P R O C E S S www.foodtechnology.co.nz 29 AUTOMATION TYING SPOKES TOGETHER By Jack Uhl There are more than 20,000 food manufacturers in the United States ranging from Kraft and Heinz to mom-and-pop operations. Regardless of a company’s size, preventing food contamination, maintaining cleanliness, increasing production and protecting workers is paramount. Because of the structure of the modern food processing and distribution network, one incident of contamination can lead to a widespread incident. Minimising or preventing accidents from spoiled product or cross-contamination become far easier with a robot on the team to keep safety front and centre, in spite of the circumstances. If you think of the food industry as a wheel, safety is the hub and its spokes are production, cleanliness and labour. The rim tying these spokes together ought to be automation because it can directly improve each one. Here’s how: Boosting Production - Regardless of size, today’s economy poses challenges and opportunities for food makers. For example, with beverage production, facilities are now using rotary fillers for soft drinks, wine, milk and water that guide containers single file into large turrets with more than 100 valves filling bottles in a continuous format. As the equipment gets faster, companies produce more product per shift, and that translates into profit. The reality of going even slightly faster can mean damaged or miscounted product. By introducing a robot into the production process, a plant can increase the rate of, say, palletising or packaging without sacrificing product integrity. Preventing Contamination - Another impetus for automation is eliminating contamination in plants. The FDA estimates that there are as many as 48 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States, which costs the economy billions of dollars. With human workers in the line, there is a risk of contaminating food through unclean hands, a lapse in inspection or failure to monitor temperature. With a robot workcell in the production line, ensuring a sterile environment becomes easier, repeatable and recordable. Controlling Labour Costs - The third spoke in the food industry wheel is labour, specifically controlling its cost. In manufacturing, workers are often tasked with carrying out repetitive motions. Repeatedly bending over or twisting one’s back can increase the risk of injuries and lead to lost time, retraining and insurance claims. Recruiting and keeping workers racks up costs too. This isn’t to say that any facility should be on a mission to replace its human workforce. Rather, automation brings robots in to fill the gaps that stem from recruiting challenges, repetitive or dangerous work or increasing the rate of work. Jack Uhl is sales manager for CPG Yaskawa America. NORD Drivesystems (AU) Pty Ltd 18 Stoney Way, Derrimut , Victoria 3030 Australia Phone: +61 3 9394 0500 Fax: +61 3 9394 1525 www.nord.com.au National Customer Service 1300 00 NORD (6673) au-sales@nord.com Member of the NORD DRIVESYSTEMS Group NORD DRIVESYSTEMS offering smooth surface and corrosion protected drive solutions for the food and beverage industry. Sealed Surface Conversion System nsd tupH from NORD DRIVESYSTEMS is the perfect solution for severe duty applications and for extreme conditions. NZ Food Techn_210x140.indd 1 29.05.17 11:10 FT386
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