Automated tracking system and method for a plant for packaging pourable products

An automated tracking system for a packaging plant for packaging a pourable product, the packaging plant comprising:

• a primary packaging machine, configured to produce sequentially a plurality of primary packaging units, each primary packaging unit comprising at least one respective container;
• a secondary packaging machine, configured to produce sequentially a plurality of secondary packaging units, each secondary packaging unit including a group of at least two primary packaging units;
• a first conveying unit, configured to transport the primary packaging units received from the primary packaging machine, from the primary packaging machine to the secondary packaging machine,
• the automated tracking system comprising:
• a first marking unit configured to assign to each primary packaging unit a respective primary marking;
• a second marking unit configured to assign to each secondary packaging unit a respective secondary marking;
• and
• a first imaging module, configured to image said first conveying unit;
• and
• a control unit;
• wherein said control unit comprises:
• an acquisition module configured to acquire a first set of information at least from said first marking unit, said first imaging module, and said second marking unit;
• and
• a prediction module configured to perform an estimation, for each primary packaging unit, of the marking of a specific secondary packaging unit in which said primary packaging unit is packaged, based on a statistical prediction model applied on the acquired first set of information.