Gearing up with automation
In part two of Ultimate Factories, we look at how automation has been changing the scene on factory floors and examine the drivers behind it.
Automation has seen tremendous growth over the last two decades. Breaking free from the stereotypes of clunky machinery and sci-fi representations, today robots are cleaning our homes and transforming factory floors. Intelligent machines are poised to grow even more with advancements in artificial intelligence.
In manufacturing, the use of technology to automate systems or production processes is growing but what does the future hold? Are fully automated factories becoming commonplace or is automation still in a supporting role? The answer is both yes and no. Yes, there are fully automated factories and lights-out manufacturing is a reality, but large-scale adoption is hampered by complexities and costs, and those aside, humans will always be needed in some part of the process.
So, even though manufacturers are prioritising automation, the future of the industry is likely to be based on human-machine collaboration rather than robots only.
Steady growth
The adoption of automation within the food and beverage sector has been slower compared to heavy industries, owing to the varied nature of food and beverage products and the mindset they should be handled by humans. That outlook is, however, on its way out as more and more processes in food and beverage manufacturing and packaging are being automated. Take Carlsberg. The brewery runs highly automated production lines and is working towards even more automation in terms of safety and quality control, having just introduced collaborative robots, cobots, into its packaging operations.
Across the chain
Big businesses aside, automation is increasingly being adopted by mid-to-small sized businesses across the supply chain in the food and beverage industry: from robotic milking units in dairy farms to automated dispensing machines in shops. This shift accelerated during the pandemic with automation enabling reduction in workforce and optimised food safety.
Why it matters
The benefits of automation are manifold: reduction in long-term overheads, lower production waste, better response time, minimal downtime, and optimal safety, among others. And in a competitive environment where manufacturers need to be agile, integrating automated equipment in critical yet repetitive areas of production can be a game changer in driving up efficiency and meeting market demands.
A way of life at SIG
At SIG, our filling lines have been designed to run with minimal human intervention from the onset – be it our unique sleeve design or the flexibility of changing formats with minimal time and effort. Taking the outlook for efficiency through automation further, our latest innovation SIG NEO comes with multiple technical upgrades including fully automatic cleaning – thereby substantially decreasing dependency on operators during production.
Adding to this is SIG PACER, our fully automatic magazine feeding system with a robotic arm that keeps up with the high pace of the SIG NEO enabling a full hour of autonomous production. Together, the technology is a step towards a fully automated filling line.
In the next part of this series, we will delve into digitalisation and the power of data-based insights in taking manufacturing to the next level. To keep up to date on the smart factory trends covered in this series as well as more from the food and beverage industry, subscribe to SIGnals Update, our exclusive bi-weekly newsletter.
- August 25, 2022