HIGH-SPEED PRODUCTION
Right GETTING
THE BALANCE
While today’s smarter production lines are able to operate at higher speeds and can offer greater flexibility, confectionery manufacturers need to ensure that they are able to achieve this without affecting the integrity of delicate products. Suzanne Callander reports.
T
oday, confectionery manufacturers need to balance the challenges associated with meeting rising demands, tighter margins,
increasing product variety and growing expectations around quality and food safety. In response, many are looking at solutions that can help them achieve higher production speeds. However, the relationship between speed and productivity has changed significantly in recent years, with advances in automation, digitalisation and connected manufacturing technologies helping confectionery producers achieve higher throughputs while maintaining greater control of their processes. At the same time, developments in
robotics, machine vision, product inspection and data analytics are enabling production equipment to operate more efficiently and with greater precision. However, as confectionery manufacturers
continue to pursue higher-speed, more flexible production, the real challenge is no longer speed alone – it is eliminating inefficiency while protecting product integrity and doing so quickly and precisely. A Schneider Electric global survey of Food and Beverage decision makers in
20 • KENNEDY’S CONFECTION • JUNE 2026
April 2026 found that manufacturing delays and equipment downtime already account for over 20% of final product cost, creating a significant drag on both margins and sustainability. With these losses expected to rise further, the focus needs to shift from pure throughput to precision, synchronisation and intelligent control. Because confectionery products are
inherently sensitive to handling conditions – from mechanical stress and timing to environmental factors such as temperature and humidity – maintaining the right production conditions requires not just machine-level control, but the integration of facility systems and production processes within a unified digital environment. “At higher line speeds, even small inconsistencies can lead to deformation, breakage or waste,” warned Neil Smith, CPG President at Schneider Electric. “The solution lies in moving beyond traditional automation towards fully digitalised, data- driven and AI-enabled operations that can adapt in real time.” Neil offered a powerful example – AI- augmented vision systems, which can detect even subtle product defects with high accuracy in real time, and at full line speed. “Through closed-loop feedback, these
Production throughput is still often governed by the physical process parameters (image courtesy OKA).
systems are able to automatically adjust the upstream processes such as handling and speed to reduce defect rates before they escalate. Crucially, this is not just about detecting issues. It is about continuously learning from production data and feeding insights back into the process.” By connecting automation, electrification and true industrial intelligence within a single architecture, confectionery manufacturers can achieve end-to-end visibility and control across their production lines, which allows processes to be dynamically synchronised, ensuring that every stage – from forming to packaging – operates in harmony, preventing product collisions and minimising handling risk.
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