Fava: over 80 years of success around the world

Founded in 1937, Fava is a reference point in the international panorama for the manufacturing of industrial production lines and systems for the pasta industry and it has been successfully operating in the sector for three generations. Fava’s process lines produce short-cut pasta and longcut pasta, but also for specialty pasta on trays and for couscous.
Production capacities range from smaller lines of 750 kg/h to highcapacity lines of 12,000 kg/h, already installed and in operation in some of the most important pasta factories in the world.
Maximum enhancement of the raw materials, flexible and userfriendly process lines and energy savings are just some of the focuses at the core of Fava’s research, which has always been ahead of its times with unique and patented technological solutions.
Customer support, with dedicated after-sales assistance, training courses and a new Research & Development laboratory for the evolution and improvement of increasingly efficient technologies, are among those added value services required to meet the realistic needs of a pasta factory.
Fava has been manufacturing equipment for pasta factories for over 80 years now, studying increasingly high-performing, reliable and innovative technologies. Its credibility has been conquered directly on-site with over 2000 lines installed around the world. We asked the company’s CEO, Luigi Fava, for a preview of what visitors will see at the stand at the upcoming IPACK-IMA 2022 exhibition.

Which technological solutions are you currently focusing on?
Pasta production has always been the focus of Fava’s research. We have recently developed solutions in which the enhancement of each raw material is guaranteed by unique and original technological processes, which facilitate production and parameter control. At the IPACK-IMA, we will expose a series of product and service innovations designed to meet the needs of pasta manufacturers around the world, who are more and more oriented towards increasing technological added value to obtain the best possible end product from the raw materials at their disposal. Special attention will also be paid to maximizing Overall Equipment Efficiency and to reducing environmental impact.

What will we see at the Fava stand at IPACK-IMA?
We will reveal exciting innovations along our entire range of pasta lines and digital technology applications related to Industry 4.0, in particular to IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things), designed to maximize added value services for both machine operation and after-sales support.
Fava goes on to say that, as our CTO, Renato Dall’Agata, specifies, Augmented Reality techniques, predictive packages based on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, are among some of these innovations. There are two main predictive packages on the Fava IIoT platform. The first focuses on maintenance and monitors critical components. The machine is equipped with smart sensors (vibration sensors, temperature …) which, connected to all other process variables, provide real time precise predictive maintenance
indications to the operator, allowing to minimize scrap and unexpected machine downtime.
The other predictive package concerns quality control.
Specialized sensors and vision systems are installed to monitor the appearance of the pasta, such as colour, physical integrity, defects and chemical-physical parameters like moisture content.
The data is sent to Fava’s cloud and artificial intelligence algorithms, stored in the cloud, provide the operator with indications if, and by how much, the product is not within the required quality standards. The data provides possible technical and/or technological reasons behind the discrepancy so that the operator can carry our predictive actions to minimize scrap and maximize finished product quality consistency. To enhance maintenance efficiency, we will present our approach to Augmented Reality, which involves easy operator access to remote assistance, manuals and to an on-line spare parts portal, which are all major contributions to improving machine performance for its entire
lifecycle. We will also reveal added value services related to the new Research & Development laboratory: technical and technological training courses, raw materials chemical-physical and rheological analysis, finished product qualitative, chemicalphysical, rheological and sensorial analysis, pasta production tests aimed at improving processes, finished product quality tests and development of new raw materials and/or finished products.
In terms of sustainability, what contribution can Fava make?
The cutting-edge technologies that will be revealed at IPACKIMA, on the one hand, have made it possible to get the best possible pasta quality from the raw materials available an+d on the other hand, to use raw materials with lower environmental impacts in those markets where it is allowed today, with less use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In terms of energy sustainability and environmental impact, Fava’s equipment and technologies, available today, allow a significant reduction in both thermal and electrical consumptions per kilo of pasta produced, without compromising on flexibility, process capability and user friendliness. With the aim of satisfying market demands on an on-going basis, innovation is also expressed in customer service, from project design to completion of the machine, with “life-cycle services” such as preventive maintenance, original spare parts, remote technical and technological assistance, overhauls, upgrades, training and all that is needed to provide the best benefits for our customers.

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