July 7, 2025
GEA Better World Awards winners in the Innovation & Digitalization category, 2025. (Image: GEA)
What if you could assess a cow’s health just by watching her walk? That’s the premise behind GEA DairyNet CattleEye. This Better World Award winning tech solution uses AI and a video feed to detect signs of lameness and monitor herd welfare – and without requiring any wearables or sensors. Originally a start-up, the company was acquired by GEA in 2024 and through further development is now helping reshape digital dairy farming.
The concept stems from a personal place for co-founder Terry Canning. “I grew up on a dairy farm so was familiar with the problems farmers face with keeping records – managing the welfare of cows and as a result, their productivity,” he says. “Humans often have subjective views on whether an animal is lame. I wanted to remove human error and allow AI to do the analysis.”Terry Canning
Senior Director CattleEye, GEA
Better World Award 2025 winners, Terry Canning and Adam Askew receive their gold award for GEA CattleEye, an AI autonomous livestock monitoring solution, from Johannes Giloth, Chief Operating Officer. (Image: GEA)
In production environments, quality control is essential for consistency; unfortunately, traditional methods are slow, expensive, and often incomplete. “To run analysis, most customers take select samples, send them to a lab, and wait for results. Further, the sample is often not representative of the entirety of the product. And for customers who test samples externally, it takes time,” explains Annachiara Tonelli, Product Manager, High Pressure Pumps at GEA Separation & Flow Technologies.
Recently recognized at the Better World Awards, GEA OptiPartner NiSoMate changes that. It’s an inline ultrasonic quality analyzer that provides continuous, real-time data directly from the production plant. “Our goal was to move lab-level accuracy to the plant floor – real-time results with the same reliability. That was the big challenge,” says Leonardo Maggi, Digital Product Manager at GEA Separation & Flow Technologies. “Our aim was to give customers a result, and insight into how it came to be.”
The team faced hurdles, like how to measure opaque or variable products without contamination. “Many existing analyzers use probes that protrude into the pipework and therefore come into contact with the product. This is not hygienic and requires regular cleaning,” explains Annachiara. “Because our solution uses ultrasonic technology, the analyzer works from outside the pipe, making it aseptic and easier to clean.”
Leonardo Maggi
Digital Product Manager, GEA
Better World Award 2025 winners, Annachiara Tonelli and Leonardo Maggi receive their silver award for GEA OptiPartner NiSoMate, an inline product quality analyzer, from Johannes Giloth, Chief Operating Officer. (Image: GEA)
What began as a question: “Why do GEA Service colleagues spend so much time writing reports manually?” evolved into a transformative solution. Dietrich Mertens, Head of Digitalization BU Pharma & Healthcare, at GEA Food & Healthcare Technologies, and his cross-divisional team developed GEA Report Buddy, a digital solution designed to automate troubleshooting reports and capture service and equipment-specific insights.
"We wanted something easy, intuitive and fast," Dietrich explains. “But even more important, we wanted it to be useful for people on the ground. So, we built it with them, not just for them.”Dietrich Mertens
Head of Digitalization, GEA
Better World Award 2025 winners, Dietrich Mertens and Hansjoachim Pfaff receive their bronze award for GEA Report Buddy, an AI-based speech-to-text application for service technicians, from Johannes Giloth, Chief Operating Officer. (Image: GEA)
At GEA, digital innovation is about unlocking new ways of working, thinking and creating value for customers. That’s why innovation is one of the growth drivers defined in GEA’s Mission 30 strategy. Ultimately, these innovations reflect something bigger: GEA’s belief that engineering can – and should – contribute to a better world, one solution at a time. Recognizing the individuals and teams driving this shift is essential to maintaining momentum and achieving this target.
As Tom Oelsner, Chief Digital Officer, and one of the subject matter experts for the Innovation & Digitalization category, explains, “Digitalization is one of the most important forces shaping the future of our business. To make it work, we need a culture where ideas can be explored, tested and scaled. That requires giving people the freedom to experiment and the tools to succeed. And, giving them recognition – because they’re not only solving problems, but helping define GEA’s future.”GEA Better World Awards, 2025. (Image: GEA)