Automation and monitoring of lab- and industrial-scale food processing facilities for quality project management

This paper presents the challenges and strategies for automation and monitoring in food processing at the pilot scale, within a teaching and research environment, the Technological Hall of the SayFood Laboratory. The objective is to ensure data accessibility, enhance quality management, and improve knowledge of unit transformation processes. Given the high heterogeneity of the equipments, various sensor technologies and data acquisition strategies are explored, along with software and hardware implementations tailored to support both research and industry needs. The integration of open-source solutions, Python-based tools, and web technologies is discussed, with a strong emphasis on the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and interoperability.