Rockwell Automation, one of the leading players in industrial automation and digital transformation, announces its participation in Interpack 2026, where it will showcase how digital twin technology enables manufacturers to design, integrate, and optimize end-to-end operations in the food and beverage sector.
Through a fully virtualized line for biscuit production and packaging, the company will demonstrate how processing and packaging systems can be designed as a single digital and connected operation, improving performance, flexibility, and lifecycle management. The digital, multi-vendor production line covers the entire biscuit lifecycle — from dough preparation and forming to baking, cooling, primary and secondary packaging, and palletizing — replicating a continuous and realistic production process. The experience highlights how processing and packaging can be integrated into a single data-driven operation, emphasizing the role of open and scalable architectures in enabling collaboration between OEMs, system integrators, and end users.
The demonstration integrates systems from leading OEMs into a single digital environment, using the Emulate3D™ digital twin software to model real machines and production assets, and leveraging innovative Rockwell technologies such as iTRAK® intelligent motion systems.
By replacing physical equipment with virtualized assets, manufacturers can run engineering activities in parallel and validate mechanical, electrical, and automation designs in advance — reducing risks, improving line performance, and enabling more effective collaboration between engineering, operations, and maintenance teams even before the commissioning phase.
Developed in collaboration with the Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork ecosystem, the virtual biscuit production and packaging line is supported by leading OEMs and solution providers across the manufacturing value chain, including:
- Royal Kaak – processing (dough preparation)
- GEA – processing (dough dosing, baking, and cooling)
- Mespack – primary packaging
- Vimco – secondary packaging
- Cetec Industrie – end-of-line palletizing
“With the virtual biscuit production line, we demonstrate how manufacturers can integrate processing and packaging into a single intelligent solution,” said Ashkan Ashouriha, senior global enterprise solution architect. “By combining digital twins based on real OEM machines and real engineering data into one production line, manufacturers can reduce risks, accelerate time to value, and ensure that production systems are operational and performing from day one.”
Visitors will be able to explore how unified, open, and scalable data architectures enable the integration of machines from different suppliers into a single operating environment. This is made possible by creating a consistent and shared data layer between processing and packaging systems, protected by layered cybersecurity levels through solutions such as the SecureOT™ platform.
The end-to-end virtual production line is based on a connected data architecture that allows machines, systems, and applications from different vendors to operate in an integrated and seamless way. Thanks to technologies such as the FactoryTalk Optix software platform, manufacturers can create a shared data foundation that acts as a single source of truth across the entire processing and packaging workflow, enabling digital twins, performance and quality monitoring, product traceability, and the reliable use of AI and machine learning across the entire production line.
These capabilities make it possible to design and implement multi-vendor systems as cohesive, high-performance production environments, helping manufacturers move beyond siloed approaches and evolve toward more scalable, data-driven operations.
Visitors interested in learning more about Rockwell Automation technologies and its PartnerNetwork ecosystem at Interpack 2026 can find more information online and plan their visit to the Rockwell booth, C40 in Hall 6.