MAÏTÉ, Artificial Intelligence at the service of malt

A help tool for selecting malting recipes

In order to constantly improve the know-how of our production managers and optimise the efficiency of our industrial tools, we use new technologies and data. These enable us to further improve the quality of our malts, particularly their consistency and the sustainability of our products. Our desire to make the most of data is part of our innovation approach to devise the processes of tomorrow both for our own excellence and that of our products.

The origins of the project

To remain at the forefront of technology and stay ahead of the game, our R&D and innovation teams are constantly looking for innovative solutions. They work on solutions to facilitate the work of our employees and help their decision-making. The Factory 4.0 project aims to develop a tool to help our production managers adapt malting recipes at each stage of the malting process. Its name, Malt Artificial Intelligence Technologies (MAÏTÉ), is a nod to the famous chef who presented her famous recipes on television programmes, with some unconventional practices. To carry out this project, we have surrounded ourselves with experts in Artificial Intelligence.

We collaborated with a start-up company in 2018 to jointly develop an Artificial Intelligence-based IT tool. Today, this device allows us to collect and analyse the data recorded during the malting process to recommend to the production manager the best production parameters to apply to obtain the desired result. The tool carries out continuous analyses to propose the most appropriate adjustments.

The benefit of this tool is to go further in the research and optimisation of our malting recipes to offer products that fully meet our customers' expectations.

"This technology combines quality improvement with industrial performance. It continually enriches the know-how of our maltsters", Jean-Philippe Jelu, Industrial Sites Director, France.

A tool with multiple benefits

Initially applied at the Canteleu Malting Plant (in Rouen), on the strength of its success the project is being deployed at other sites in France and abroad. The result of five years of work on the implementation of strong technical and technological resources, MAÏTÉ has optimised our malting recipes, but has also ensured the continuity of the know-how of our maltsters. In addition to these aspects, this system also brings benefits in terms of operational excellence, continuous improvement of our processes, reduced hardship at work and sustainable development.

This project, which is the result of collaboration between a start-up and several internal departments with advanced technical skills, highlights our ability and willingness to constantly explore the latest technological innovations to improve the productivity of our industrial tools and the excellence of our products.