Robotics, AI and the fashion forward for food: ‘The COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis that robots were built to handle’
The COVID-19 pandemic has positioned a stress on food producers throughout the provision chain. From growers, to manufacturers and caterers, companies own been confronted with the want to place into effect social distancing measures and own confronted workforce shortages as employees fall sick or self-isolate. In some sectors, critically meat packing and sections of the agricultural sector, outbreaks linked to manufacturing facilities own compelled shutdowns.
In an switch that has long-been wedded to handbook, labour intensive processes, the challenges of COVID own opened doorways for automation and developed robotics.
“Manual practices own long been a bottleneck to effectivity and precision in decision-making throughout the food supply chain. However the restrictions COVID-19 has positioned on switch operations own – by necessity – opened minds round what automation can lift to the desk, and the device in which it’s going to liberate time to focal point on what if reality be told matters,” Thomas Slaugh, enterprise solutions switch building at Proagrica, told FoodNavigator.
Vipin Jain, co-founder and CEO of food tech originate-up and robotics developer Blendid, agreed. “The COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis that robots were built to serve take care of.”
Advances in robotic expertise
Some manufacturing functions own long been closely automated. Handling and packaging automation, as an illustration, can now be considered in nearly every predominant and medium sized manufacturing plant.
“The improvements in ‘tantalizing’ mostly with some fashion of vacuum aid has streamlined the expertise. We inspect it in packaging processes and it’s miles coming up hastily into smaller and mid-sized companies,” Miguel Lutz, territory sales supervisor at Unifiller Systems, famed.
Technological advances own moreover expanded the horizon of what robotics can carry out in a fashion of functions, making it doable to automate intricate duties that when required human operatives, Lutz persevered.
“Collaborative or secondary processing operations are initiating to evaluate robotics and automation, the save a explicit automated route of helps red meat up effectivity, standardizes processes, and reduces the amount of smash. These could maybe moreover be cutting, counting, mixing or such and so that they are in overall processes wherein you red meat up some fragment of your manufacturing route of.
“Sooner than, we seen gargantuan stationary machines; now with automation and robotics, we inspect puny, modular machines that impact explicit processes. This provides versatility as companies can focal point on one hassle point and use expertise to therapy an challenge.”
Per Jake Norman, head of sales & innovation at machine seller OAL, the impact of COVID components manufacturers are now whether automation could maybe moreover be utilized to almost ‘any predominant dispute’ that modified into beforehand counting on human operators.
“Any predominant dispute the save manufacturers are reliant on operators by myself to full a role is up for evaluate as manufacturers own had to take care of decreased headcount both by absences or social distancing to defend these on-web web site throughout the pandemic,” he told us.
“Robotic and automated solutions for the packaging line are in fashion nonetheless it’s operations upstream that provide the ideal different for both financial savings, safety and elevated productiveness.”
Robotics: A hero for hospitality?
No sector has been more troublesome hit by the coronavirus crisis and subsequent nationwide lockdowns than hospitality. Blendid’s Jain sees different for food service operators to embrace automation in a device that, he believes, can reassure patrons that what they are shopping is stable while moreover cutting charges.
“The food service switch has been fighting rising labour charges, availability of labour for 24×7 food service and lowering margins for years. Shoppers are insecure to consult with food facilities because of safety points constructing a downward spiral for demand and income, while operator charges are going up because of COVID processes predominant for safety of customers and employees. It’s unsustainable for food service operators,” he seen.
“Fortunately there are expertise solutions that can serve the food service switch throughout these sophisticated events and for the long mosey. They are going to efficiently, safely, and reliably assemble, cook, and serve food to patrons – therefore helping food operators continue to exist and thrive with worthy-wanted profit margins. Namely the advances in robotics precision and charges, coupled with tool advances in AI are riding innovation, lowering working charges and lengthening margins in the historically low-margin food service sector.”
Blendid has developed contactless robotic smoothie kiosks that own for the time being been deployed throughout four Walmart locations in the US.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has elevated the predominant focal point on food safety globally. At Blendid, we’re working with many predominant businesses to serve integrate an answer for stable, contactless food preparation and provide,” Jain famed.
Financial savings, safety and productiveness
Beyond the sizzling cases below COVID, the experts instruct that investing in robotics and automation provides food makers the different to invent stable food, in a price-atmosphere friendly device.
This signifies that food companies who put money into automation are well-positioned to take care of challenges starting from safety and the rising price of labour to points round Brexit in the UK. “Robotics and automation enable food manufacturers to stride a ways from over-reliance on labour, which has been a key characteristic of this switch,” OAL’s Norman on the spot.
“One other key challenge that is going by manufacturers throughout the arena is that of productiveness. In the UK by myself, productiveness has stagnated for the reason that financial crash of 2008, with output per hour and right wages now no higher than then, and the challenge has ideal been exacerbated by COVID-19. The food and beverage switch need to originate to impact one thing a fashion of to overcome this stride. Robotics and automation enable manufacturers to impact the same duties as other folks for the time being carry out worthy more accurately and hastily – with out a need for breaks or holidays, and never a ‘unsuitable day’ – making sure that outputs develop.”
Rounding up the advantages of automation, Lutz, Unifiller’s sales supervisor, moreover highlights elevated productiveness. Cost befriend an eye on, quality, decreased downtime, accuracy and smash slice value can all be supported.
Proving provenance
One other merit to automated processes is that they allow food makers to value provenance with a recorded chain of custody. This feeds into yet another client trend accelerated by the pandemic and associated to food safety – traceability.
“The pandemic has made us more aware of the food we put into our bodies. Where food comes from, how it modified into made, how stable it’s miles and the device in which ethically or sustainably it modified into produced are questions rising up the consumer agenda. Which capability that, patrons are tense more recordsdata from grocers who in flip will originate to stride the stress on to their suppliers,” Proagrica’s Slaugh predicted.
“This matters on story of supply chain stakeholders reliant on handbook or inoperable processes could maybe not be in a feature to value provenance and provide traceability in the tempo or detail required and expected. Which capability that, automation turns into a worthy more elegant option – it does the heavy lifting while releasing the grower or producer up to focal point on the switch of increasing.
“Fortunately, there are, if you will, oven-prepared tools that can step in. As an instance, platforms like Frosty Farm Instrument [developed by Cool Farm Alliance] serve growers better value their environmental impacts. Innovative technologies that harness the energy of AI and machine discovering out can get hang of recordsdata that could maybe moreover be became into customer-centered, actionable insight that advantages everybody from seed to fork.”While he conceded there are challenges to overcome – namely round sharing third occasion recordsdata – Slaugh is optimistic regarding the fashion forward for food and ag tech.
“If one thing, this 300 and sixty five days has shown we can pivot and innovate at remarkable tempo. I have faith about we’ll inspect the ag supply chain proceed to attract gigantic strides against adoption of automation this 300 and sixty five days – not ideal on story of they need to switch to withhold tempo with shifting client calls for, but on story of, in the pause, they’ve grown to love it too.”