FEATURE INDUSTRY 4.0/IIOT/ROBOTICS RELY ON ROBOTS FOR CONSISTENCY, PRODUCTIVITY AND FLEXIBILITY
Nigel Platt, lead business manager, UK and Ireland for ABB’s Robotics and Discrete Automation business, looks at the headaches faced by the UK’s food & beverage companies and explains how they can be solved by the latest robotic automation technology
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n today’s demanding and highly competitive climate, the UK’s food and
beverage industry is quite literally a hungry machine that requires those within it to be on top of their game. Food producers must be able to make and supply products that the market wants and be prepared to respond to rapid changes in consumer demand, including product deliveries to the doorstep. The food and beverage industry is the
largest manufacturing sector in the UK. A high staff turnover coupled with issues such as product quality, flexibility of production lines and financial strain, plus the pressures caused by Covid-19, are all putting added strain on the industry. For UK companies, particularly SMEs, the
challenge is to deliver high quality, short shelf life products quickly, efficiently and safely. With the large supermarket chains aiming to offer the highest quality of produce on their shelves at the best possible prices, the onus is on suppliers to stay one step ahead. Given these pressures, it is not surprising
to see an increased interest in robotic automation in the food sector. A recent report from the British Automation and Robotics Association (BARA) based on the findings of its regular quarterly survey has revealed that the food and beverage industry accounted for 29 per cent of all industrial robot sales in the UK during the period April to June 2020, making it the largest adopter of robots since the start of lockdown in March 2020. For food and beverage manufacturers
interested in making their own switch to robots, the following are just some of the benefits that robots can bring. Consistent product quality – Robots
present an ideal way of solving consistency issues throughout production lines. Major developments in vision inspection technology, for example, are enabling robots to quickly spot defective products that do not conform to a given specification. The robot can either miss the faulty products or halt the line until these products are removed. If a robot is used with a batch control system, it may also have a barcode scanner that can recognise a faulty set of products.
10 SEPTEMBER 2020 | PROCESS & CONTROL
An ABB FlexPicker installed at South Korea’s Lotte Confectionery
Changing consumer demands, tight delivery deadlines and shrinking margins, are just some of the challenges facing today’s food & beverage producers. Yet, robots are helping manufacturers achieve new breakthroughs in competitiveness and productivity through safe, hygienic and speedy automation
The risk of contamination in upstream
processes where raw ingredients are handled and in mid-stream applications like stacking can also be reduced using robotic technology. The hygienic design of ABB’s FlexPicker IRB 360 for example, enables it to be washed down between processes, helping to ensure that contamination is eliminated. Increased reliability and flexibility –
Once the robot is fully programmed, it can be left to handle a process with no risk of issues arising from unexpected alterations. A robot’s ability to switch between multiple production or packaging processes with minimal downtime required for set-up provides suppliers with the flexibility needed to complete orders in the shortest time. This enables different object types and shapes to be handled on a single line. For packing operations, for example, the
ability of a single robot to store many programs allows it to handle a variety of
mixed pallet specifications. ABB’s FlexPicker can pick and pack products at a high speed, improving process efficiency. This means that even if ingredients are delivered late, the manufacturer still has a good chance of meeting the order deadline compared to a manual picking and packing line. With today’s robots offering high Mean
Time between Failure (MTBF) rates, reliability is also enhanced. A well- maintained and operated robot is unlikely to suffer a catastrophic failure. Furthermore, developments in technology such as remote service mean that manufacturers with a remote service agreement can have their robot monitored remotely to spot any potential problems in advance. A strong investment – Developments
in offline programming, using software like ABB’s RobotStudio suite, means it is now possible to run a robot in a virtual process before committing it to the actual factory floor. By enabling a robot or robot system to be tried and tested in an offline environment, such software can help to eliminate the time and cost of designing and commissioning a physical installation. Robots can help reduce operational overheads by eliminating the costs associated with drafting in extra staff and other resources to handle orders. Also, because robots are less likely to make mistakes or break things, companies can realise reduced costs through decreased wastage and reprocessing of products. The continual advances in robotic
automation technology, coupled with a fall in the cost of robotic equipment, mean there is likely to be an ongoing increase in take-up of robots in food and beverage production and packaging processes.
ABB E:
robotics@gb.abb.com
/ PROCESS&CONTROL
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