Maestrani
For over 170 years, Maestrani Schweizer Schokoladen AG has been delighting consumers worldwide with its chocolates. Driven by the joy in progress and guided by its purpose of sharing happiness, Maestrani combines a pioneering spirit with family values and a steadfast commitment to “making the world sustainably happier bit by bit”. Striving to reach new heights of innovation and excellence, the company has embraced a data-driven strategy to enhance transparency and elevate product quality. Their digital transformation has already delivered an impressive 18 percent boost in efficiency – laying the groundwork for an even sweeter future.
Michele Bodmer, February 2025
Set among the rolling hills and meadows of Flawil, Switzerland, you’ll find Maestrani’s production facility, including its “Chocolarium World of Discovery”. This highly immersive chocolate experience is designed to delight the 230,000 visitors who come here every year as they discover how Maestrani puts happiness into every chocolate it makes. And behind this sensory experience is the company’s factory, where over 4,500 tonnes of chocolate are produced annually for its flagship brands Minor, Munz, and Maestrani. As a key player in the world of Swiss chocolate, the family-owned company has clearly earned a place in the hearts of chocolate lovers everywhere but, true to its purpose, Maestrani is dedicated to taking its success to the next level.
Working with its close neighbor, Bühler, it has leveraged the full potential of digitalization with a smart chocolate line that has already improved efficiency by 18 percent and changed the way it approaches operational challenges and problem-solving.
We take pride in serving as a kind of ‘real-time lab’ for Bühler. This data-driven approach has positioned us to not only meet current market demands but to adapt and thrive in the future.
Christoph Birchler,
CEO of Maestrani
“Our history is built on family values, innovation, and the drive to constantly improve,” says Christoph Birchler, CEO of Maestrani. “We see enormous potential in the chocolate market, and to consistently offer the high-quality products that our consumers have come to love and trust, we need to be faster, more adaptable, and ready for future challenges.”
Central to achieving this vision is Maestrani’s move to embracing digitalization to create a more transparent and data-driven production process. “Before we started our journey, our production processes relied heavily on operator experience. We knew what we needed to achieve but lacked the data to fully understand how to improve or locate inefficiencies,” explains Carsten Engelhardt, Technical Director at Maestrani.
By working with the data from Bühler Insights, we transitioned from relying solely on operator experience to making data-supported decisions that significantly enhanced our production efficiency.
Patrik Keller,
Head of Production & Logistics at Maestrani
This realization prompted Maestrani to take its first steps toward digital transformation in 2016. With Bühler, the company began implementing analytical tools designed to bring greater transparency to its production processes. The journey kicked off with the installation of intelligent sensors, which allowed Maestrani to both control processes in real-time and collect actionable data. This data was then transferred to Bühler Insights – a platform that aggregates and analyzes data from multiple sources, including sensors, machine controls, and offline data – where it could be visualized and analyzed. The first step involved modernizing older control systems to enable seamless data flow.
Bühler Insights, which is designed to replace guesswork with actionable insights, enabled Maestrani to enhance efficiency, quality, and flexibility while maintaining its hallmark craftsmanship. By digitizing key workflows and creating a more connected factory, Maestrani laid the foundation for data-informed decision-making and continuous improvement.
“Once we had the data, we were excited to see what we could do with it,” says Engelhardt. Together, the Maestrani and Bühler team analyzed the information and discovered a key bottleneck in the process that was causing suboptimal grinding in the five-roll mill. “For the first time, we gained real insights into our operations,” he says.
Our efficiency improved by nearly 20 percent. This gain is truly a game-changer – not just for efficiency but for how we approach problem-solving.
Carsten Engelhardt,
Technical Director at Maestrani
Utilizing Bühler Insights, the inefficiency was quantified, and different scenarios simulated to test potential improvements. “With this data-informed approach, we identified adjustments and made targeted interventions that boosted production efficiency,” says Sudhir Punyamurthula, Data Analyst at Bühler. “We knew there was potential for gains, but what has been achieved so far is a big leap forward.”
One targeted intervention involved installing a new conveyor belt to empty the mixer faster, which optimized the five-roll mill’s operation. “By working with the data from Bühler Insights, we transitioned from relying solely on operator experience to making data-supported decisions that significantly enhanced our production efficiency,” explains Patrik Keller, Head of Production & Logistics at Maestrani.
This was a turning point for Maestrani. “Before, we had a feeling that things could run more smoothly, but it was difficult to pinpoint the exact issues,” says Engelhardt. “Thanks to Bühler Insights, and the support we received from Bühler’s experts, we were not only able to visualize and quantify these inefficiencies, but we were also able to interpret the data and define exactly where changes were needed and find solutions together. Our efficiency improved by nearly 20 percent. This gain is truly a game-changer – not just for efficiency but for how we approach problem-solving.”
Beyond efficiency, Maestrani sees the smart line as the future of chocolate production. “When we consider our vision for a smart factory, it’s about combining machine intelligence, personnel, and seamless data flow to ensure production optimization,” says Engelhardt. The next moves will include expanding traceability, optimizing conching, and automating mass production, all with minimal manual intervention.
Their decision to integrate the smart chocolate line also addresses a critical challenge: the increasing difficulty in finding skilled personnel. “The ability to use insights from the data to guide operators, rather than relying solely on their expertise, is pivotal,” says Engelhardt. “We need systems that not only optimize processes but also make it easier for our teams to focus on higher-value tasks.”
The close collaboration between Maestrani and Bühler has played a pivotal role in enabling this transition. Bühler’s expertise in digitalization and process optimization provided Maestrani with the tools and insights needed to begin its smart factory journey. “When Bühler first started exploring digitalization, Maestrani was an ideal partner because of their proximity and openness to innovation,” says Fabian Dintheer, Digital Program Manager at Bühler.
The approach we took allowed us to pinpoint key process improvements, such as analyzing stoppages, faults, maintenance issues, etc. Data collection was crucial for this thorough analysis.
Fabian Dintheer,
Digital Program Manager at Bühler
“We initially worked with them to test sensor systems and gather data in real production conditions, which was key to unlocking the potential for greater transparency.” The project was spearheaded with the use of data analytics, interpreting detailed data with advanced simulation models together with process experts from Maestrani. “This approach allowed us to pinpoint key process improvements, such as analyzing stoppages, faults, maintenance issues, downtimes, and cleaning times,” Dintheer explains. “Comprehensive data collection was crucial for this thorough analysis.”
The integration of Bühler Insights has already reduced manual interventions, streamlined production processes, and optimized resource allocation at Maestrani. Operators now have more peace of mind because they can now respond instantly to disturbances, reducing downtime and ensuring consistent product quality. The company also handles more orders within the same two-shift production, allowing employees to focus on those other high-value tasks.
“Our machines now communicate better, providing the feedback we need to prevent disruptions and also improve our recipes. That’s what makes this project so valuable: we have achieved progress that is reflected in quality, in financial outcomes, and in the capacities that are freed up,” says Keller.
The project has clearly brought tangible results. However, the collaboration between the two companies goes far deeper. “The partnership between Bühler and Maestrani has evolved from its beginnings in 1985 into something unique,” says Birchler. “We take pride in serving as a kind of ‘real-time lab’ for Bühler. This allows Bühler to refine their technologies in real production environments, while we benefit from cutting-edge innovations and practical insights that keep us competitive.”
Birchler emphasizes that the company’s digital journey is not just about producing more but about doing so smarter and more sustainably. “This transparency and data-driven approach has positioned us to not only meet current market demands but to adapt and thrive in the future,” he explains. “Maestrani may be one of Bühler’s smallest customers, but as a direct neighbor, we’ve become one of their most engaged partners – not just geographically, but strategically.”
Maestrani may be one of Bühler’s smallest customers, but as a direct neighbor, we’ve become one of their most engaged partners – not just geographically, but strategically.
Christoph Birchler,
CEO of Maestrani
Who: Maestrani
Where: Flawil, Switzerland
When: The company was founded in 1852.
What: Maestrani produces over 300 different chocolate products and welcomes more than 230,000 vistors a year to its Chocolarium World of Discovery.
Customers: The company supplies customers in Switzerland and exports approximately 35% of its products to around 40 countries worldwide.
Bühler: Maestrani has Mixer, PreFiner, Finer, and Conching machines (Düc and Elk) from Bühler.
Gupfenstrasse 5
Uzwil
9240
Switzerland
