Thin margins, strict food-safety rules and demanding retail customers leave no room for waste, downtime or a quality escape. We build AI that watches the line, forecasts demand and traces every batch, cutting giveaway and scrap, lifting OEE and keeping you audit-ready.
Last updated: 8 September 2026
AI helps food and beverage producers cut waste and downtime while staying audit-ready, reading vision, sensor and line data in real time. Concrete uses include automated quality inspection on the line, demand forecasting and production planning, predictive maintenance, and end-to-end food-safety traceability for HACCP. Crux Digits builds these as custom tools at fixed prices, EU AI Act-aware, for producers in the Netherlands and the EU.
Where it pays off
Four places the work lands, described in the systems and rules you already work with. Every one of these is a build we would scope, price and hand over running.
Cameras on the conveyor that catch fill level, seal integrity, label position and foreign bodies at line speed. Every reject is logged with its image, which is what turns an inspection into HACCP evidence rather than an opinion.
Forecasts per SKU that account for promotions, weather and day of the week, tuned for products where being wrong means write-off rather than backorder. Planning against best-before dates is a different problem from planning against stock-outs.
Vibration, motor current and temperature read from the equipment you already have, to flag a bearing or a seal before it stops the line. Downtime on a filler is measured in OEE points and in product that cannot be reworked.
Temperature logs, batch codes and pallet movements joined so a recall question can be answered in minutes instead of a day. EU 178/2002 requires one step back and one step forward, and that is only fast if the data is already linked.
Food and beverage production runs on high-speed lines where a few percent of giveaway, a jammed filler or a missed defect scales into real money across every shift. AI is good at exactly this: reading vision, sensor and line data fast enough to catch problems while the product is still moving, not after it ships.
We build models that respect the reality of the plant (hygiene zones, allergen changeovers, HACCP checkpoints and shelf-life windows) and connect them to the MES, ERP and line PLCs you already run.
Computer vision on the line catches defects, foreign objects, fill levels and label errors before product leaves the plant.
Forecast demand per SKU and channel to plan runs, staffing and ingredients: fewer stockouts, less overproduction.
Spot bearing, motor and filler faults before they stop the line, so you schedule repairs instead of losing a shift.
Track batches end to end for HACCP, tighten recall readiness and surface deviations before they reach the customer.
Tune dosing, portioning and recipes to cut giveaway and shrink while holding weight, spec and taste.
Model shelf-life and steer cold-chain and supply decisions to reduce spoilage, returns and energy cost.
We map where AI pays back first, your data, lines and MES/ERP systems.
By the second call you get a working prototype on your product, line or forecast, not a spec.
We integrate with your MES, ERP and line PLCs so insight becomes action on the floor.
We track results against your baseline and keep the model accurate across recipes and seasons.
Not necessarily, a lot of value comes from data you already have: line cameras, PLC tags, MES logs, weigh checks and ERP orders. We start with what's available and add sensors or cameras only where they clearly pay back.
Yes: we integrate with common MES and ERP platforms and read line PLCs over standard protocols like OPC UA, so recommendations reach the line and the planner, not just a dashboard.
We measure every model against a clear baseline on your own product and report honestly, false rejects and missed defects both. If it doesn't beat your current check, we say so; accuracy grows as more labelled examples come in.
Yes: we build traceability that ties batches to inputs, line conditions and HACCP checkpoints, so recall scoping is faster and audit evidence is at hand. The model flags deviations; your team keeps the sign-off.
We can. Crux Digits is a boutique applied-AI firm based in the Utrecht region, working remotely or on-site with food processors, beverage producers and brands across the Netherlands and the EU. We are a small, senior hands-on team, not a large consultancy, with practical experience across vision, forecasting and line data. We work in Dutch and English, founded in 2022.
We start with a short paid discovery to scope one real problem (a line, a product or a forecast), then deliver at a fixed price with you owning the code and IP. On data: your production, recipe and quality data stays yours; we apply data minimisation, keep it within the EU, and stay aware of the EU AI Act and food-safety rules. We keep a human in the loop on releases and recalls rather than letting a model decide alone.
Tell us where giveaway, scrap or stops creep in: we'll map a path to value in a free consultation.
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