FEATURE u Warehousing & Materials Handling
Why warehouse automation is the future of food safety
By Thomas Swovick, Global Market Development Manager – Food & Beverage, Dematic
often overlooked issue in the modern world. Globalisation is on the rise affecting every sector of industry, with food manufacturing and distribution being no exception. In 2019, food made up 10% of all imports to Ireland, a significant proportion being perishable items such as fresh fruit and vegetables. Imported food is typically stored for prolonged periods of time making it difficult to ensure the appropriate food hygiene standards are upheld. In addition, the coronavirus pandemic inspired a huge uptick in food shopping online, a trend that looks set to continue. Irish food shoppers spent an additional €25.5 million through digital platforms, with most of the major Irish retailers now offering online delivery in some form.
W As the online and import markets continue
to grow, so will the challenges associated with ensuring food remains fit for consumption. Automation solutions can provide retailers with tools and methods necessary to prioritise food hygiene standards. Automation eases the logistics process from the moment an order is placed to the point of delivery. For example, automation solutions can protect produce from the potential contamination of human contact while seamlessly adjusting temperature to maintain freshness.
WORKFORCE CHALLENGES With the pandemic came a whole set of new concerns about the role of manual labour in food production. First, self-isolation led to a shortage of workers and prompted a recruitment spree of short-term grocery workers to fill the logistics gaps. There were initial concerns about contaminating food products with the virus. Even now, as we know much more about the virus spreads and with vaccines available, preventing infections within food warehouse teams remains a challenge. Automation by design helps keep food
safe by separating products from people and potential contamination. Automation solutions reduce the total number of people with direct access to food and beverage products, which can significantly improve product reliability. Even in the event of a breach of food safety,
having an automated warehouse makes the process of quarantining or recalling affected
22 July/August 2021 Irish Manufacturing
products considerably easier. Automated systems include up-to-the-minute track-and- trace functionality. This key feature can easily facilitate any recalls that may be required, right down to the end customer.
SOFTWARE BENEFITS Software is widely seen as the future of the food and beverage industry and that’s certainly true when it comes to food safety. Sophisticated warehouse management systems, such as those provided by Dematic, can bring the entire intralogistics supply chain – fulfilment, operations, maintenance and analytics – into one comprehensive ecosystem, guaranteeing adherence to food safety best practices. For example, systems can be programmed
to prevent products with the potential to contaminate each other from being stored in close proximity, preventing food products like fresh meat and vegetables that secrete liquids containing harmful bacteria from being stored in the same container. This way food manufacturers don’t have to worry about human error causing an entire container of products becoming contaminated and putting human health at risk. Temperature control, integral to the maintenance of food hygiene standards, is another factor that can be more efficiently
regulated with automation. For instance, automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RSs) with ‘active chill and freeze’ capabilities blow cold air on individually stored products to chill them quickly. Dematic has developed a high-performance, automated case storage, a picking and despatch processing solution especially for chilled and frozen goods. It is based on its highly successful multishuttle AS/RS that has been deployed by food processors, distributors and retailers in refrigerated environments worldwide, and which provides an extensive range of advantages over manual distribution and despatch.
When it comes to food hygiene standards,
the only way to ensure active progress is to create a culture where people inherently make safer choices. COVID-19 has taught us about hygiene safety from a very personal perspective. We need to apply those same lessons to the food production process. In the end, trust is everything and for food and beverage manufacturers embracing the power of automation will make it easier to maintain safer food handling practices on every level. This will play a critical role in earning the trust of customers and maintaining their loyalty.
Dematic
www.dematic.com
www.irish-manufacturing.com
ith 600 million cases of foodborne diseases annually, food safety remains a critical yet
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