MechChem Africa November-December 2020

Factory Automation: a new normal in food manufacturing Food and beverage companies can now set a post COVID-19-course using automation to boost competitiveness and productivity. Omron Solution Partners Daniela Moles, from LCS Group and Alberto Giordani from Alfacod, explain. T he corona pandemic has posed im- mensechallenges tocompaniesof all sizes across all industries. According to Deloitte Global, food and bever-

age (F&B) companies are facing significantly reduced consumption as well as disrupted supply chains. But how can manufacturers adapt their business strategies andproductionprocesses, factories and machinery to the new circum- stances – both in terms of the pandemic and in the longer term? The current crisis offers a chance to rethink outdated procedures and to use automation to boost productivity, efficiency and quality. F&B companies that want to prepare for the future should be ap- praising the opportunities and possibilities that innovative robotics, sensor technology and holistic automation approaches provide. This project should consider four key market drivers and perspectives: workforce, product

Companies in the food industry need to look out for smart and connected systems, combining robotics, cobots, vision and sensor technology as well as strong data collection and analytical capabilities.

and packaging quality, production flexibility and sustainability. Automation in this context does not only mean robotics or artificial intelligence, but a well-thought-out overall structure of fixed, collaborative andmobile robotics; monitor- ing and control technology; sensors; and vision technology tailored to the respective production require- ments. The various stakeholders and market drivers should not be considered in isolation, but as a whole and integrated into the future production strategy. Collaboration and factory harmony There are millions of people employed in F&B sectors. This has an enormous impact on producers in terms of costs, but also primarily in terms of thehealthandsafetyofhuman resources. The pandemic has led to developments such as social distancing and tighter safety regulations. Automation can help in overcoming this chal- lenge while also improving se- curity and efficiency in the longer term. An example is a cobot or mobile robot solution that can relieve employees from challenging and repetitive tasks so they can focus on more value-added and fulfilling roles. Daniela Moles explains it as follows:

“We carried out a project where we imple- mented a fully automatic system for the han- dling of heavy rolls of fabric that weigh up to 30 kg. These rolls were previously handled by humans. Automating this exhausting task meant the company could support its employees while also boosting efficiency and productivity.” The value of automation is in the mix of humans plus machines, robots and artificial intelligence. Collaboration is key. “While robots show their advantages when it comes to speed and accuracy, human colleagues can take careof business-critical issues, customer communication and daily individual tasks. Regarding the important aspect of return on investment, companies should increasingly focus on releasing human labour to do value- added tasks, which is absolutely crucial for producers going forward. Collaborative and mobile robots working alongside their human colleagues assisting in liftingor transportinggoods,material andalso fulfilling tasks employees can’t do because of distance or safety rules. Product quality and traceability Product and production quality, as well as traceability, are further aspects that are increasingly important for manufacturers and customers alike. Barcode quality is one example. Regulations from international organisations such as ISO or GS1 are widely adopted, but in addition theremay be further project specific specifications driven by sup - pliers and customers. This leads to a need for reliable systems

The current crisis offers a chance to rethink outdated

procedures and to use automation to boost productivity, efficiency and quality.

24 ¦ MechChem Africa • November-December 2020