From automate to collaborate
What does the future hold for food and beverage packaging machinery? By Andy Knaggs, Freelance journalist and copywriter
“Automation is becoming more and more critical,” says Dunn. “Our customers, at quote stage, are asking for so much more from our machines. Instead of two or three machines doing specific jobs, they want one machine that does the lot, perhaps with some robotics. With social distancing, they want fewer and fewer people running the line. We are a bespoke builder, and we will set it up to meet those needs.” Lewis Robinson, System Sales Manager at Audion Elektro, which sells automatic shrink, tray sealing and band sealing systems into food and other sectors, is also seeing this acceleration in interest in automation, although it is, to a degree, dependent upon the size and nature of the packaging producer’s business. He told Packaging in Focus: “With bigger companies, the first thing they say is that they are looking to automate. We are taking a lot more calls from companies saying they are looking to remove humans from the production process. Companies are at different stages though, and it’s key to understand where they are in their journey.”
FLEXIBLE APPROACHES
N
either automation nor robotics are new to the packaging machinery sector, but they are becoming increasingly commonplace. Recent events such as COVID-19 have given added impetus to their market penetration, writes Andy Knaggs. In the normal order of things, packaging manufacturers would always be on the lookout for ways to operate their production lines faster, more efficiently and more cost effectively. Many of them would view automation of aspects of production to be an attractive prospect, and many have already taken steps in that direction.
COVID-19’s impact globally can scarcely be overstated, but for food and beverage producers it has made 2020 a very interesting year. There has not been a lessening in demand for food, but with evolving consumer habits during lockdown, the pandemic has compelled food and beverage producers to find new, flexible approaches to product offerings. In turn, this is feeding into the requirement for automated machines that, as Graeme Dunn mentioned, are versatile enough to switch between different product formats. “It’s very important for the machines to be adaptable,” continues Lewis Robinson. “Customers are saying, this is what I need it for now, but can it also do this?”
Times of late have been anything but normal though, and the twin enforcers of Brexit and COVID-19 have further stimulated those impulses that lead inexorably to automation. Packagers in the food & beverage sectors have responded in kind, according to Graeme Dunn, Managing Director of Mount Packaging, which supplies a range of tailored packaging and liquid filling machines as well as robotics to the industry. www.packagingbirmingham.com
31.
