Industrial automation leader Rockwell Automation announced on Monday a joint deployment with partner Actemium of an AI-driven cooling system optimization solution, designed to significantly reduce electricity consumption in the high-energy cooling processes of food production. The solution, named "Real-time Coefficient of Performance," operates on Rockwell Automation's PlantPAx distributed control system. It functions like a tireless virtual operator, capable of analyzing in real-time the operational status and environmental conditions of equipment such as compressors, condensers, and evaporators, autonomously selecting and executing the most efficient configuration combinations. The system has already demonstrated its effectiveness in a practical application at a major frozen french fry producer, successfully increasing the cooling system's energy efficiency by 17%. It is projected to save approximately $130,000 in energy costs annually for a single production site. Additionally, the solution effectively reduces equipment operational load, contributing to an extended service life for cooling assets. Jim Gillis, General Manager of Actemium Atlantic Canada, noted that performing continuous, stable energy efficiency ranking for equipment is a task that human operators simply cannot accomplish in real-time. In food manufacturing plants, industrial cooling systems can account for up to 70% of the facility's total electricity consumption, representing the most significant opportunity for energy optimization in the industry. Rockwell Automation stated that as food producers face skilled labor shortages and pressures to reduce costs and improve efficiency, demand for such AI-driven autonomous applications is growing. Currently, Actemium is assisting in promoting this solution to more cooling plants, enabling cross-site energy efficiency visualization management and benchmarking analysis through a key performance indicator dashboard.