GEA Insights
Engineering for a better world
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Innovating patient care with aseptic spray drying
At GEA, our commitment to engineering for a better world fuels our pursuit of innovative solutions that enhance patient care and safety. One of our most promising ventures in recent years is aseptic spray drying – a technology that promises to revolutionize pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Lecithin: When a byproduct slips into the main role
Lecithin holds a special place in the heart of GEA Product Sales Manager Patrick Schürmann. The versatile substance has gone from having a supporting role in edible oil refining to being the star of the highly competitive and low-margin edible oil refining market. This is due in no small part to the new, innovative and energy-saving process developed by Schürmann and his colleagues.
Paving the way to careers in STEM
With kids returning to school this autumn, GEA will be back too, engaging with students of all ages to promote careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). For GEA, building a more robust STEM workforce is one of the keys to driving innovation and tackling today’s complex global challenges.
Bringing centrifuges up to speed with sustainability
Every drop and every kilowatt hour count when it comes to centrifuge development.
GEA has been building centrifuges for over 130 years – something you wouldn’t think is in question every day. Jürgen Mackel, Vice President Product Line Separators at GEA, and Christian Becker, Product Manager responsible for the dairy centrifuge portfolio, do precisely this – consistently coming up with new solutions that live up to the demands of technical progress, current market conditions and all aspects of sustainability. Read on for insight into what the art of engineering at GEA brings to the production halls of a wide range of industries around the world.
Decarbonizing processes with industrial heat pumps
When it comes to improving the health of the planet, GEA takes a leading role. As one of our sustainability-focused strategic objectives, we are forging a path to help our customers across myriad industries to reduce energy use and lower their carbon emissions in meaningful and measurable ways. This includes the use of GEA heat pump systems.
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Perfusion separators speed up biopharma processes
Small biopharma manufacturing outfits are often the driving force behind the proliferation of innovative medical treatments. GEA is revolutionizing cell harvesting capabilities for these manufacturers with perfusion separators that enable efficiency-optimized continuous processing. For the first time, suitable disk stack separators have been transformed into compact single-use machines saving space, labor and effort while paving the way for increased production output and speed.
Future-proofing the cold chain with sustainable refrigeration
The importance of quality cold chain management cannot be underestimated. Ensuring that perishable foodstuffs are safe and of high quality at the point of consumption is a tremendous responsibility for those operating cold chain facilities. GEA is at the forefront of providing safe and sustainable refrigeration technology for cold storage and distribution centers, helping customers to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions for their facilities.
How batch milking supports sustainable dairy farming
The latest evolution in automated milking introduces batch milking – a dairy farming practice where cows are milked in groups at fixed milking times, usually two or three times per day. The automation technology is helping to overcome recent challenges of dairy farmers to balance cow welfare, flexibility and sustainability on their dairy farms while continuously optimizing their cost structures and becoming more and more efficient.
GEA supports clean water projects in Tanzania
Access to safe water and sanitation is still a challenge in a lot of countries. Illness from dirty drinking water and daily treks to fetch it, mean many children cannot attend school. Thanks to a collaboration with Hamburg-based non-profit Viva con Agua, GEA helps bring clean water to several schools in Tanzania – using some very magical technology.
GEA employees are people with purpose
In pursuit of its core mission – Engineering for a better world – GEA is building an employer of choice culture that offers employees the opportunity to reimagine solutions, collaborate across disciplines and contribute to a transformational moment for industries across the globe.
Exploring the water footprint of milk, cheese, chocolate & more
We have compiled for you the amount of water it takes to produce favorite brunch ingredients. As our freshwater resources are increasingly threatened by climate change and pollution, we at GEA are working on technologies to help reduce water consumption and wastewater volumes in industry on a large scale, especially in dairy and food production.
Next level dewatering for wastewater
Wastewater treatment plants are essential for our modern lives. But how can their operation be continuously advanced and improved? What has long been a challenge in terms of optimization has now been achieved: the automatic control of decanters for sludge dewatering. The smart solution from GEA Intellicant operates these decanters better than humans were previously able to. Christian Schramm, product manager commercial for Digital Products at GEA, told us more about the full potential of these smart machines in an interview.
Brains of steel: AI drives sustainability for GEA and its customers
With modern sensor technologies, cloud connectivity and advanced analytics firmly in place, GEA is now adding a layer of intelligence to its hard-working machines. The results demonstrate the power of AI to take production processes to new levels of performance and sustainability.
Innovation is in the air
The atmosphere in Europe has rarely felt so palpably rural as it has during the first months of 2024: With their tractors and manure tankers in tow, protesting farmers in the capitals of Berlin, Paris and Brussels and elsewhere, are drawing attention to the fact that restructuring the world’s food system is a societal task and cannot be borne by farmers alone. Against this backdrop, GEA joined a panel of experts recently in Berlin to discuss practical solutions for enabling more sustainable agriculture.
Automation makes a difference for cows, humans and planet
Feeding their cows is one of the most important tasks and daily routines of dairy farmers all over the world. Proper feeding not only keeps cows healthy but also lays the foundation to produce plenty of high-quality milk. But in times of rising energy costs and shortages of hired labor, the pressure is on. GEA's autonomously driving feeding robot addresses these hurdles to free up time, optimize milk yields and preserve cow health.
GEA's defrosting solution sees success at CIAL in Chile
GEA knows there's a better way to defrost food that saves time, improves yield, enhances product quality, is more hygienic and, importantly, is more sustainable. Cold steam defrosting been around since the early 1990s, and it’s already accepted as a trusted technology of many food processing companies, including CIAL, the leading manufacturer of fine cured meat products in Chile.
Precision fermentation advances sustainable dairy
A quiet revolution is happening behind the dairy aisle. Dairy farms are going high tech to achieve new levels of efficiency, plant-based alternatives are gaining market share, and now precision fermentation is enabling animal-free dairy products that look, taste and feel like the real thing. For food companies looking to meet the world’s growing demand for dairy more sustainably, precision fermentation looks increasingly like a critical piece of the puzzle. Realizing its promise will depend a lot on efficient industrial-scale production.
Separate from the rest
The story of the GEA centrifuge begins in 1893, when Franz Ramesohl and Franz Schmidt began production of their patented mechanical milk separator, paving the way for modern dairy processing. The innovation helped overcome a major challenge of their time: how to supply milk to a growing urban population in late 19th century Germany. And it helped fuel a booming industry. By 1913, they were joined by an additional 67 companies in Germany making centrifuges – many of which were located near their site in Oelde. After leading the way in separation technology for 130 years, GEA is still re-thinking the centrifuge.
GEA engineers drive gains in more sustainable production
In an era where efficiency and greater circularity are non-negotiable, engineers are emerging as the “hidden champions” driving change in business and production. At GEA, a broad and diverse group of engineers and technologists are working hard to confront the pressing challenges of our time – climate change, resource depletion and eliminating waste in all its forms.
