ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION: SUSTAINABILITY As a means of reshaping
production processes to become more efficient, reliable and less prone to problems caused by wastage and poor quality, modern robotic automation can deliver major benefits for FMCG companies that often see investment being recouped within just 18 months. The following are some
examples of how introducing robotic automation can help companies to improve their performance in some key areas associated with sustainable performance.
ENERGY Energy represents themost vital resource for everymanufacturing process. Yetwith supply being steadily outstripped by demand, it is no longer a resource that can be taken for granted. The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation’s (UNIDO) recent ‘Industrial Development’ report points to the need for investment in energy efficient technologies at all levels in order for sustainable growth to be achieved. To paraphrase UNIDO Director
General Kandeh Yumkella, industrial energy efficiency is a key issue that needs to be tackled in order to ensure continued growth, employment and mitigation of climate change. The knock-on effect of
“As ameans of reshaping production processes to becomemore efficient,modern robotic automation can delivermajor benefits for FMCG companies”
shrinking supplies is already being felt in rising energy prices in the UK.With energy prices having risen by well over 50 per cent in the last 10 years, energy is now by far themost significant overhead for any company. It is therefore imperative to find ways to use itmore efficiently. With no requirement for
minimumlighting or heating levels, robots offer a great opportunity to cut energy bills. Current estimates point to a potential saving of 8 per cent for every 1°C reduction in heating levels, while savings of up to 20 per cent can be achieved by turning off unnecessary lighting. Aside fromtheir ability to work in unlit and unheated environments, robots also present massive opportunities to help save energy through longer-term productivity improvements, particularly in the area of reduced wastage, as I shall explain now.
WASTAGE Closely linked to the inefficient use of energy iswastage. Every
product that has to be reprocessed requires additional energy, materials and cost tomake
it.Not only that, but there is the additional cost and environmental impact associatedwith disposing of the ruined product and/or any
associatedwaste.As ameans of producing and handling hundreds of products quickly, repetitively and accurately, robotic automation has been proven to virtually eliminate productwastage. As such, reducedwastage can
make amajor contribution to more sustainable production practices by enabling products to be produced correctly first time, optimising the use ofmaterials, and reducing the amount of energywith less capital spent. A real-life example of how
robots can help to cut both wastage and energy costs is RolandMurten AG. The Swiss baking company installed camera-guided robotics to help pack its crisp and brittle pretzels at high speed, reducing the amount of waste and cutting energy consumption by about 12 per cent on itsmain production line. Using six lightweight robots, broken items have been reduced to just 2.3 per cent down from15 per cent and has helped the company achieve significant savings annually on wastage and energy use alone. Output has also increased, with 134 kilogrammes of pretzels being packed every hour.
FLEXIBILITY In their 2009 report on the impact of the recession on the FMCG industry’s sustainability efforts, GS1 UK and Deloitte highlighted product and process innovation as one of the four key action areas that companies needed to address to improve their sustainability performance. In essence, this action point
focused on the need for companies to find new ways to remodel their production processes and find ways to reduce the environmental impact of their product offerings, both during production and after, at the disposal stage. Robotic automation can help in
both these areas. For one, robots offer a very high level of flexibility as they can be programmed to handle a large number of product variations and sizes. With the availability of
simulation and offline programming software suites,
programming the production line in advance can increase overall productivity and enable shorter change-overs between products. The ability to produce a greater range of products without causing considerable downtime can not only increase profitability but enable tasks such as training, programming and optimising plant processes to take place without disturbing production. A real life example of how
flexible robots can be in production is The Charkman Group. The Swedish manufacturer of cooked meat products introduced a flex picker robot to dramatically improve production and hygienic conditions.Working with the Marel Group, the plant introduced a fully automated slicing line that slices and packs high volumes of salami, ham, turkey, rolled pork and other cooked meats. The new system provides a high level of flexibility as it can handle some 26 pack variations and sizes. The labour- saving benefits, easy hygienic and safety aspects of the new system are impressive in their own right, but the proven capabilities of the system ensures products can be quickly and perfectly handled with a high level of precision and consistency.
SO THINK ROBOTICS For FMCGprocesses, robot-based automation offers improved flexibility, productivity and reliability, helpingmanufacturers tomeet ever shorter product life- cycles,multiple product variants and rising energy andmaterial
costs.As demonstrated, the tangible benefits of robotic solutions have become evermore apparent and it iswidely accepted that robotswill be adopted at a much higher rate across the FMCGand CPGindustrieswhere long termsustainability and reputation are paramount. The challenge formanufacturers
nowis to reassess their strategy to identify the opportunities and exploit the sustainable and environmental advantages of integrating robot-based automation into FMCGprocesses. With the potential to completely transformproduction processes and introduce sustainable production, there is no longer a reason to avoid an investment that iswidely proven to also greatly improve your competitiveness.
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