Robot-Led Automation in Food Industry
Robot-led automation in the food industry has the potential to alter today’s work as dramatically as the machines of the economic Revolution modified the factory floor. Core skills associated with business —process data, technology integration, and insightful analytics — could be delivered through a leveraged model at a lower price.
The demand for food robotics is increasing considerably due to increasing demand for food with increasing demand for increased productivity in food process and increasing population. Moreover, increasing investments in automation within the food business is projected to produce growth opportunities for the food robotic market.
In November 2019, 𝗠𝗶𝘁𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶 (𝗝𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗻) has enhanced its MELFA articulated arms and its SCARA golem product to a series of triangular robots, which will further assist the company to expand its robotic portfolio.
The global food robotics market size is expected to be valued at 𝗨𝗦𝗗 𝟮.𝟮 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗨𝗦𝗗 𝟲.𝟵 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟴, recording a CAGR of 13.7% throughout the forecast period of 2021-2028.
Due to the high population within the region and dynamic lifestyles, the demand for RTE foods is growing. The automation in the production and process of RTE foods within the Asia Pacific region is projected to produce growth opportunities for the food robotic market
The use of robots can help control cross-contamination in food processing plants. With any human labour force comes the risk of cross-contamination. Workers assigned to packaging foods can easily transport pathogens from product to product or from one area of the facility to another.
The challenge in integrating robotics into the food industry stems from the fact that the raw materials coming into the pipeline may not have standard dimensions that can be programmed into a robot. For example, a robot designed to attach a car door can be easily programmed to take into account the dimensions of a car door because those dimensions remain constant for a particular car type. However, a robot designed to peel an apple is more challenging to program because no two apples have the same dimensions.
The benefits of using robots in food processing are attractive, however. Robots can achieve consistent results more quickly than human employees can. Health and safety issues are also less of a problem with robots that can be designed to handle extreme conditions such as high temperatures. Especially in repetitive processes like cake decorating or chicken deboning, robots can help lower the cost of production by producing higher yields with no need for training or breaks.
The challenges faced by the different sectors of the food industry depend largely on the raw materials in each sector and whether products need to be delivered continuously or in batches of shipments. Giving robots the ability to assess each individual raw material before treatment may be key in primary processes, whereas training human employees to work alongside robots may be a bigger issue in secondary processes. As a whole, the food industry needs to confront not only where robots could be a beneficial investment but also how to transition its human employees out of the roles robots are taking over.
