ARGUS PART 2: DigitAl control of microbes for Resilient fmcG sUpply chainS – Digital Systems Integration and Demonstration

许多制造业正在寻求制造可生物降解的产品和/或使用天然的生物来源的成分，同时尽量减少化学防腐剂的使用。然而，保护这些产品免受有问题的微生物的侵害，（如细菌、酵母菌和霉菌）是一项重大挑战。ARGUS（Digit**a**l Cont**r**ol of Microbes for Resilient FMC**G** S**u** ply Chain**），旨在创建一个数字解决方案，以改善英国制造供应链中微生物污染的管理。微生物污染可能会在供应链的许多阶段引入;包括原材料供应、生产过程中、储存中以及生产地点之间的运输过程中。如果不加以控制，微生物会在工艺流体、管道和容器中积聚，造成制造问题、腐蚀、材料变质，并可能导致昂贵的产品撤回和召回。在最坏的情况下，这可能会对制造业劳动力和消费者的健康产生不利影响。如今，微生物管理既昂贵又耗时，并且依赖于使用化学防腐剂/杀菌剂、定期清洁以及在多个点取样进行实验室测试。ARGUS第二阶段（工业研究）项目将开发并展示一种新的数字化解决方案，该解决方案能够在整个端到端制造供应链中 ** 直接测量和共享微生物污染水平 **。这项创新将减少制造和运输延迟，提供问题的早期预警，并帮助供应链合作伙伴开发新的，安全和可持续的，生物产品配方，降低防腐剂的水平。该项目的产出将在现有的英国家庭和个人护理（HPC）产品供应链中进行评估。新的直接在线微生物数字传感器原型将在多个制造和散装运输地点（包括油罐车）进行开发和评估。相关数据将在一个用于微生物健康监测、管理和保证的首个数字平台中收集、共享和分析。该项目将为ARGUS在家庭和个人护理产品制造供应链中的未来商业投资、开发和部署奠定基础。重要的是，这项创新将在英国许多其他供应链中具有潜在的应用，包括食品和饮料、油漆和涂料、制药和生物燃料，其中微生物健康管理也是一个不断增长的成本和问题。

Many manufacturing industries are seeking to make biodegradable products and/or use natural, bio-sourced, ingredients, while minimising the use of chemical preservatives. However, protecting these products from problematic microbes (such as bacteria, yeasts and mould) is a major challenge.ARGUS (Digit**a**l Cont**r**ol of Microbes for Resilient FMC**G** S**u**pply Chain**s**), aims to create a digital solution to improve the management of microbial contamination across UK manufacturing supply chains.Microbial contamination can be introduced at many stages across the supply chain; including raw materials supply, during manufacturing processes, in storage, and during transport between manufacturing sites. If left unchecked, microbes can build up in process fluids and on pipework and containers, creating manufacturing problems, corrosion, spoiling materials and potentially leading to expensive product withdrawals and recalls. At worst, this can lead to adverse health impacts for the manufacturing workforce and consumers.Today, microbial management is expensive and time-consuming and depends on using chemical preservatives/biocides, regular cleaning and taking samples at multiple points for lab testing. Often materials are held awaiting microbial test results, reducing productivity and efficiency.The ARGUS Phase 2 (Industrial Research) project will develop and demonstrate a new digital solution that is able to measure and share levels of microbial contamination **directly in place** across an end-to-end manufacturing supply chain. This innovation will reduce manufacturing and shipping delays, provide early-warning of problems, and help supply chain partners to develop new, safe and sustainable, bio-product formulations with reduced levels of preservatives.The project outputs will be evaluated within an existing UK Home & Personal Care (HPC) product supply chain. New direct inline microbial digital sensor prototypes will be developed and evaluated within multiple manufacturing and bulk transport locations, including within tanker trucks. Relevant data will be collected, shared and analysed in a First-of-a-Kind digital platform for microbial health monitoring, management and assurance.The project will lay the groundwork for the future commercial investment, development and deployment of ARGUS in Home and Personal Care product manufacturing supply chains. Importantly, the innovation will have potential application across many other UK supply chains, including food and drinks, paints and coatings, pharma, and biofuel, where microbial health management is also a growing cost and concern.