justin grainge
Ishida’s revolutionary AI-driven remote production monitoring software, Sentinel 5.0, has been awarded the Innovative Processing System accolade at the 2025 PPMA Total Show Awards, which recognise excellence in the processing and packaging machinery industry.
Launched in November 2024, Sentinel 5.0 combines machine performance monitoring with comprehensive data capture to give food manufacturers a smarter, consolidated and in-depth analysis of their entire food production line.
A key innovation of the platform is its capacity for machine learning. The technology from the world leaders in end-to-end weighing, packing and quality control solutions can connect and communicate with both Ishida and non-Ishida machines, and learn how the food production line is operating. It can then offer data-driven performance enhancement notifications for operators, such as alerting them to machines that are not working at the maximum capacity, and the reasons why.
Ian Hodgson, systems general manager at Ishida, said: “Sentinel 5.0 was developed to respond directly to the needs of food manufacturers seeking smarter ways to manage, optimise, and safeguard their operations.
“I am delighted that Sentinel 5.0 has received the Innovation Processing System award. It’s great to receive recognition for the development of ground-breaking software, which can be transformative for the work of food manufacturers. It showcases the advancement of technology in the industry, and how by utilising AI, we can shape the future of intelligent food production.”
Alongside the continuous remote production monitoring, food manufacturers can easily troubleshoot and interrogate their weighing, packing, and inspection systems through the Sentinel 5.0 AI chatbot. Machine manuals, and an ever-expanding machine learning database, means operators can easily and remotely diagnose issues on their lines, without needing to call Ishida engineers for help.
“With its foundation rooted in Industry 5.0 principles which focus on the collaboration between humans and intelligent machines, Sentinel 5.0 connects an entire line of processing and packing machinery into one smart, AI-driven ecosystem,” said Ian. "The intention is to convert complex machine data into actionable insights that drive efficiency, compliance and productivity.”
On receiving the award, Steve Jones, Marketing Director at Ishida Europe, said: “This award is testament to a huge amount of engineering effort from our specialist teams, which has made Sentinel 5.0 a vital asset to a number of our customers.”
For more about Ishida Europe and Sentinel 5.0, click here.