Costs of Automating in the Food Industry

November 2019

Automating in the food industry. As the fourth industrial revolution takes a grip, there has been a steady rise in manufacturing companies pushing to streamline themselves by introducing modern manufacturing techniques and practices into their production lines. Not every industry has been so successful, and some industries, in particular, have struggled to advance as quickly as others to improve their performance and output.

One of these is the UK food industry. With lower margins, food manufacturers have to consider tighter timescales for payback, along with increased flexibility. This makes full automation and high capital investments difficult to swallow and, in some cases, an impossibility to automate production processes.

SO WHAT INFLUENCES THE COSTS?

Food environments require extremely high levels of cleanliness and high quality control, therefore the equipment used has to withstand wash-downs, chemical and steam cleaning. Even from a construction point of view, the machine frame is required to be manufactured using a suitable grade of stainless steel, constructed to ensure a minimum amount of flat or resting areas for food debris to rest during production.

In addition, the control hardware used in these production machines, such as motors, control cabinets, and HMI control interfaces, all need to be of a standard to withstand cold and damp environments that also need to be of wash-down quality. The downside of this is the increased cost due to the higher level of IP (Ingress Protection) rating to ensure these devices are suitable for such hazardous conditions.

Raw foods such as poultry, meat and fish can be difficult to handle due to being organic, with no two pieces being the same. This again can require the equipment used to be a much higher specification than normal and therefore come at an increased cost.

A common task in the food industry is cutting and slicing. Millions of sliced and diced food products, such as salmon, ham, chicken, etc., are purchased every year. This task can, on the face of it, be simple, however, doing this for high volume processing can prove difficult. Chicken fillets can be different sizes and density when cooked or uncooked, even by adding flavouring can change the characteristics and therefore the cutting and slicing process becomes ever more complex as the variants increase. There are, however, solutions that have been developed or are in the process of being developed.

OPTIMISING PACKAGING TO SUIT AUTOMATION

Secondary automation applications within the food industry have become a little less complicated but can still have some issues. Bringing packaging into the manufacturing process requires systems that can feed cartons and trays for the food to be inserted into. Normally, these applications require high and reliable feed rates to ensure a constant supply of packaging for the process.

Shelf space within supermarkets costs money, and therefore, the final packaging needs to be as compact as possible whilst being able to “hold” as much product as possible. Part of the problem this causes from an automation supplier’s point of view is that the packaging, although beneficial to the end-user, i.e. supermarkets, can add many complications. This can add a lot of additional equipment to ensure the product is orientated correctly to suit the supermarket’s requirements. This is where food manufacturers, supermarkets and machine builders have to work together to align the requirements. Although the best compact packaging and shelf-ready boxes may suit the end consumer, there is no reason why the food product shapes cannot be changed slightly to allow for simpler automation and compact packaging.

CUSTOMISED PACKAGING

As soon as food /pack customisation comes into the equation, this can be perceived to upset a production flow.

Customisation within the food industry is becoming a more common requirement. Traditional machine design concepts, unfortunately, do not lend themselves to this level of flexibility. Machines normally run best when they are used for single products that do not require tool changes, multiple setups and so on. However, with advancements in automation equipment, this flexibility can be realised. As an example, the Beckhoff eXtendable Transfer System (XTS) is a linear transfer system that utilises linear motors and movers that can be controlled individually. These motors have an infinite number of stop positions and extremely fast transfer speeds of up to 4m/s.

The XTS allows for a system that can have many in feeds, for example, biscuits or crisps. Production can input the requirements from a production “menu”, and the machine can then process the data and configure different outputs for various multipack selections. Combining this with robotics technology can add additional benefits and flexibility.

Resistance to introducing automation, particularly with smaller businesses, is understandable, as there can be high associated costs. However, there are still options for these businesses to adopt automation in different areas. With the growing market for collaborative robots (cobots), companies such as Universal Robots have introduced a more affordable and almost DIY solution to help manufacturers. With simple programming, the ability to move the cobots between production areas by placing them on trolleys makes these a great option for all manufacturers. These units can have a fast ROI, which is an obvious attraction.

Putting this into practice, the cobots can be designed with multi-tooled heads that would suit the handling of multiple products. On one production shift, they can be used to palletise at an end of line process and then have another program selected and placed into another area and carry out another task. This does not only improve productivity on production lines but can also improve safety from a manual handling point of view.

AUTOMATING TO IMPROVE FOOD SAFETY

Although we have been looking at what influences the cost of automation in the food industry, let us look at this from another point of view and ask how much it will cost if manufacturers do not.

Manual handling of products can in itself create risks from contamination, loss of concentration and mistakes can be made. With even the best standard operating instructions in place, there is always the possibility that hair, nails or other materials can end up in the product. Therefore, it not only potentially creates a health risk to the end consumer but also damages the manufacturer’s brand quality and reputation, causing an expensive product recall process.

SO DOES THIS MEAN AUTOMATION IS TOO EXPENSIVE FOR THE FOOD INDUSTRY?

The answer is no, and the good news is that there are plenty of food processing companies within the UK embracing automation. The key here is for the food industry leaders to look at adopting new technologies and use them where they are required. This may involve developing new processes to suit exactly what they require. Working closely with automation companies and packaging experts can simplify the end solution.

The initial outlay does not have to be expensive, and the end result will give the ability to automate a process that would otherwise have to be done manually and, in some cases, unsafely. As another example, technology is advancing faster than ever before. AI (Artificial intelligence) is now providing machine builders with the ability to use clever algorithms to ensure data taken from ingredients and other processes, such as cooking times, are used to then optimise cutting, forming and other processes.

Over the last four decades, SP Technology has been developing bespoke automated solutions not only for the food industry but also for medical device, pharmaceutical, automotive and bio-med, to name but a few.

The reason for our long-term success is partially down to not accepting the status quo and collaborating with many technology partners to ensure the latest technology is used to solve problems without creating complexity. Regardless of the investment in automation, we encourage food producers looking at automating in the food industry to embrace the benefits of automation and automated systems in the 20th century and get in touch with any queries.

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Read more about our automation here…

• Benefits of Automation
• The Benefits of Machine Vision Technology
• Robots & Cobots – What is the Difference?
• Robotic Automation
• What is a URS? Why is it Important?
• Cost of Industrial Automation
• Advantages & Disadvantages of Robotic Automation

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