UK food manufacturers need more automation

Citation

(2006), "UK food manufacturers need more automation", Industrial Robot, Vol. 33 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2006.04933fab.003

UK food manufacturers need more automation

UK food manufacturers need more automation

Keywords: Robotics, Food industry

Market pressures on UK food manufacturers will force them to adapt more automation and robotics in handling and packaging during the next five years, reports a survey.

The UK's food manufacturing industry is failing to exploit the potential of automation and robotics handling to achieve cost reductions and production efficiencies, according to the conclusions of a major survey. Most of the senior engineering personnel in UK food companies interviewed for the “Appetite for Automation” survey believe that market pressures will prompt the industry to turn more to automation within the next five years or so (Plate 1). The survey's conclusions indicate that many manufacturers would benefit from greater knowledge of the potential applications and wider commercial benefits of automation.

Plate 1 “Will more food lines look like this in the future?”

“There are clearly some real opportunities for those companies with vision to get ahead and steal competitive advantage” said David Bradford, managing director of RTS Flexible Systems, which sponsored the survey.

“The onus is on suppliers like ourselves to work with the industry to raise awareness of the potential and versatility of automation.”

A key outcome of the survey has been the suggestion that the industry could benefit by developing new methodologies for justifying return on investment in automation projects to take account of their full commercial impact. “Appetite for Automation” was conducted in association with The British Automation and Robotics Association, Food Processing Faraday Partnership and the North West Food Alliance.

It aims to stimulate a debate about the prizes and pitfalls resulting from food manufacturers' attitudes to automation.

The results of the survey were published at a specially-arranged presentation followed by a Round Table discussion with representatives from the survey partners, hosted by RTS in Manchester.

“A key conclusion of the Round Table discussion was that many food manufacturers could leverage greater profitability if they developed ROI criteria or methodologies which took account of wider impact of automation on production efficiencies and quality” said Bradford.

The survey set out to explore why – despite being the UK's largest manufacturing sector – the UK food industry invests comparatively little in automation compared to its counterparts in other industries.

More than 400 senior industry engineers and decision makers were invited to participate in “in-depth” qualitative interviews.

Those interviewed came from manufacturers representing both “household names” as well as independent producers.

They gave their opinions on a strictly non-attributable basis.

Justifying the cost of an investment in automation was not always a “good fit” with the company's standard return on investment expectations, according to some of those interviewed.

Automation systems would go ahead providing the company's financial and senior management could see a straightforward pay-back, most commonly within two and three years.

“We believe a key issue for the industry in the future is for companies to widen their horizons in justifying spend on automation, by considering its wider impact on profitability. Rather than calculating on straight labour replacement, a well-planned and specified automation project is likely to demonstrate other benefits, for example, increased throughput, reduced waste or improved yield on raw materials.” The survey also revealed a strong feeling that short-term contracts and cost-squeezing from retailers were a disincentive to investment.

Nearly, everyone agreed that more long-term relationships between retailers and their suppliers would trigger more investment in automation.

However, a few companies said they were in talks with retailers about longer- term partnerships.

People felt strongly that “stop-start” contract relationships with retailers were holding companies back from investing in automation.

The suggestion was – in essence – that the supermarkets were putting up barriers to reducing their own costs.

“There may be a way forward for those retailers with vision to develop longer-term relationships based on investment in automation. Suppliers like ourselves can have a positive impact in helping retailers to access the technology and potential benefits.” There was a widespread perception of a shortage of professional engineers with established food industry knowledge and experience in automation technology.

While engineers could be recruited from other industries, particularly automotive, training and development of good quality engineers is seen as a key driver for future investment.

The survey also showed that respondents believed that cost reduction was a key driver for investment in automation particularly saving on labour costs.

When prompted, respondents were able to recognise the potential of automation to increase capacity, improve hygiene and protect personnel health and safety.

“The good news was that there were no absolute barriers to automation.

Our conclusion was that many barriers identified can be overcome with greater knowledge of the opportunities that robotic and automated technologies now afford” said Bradford.

“There are some applications which will never be suitable for automation, but with developing technology and reduced equipment costs, the versatility and flexibility of robotics is increasing all the time. For those with the foresight and perhaps a little entrepreneurial sprit – automation affords some immediate opportunities to win commercial and competitive advantage.”