Can automation address food & beverage challenges?

Automation can help food and beverage processors overcome challenges such as inflation, skilled labour shortages and quality control.

Automation has made an appearance in various areas of our economy, including food processing. Despite its appearance, the food and beverage industry has been slower to embrace automation and robotics to address processing challenges compared to other industries.

Research indicates that the food and beverage industry’s investment in automation lags behind other sectors like logistics, automotive, health care and pharmaceuticals over the past five years. Many organisations grapple with external factors such as inflation, skilled worker shortages and supply chain disruptions, as well as internal challenges like balancing quality and growth, worker retention, data utilisation and technology integration.

Automation and robotics are valuable tools to overcome both external and internal challenges. Factors like inflation, skilled labour shortages, sustainability demands and the quest for improved quality and output only further the need for increased automation in food processing. Inflation has led to rising input costs, including labour, materials and energy.

The latest Skills Priority List (SPL) released by Jobs and Skills Australia shows that 36% of occupations assessed are in shortage. The report also showed that 100% of occupations in the category “food trades workers” were in shortage in 2023.

Consumer preferences for sustainably sourced products and regulatory encouragement for more sustainable practices in food manufacturing add to the impetus for automation. Reports show a significant increase in consumers considering sustainability in their purchasing decisions, with a majority attributing the responsibility to food manufacturers.

While external challenges persist, internal priorities such as quality improvement and profitable growth are crucial for success in the industry. Automation and robotics are recognised for their potential to enhance production by increasing productivity, improving quality and reducing costs. Process automation, in particular, has shown the most significant return on investment among technology investments in the past year.

Food manufacturers failing to adapt to these challenges risk falling behind competitors leveraging automation and robotics. These technologies not only enhance efficiency and reduce errors but also address tight margins, labour shortages and regulatory compliance, and provide greater operational control.

Glen Jacob says food and beverage manufacturers that don’t adapt to overcome challenges risk falling behind competitors that are already leveraging automation and robotics.

Making the most of automation and robotics

Optimising automation and robotics implementation requires careful management and monitoring. Connecting the software across enterprise systems enhances data visibility and analysis, improving insights and information gathering. Essential components include:

• manufacturing execution system (MES) for real-time visibility into bottlenecks and key performance indicators (KPIs)
• quality management system (QMS) for data repository and workflow automation
• supply chain planning (SCP) for automated data collection and production planning.

Successfully incorporating automation and robotics helps alleviate operational pressures in the food processing industry, providing visibility, precision and accuracy. As the industry faces labour challenges, regulatory demands and the need for streamlined processes, automation emerges as a viable solution to enhance operations across the enterprise.

Image credit: iStock.com/DedMityay