on zenon by COPA-DATA, tailored to the specific characteristics of the Hochland factory.
🔩 Equipment used:
- Smart meters installed for each piece of equipment and area of interest (packaging lines, cold storage rooms, CIP washing systems, etc.).
- Dedicated SCADA and EMS software providing real-time data on consumption, alerts, reports, and line-to-line comparisons.
- Intuitive dashboards for production, maintenance, and energy management departments.
- Automated data collection and correlation with production data (liters of milk per line, operating hours, equipment efficiency).
🔍 Bonus: Predictive analytics, real-time alerts, trend identification, fault prevention, and automated optimization recommendations.
A system that doesn’t just react — it anticipates.
WHAT WAS ACHIEVED?
The result:
Clear data, no hidden consumption
A system that shed light on what was previously invisible.
💡 Reduced waste: the specific electricity consumption per ton of product decreased significantly.
📊 Greater transparency: all departments now have access to real data, not estimates.
⚙️ Faster decisions: hidden losses were identified and eliminated (standby consumption, compressed air leaks, inefficient processes).
😊 Greater awareness: energy is no longer just a cost. It is a living resource — understood and respected. The technology is there, but it doesn’t dominate — it supports. Operators see, understand, and decide.
Now, when the milk leaves the farm for Hochland and from there continues on to the shelf, we know that behind the scenes, there is a system that respects every single drop.
This is not just efficiency. It’s respect. It’s humanity.
And any grandmother would be proud to know that her milk reaches consumers just as good — and at a fair price.
CLIENT THOUGHTS?
Respect for the process, respect for partners
“bitYes didn’t just deliver an EMS system. They brought understanding. They understood our specifics, our pace, our people. They delivered technology — but also patience, clarity, and a relationship built on mutual respect. Now we are in control — everything is transparent, measurable, and optimized.”
— Technical Representative, Hochland Romania
