ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION
to the fore Bob Grote
AUTOMATED SOLUTIONS At the close of 2021, and in looking ahead to 2022, CEO of food slicing and assembly equipment company, Grote Company - Bob Grote - identified supply chain struggles, inflation, labour shortages and associated production issues, automation and shifts in consumer behaviour as being the five main forces now at play, and which need keeping an eye on. “As manufacturers struggle to find labour, automation is coming to the forefront as a solution to help address this challenge,” says Bob Grote. “The lack of available labour is going to push automation as a solution. Processors need to follow the dollar, and if automation can enable more output, it should be a priority. “Of course, there’s been talk of more automation for years – Europe is ahead of the U.S. here – but the perfect storm formed by the labour shortage, inflation and supply chain issues is bringing this to the top of the list for many in the food processing industry. “Investing in food contact robotics has come of age. While the market recognised the opportunity years ago, the food processing industry wasn’t ready. The past 18 months helped prepare more processors for this change. Now that they can’t find the people to stock their line, automation can be one solution to help.
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As a result, processors may find the need to buy automation solutions sooner than they’d planned. “Processors are among the last in the food industry to embrace automation. On both ends, the technology has been adopted. Farmers, for example, have been using it for years. The use of automation satellites enables them to farm 50 times the acreage with fewer labourers. Of course, on the other end, delivery services are leveraging it as much as possible. It’s in the middle – the processors – who have yet to adopt these solutions. My prediction is we’ll see that change. “Keep in mind, automation doesn’t result in layoffs, as it won’t be replacing anyone. It will simply be there to help fill in the gaps where human labour isn’t available. Using robotics can also mean more sanitary conditions. “Then there are the jobs people don’t want to do. For example, standing on a sandwich manufacturing line means working in a cold, damp environment. Demand isn’t going away, but workers aren’t as keen to sign up for these jobs any longer. Automation can be the answer. There’s no risk of Covid, and none of the other issues processors face with a human workforce.” MINIMISING SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTION In minimising supply chain disruption, Domino Printing Sciences – a developer and manufacturer of coding, marking, and printing technologies - feel that automation can help manage worker shortages and variation in demand. “The Covid 19 pandemic has been hugely disruptive to global business operations over the last 18 months. The lockdowns of 2020 forced many organisations to abandon traditional processes and embrace new technologies in order to remain operational. Fast forward to today and labour shortages,
Presented with an increasing number of predictable and unpredictable, but combining, set of challenges, the food processing and manufacturing sector should now be embracing automation all the more, argue the sector’s innovators.
rising transport costs, and ongoing travel restrictions have caused serious disruptions to global supply chains,” says Andy Barrett of Domino Printing Sciences. “The good news for manufacturers, is that many of the same technologies which lent a hand during the early stages of Covid 19 can also help to mitigate the risk of supply chain disruption. In addition, these technologies are now more costeffective and accessible than ever before allowing more industries to unlock greater operational efficiency, embrace fluctuations in production demand, and mitigate supply chain risks.” Andy Barrett
DISRUPTED SUPPLY CHAINS AND DEMAND Today’s news headlines are dominated by supply chain disruption. There are widespread worker shortages across the supply chain in everything from agricultural roles to production environments, and transport and logistics. “Worker shortages are in part due to continued self-isolation and sickness, as well as reduced capability to travel across borders leading to demand for local worker reskilling,” explains Andy Barrett. “In addition, many industries have experienced higher staff turnover rates over the last 18 months, as the disruption caused by the pandemic has
