Food Robotics Webinar from RIA

Consumer demand for increased variety is especially big in the food and beverage industry and virtually all producers want to increase productivity. RIA’s Food Robotics webinar (September 29, 2011, Noon EDT) examines core issues, including safety and quality control, so that you can quickly understand limitations and opportunities offered by robotics.

If you are not an expert on robotics, this webinar allows you to start at the beginning and gain a basic understanding of the technology. As you consider robotics for food and beverage applications, it pays to look at vision systems for inspection and traceability. Like peanut butter and jelly, robots and machine vision often go together.

Something that doesn’t go so well together are people and cold, damp environments. Robots, though, can work all day in a humid, refrigerated setting. Harsh wash-down conditions need not be a concern either. Increasingly there are robots and end effectors built to withstand all these factors.

The webinar is free of charge and covers. . .

Opportunities in robotics for pre-wrap, post-wrap; pre-box, post-box:

• Pre-wrap : continuous flow with USDA process requirements
• Post-wrap, pre-box : currently constrained with manual labor and throughput bottleneck
• Post-box : robots for cartoning, case packing, palletizing, truck loading

We will explain technical enablers for post-wrap, pre-box packaging, including:

• Mechanical methods
• Vacuum methods
• New innovation and emerging technologies for future commercialization

Robots offer flexibility for faster changeover times; they can speed up line times and even handle more than one line simultaneously. Whether you are concerned about ergonomics, traceability, quality or throughput, this RIA webinar is a great starting place to learn the facts about robots for the food and beverage industry. Register today!

Robots for Food and Drink

By Brian Huse, Director, Marketing & PR, Robotic Industries Association

Robotic systems are used extensively for handling bags, flow packing and packaging multi-component products like meal kits. It is common to see robots in palletizing and de-palletizing operations, and the ability to store many program variations allow users to have multiple mixed pallet specifications for their customers. In the food and beverage industry, those who most efficiently pack and ship specialty orders win.

Robot makers have responded with new products and approaches that are flexible and take the hassle out of specialty orders. The trend is so pronounced in food and beverage packaging that it is one of the top five growth areas for robotics according industry statistics from RIA. Orders in this sector (which includes consumer goods) increased 47% in 2010. (Full year statistics are available in from RIA.)

“Retailers especially like to differentiate themselves by offering unique combinations of goods on their shelves,” said Brian Huse, Director, Marketing & PR for Robotic Industries Association. “Volumes may rise and fall seasonally further complicating matters. Robots are designed specifically to handle variations in product and volume.”

Robot designed for humid food processing environments, courtesy Stäubli Corporation

Robots are usually more affordable and use less space than fixed automation, plus their deployment helps eliminate repetitive motion injuries for tasks other automation can’t handle. Return on investment can often be measured in months, and unlike most dedicated machines robots can adapt easily when the product changes.

“Now we see new tooling that allows a robot to change gripper size on the fly, and many innovations in man-machine interfaces to make the robots easier to program and operate,” said Huse.

Safety concerns have driven some of the advancements in robot design. Robot makers are now producing robots that have the control reliability needed to eliminate some physical barriers. This means work cell setup is less complicated and less expensive.

“A new national robot safety standard is in the pipeline and some robot makers already have products that comply,” said Huse. “Customers will benefit from cost savings and more flexibility.”

Workplace safety is always important, but sometimes people worry more about the effect robots have on jobs. With an economy still tainted by high unemployment, why should the food industry invest in robotics?

When labor is cheap and there is no concern about staff turnover a robot may not make sense, but improvements in safety (and sanitation) often help offset those issues. For that matter, it is quite common to hear that employees are shifted to better jobs (running or maintaining robots for instance). More importantly, better efficiency and quality (hallmarks of robot systems) create a competitive advantage that can be leveraged into more business. More customers can lead to steady or increased staffing.

“Food and beverage applications will continue to grow at a dramatic pace,” said Dean Elkins, RIA Chairman and Senior General Manager of Motoman Robotics. “Also, case packing and palletizing will shine.” He predictsChina,India,BrazilandSouth Americaas hot spots for more robot sales – places not traditionally known for labor shortages or high wages.

In any country, employee turnover is one factor that helps drive demand for robots. Then there is the upside that robots can handle large loads without physical injury; robots don’t tire or call in sick, and they are used often to increase production at the end of the line. Robots also minimize risk of food contamination.

Not all countries emphasize worker safety like the U.S. The cost of injured workers in America can be very high and robots help minimize that by taking on the heavy lifting of pallets or large, heavy, awkward items. People don’t do so well in damp, cold environments like freezers, so that is another great place for robots.

Some countries merely discard injured workers. In places where the penalty is high for on-the-job injuries the decision to use robots is another way to protect workers and their employers from harsh working conditions and liability.

Best of all, robots are good at handling custom orders and different pallet configurations, plus there are many choices in tooling that allow companies to respond quickly when a customer changes an order. Robots are merely tools but they solve many problems in the highly competitive food processing market.

Network with RIA members who share your interest in automation for the food industry. Join RIA today.

What’s Your Favorite Flavor of Now and Later Candy?

By Brian Huse, Director, Marketing & PR, Robotic Industries Association

Members of Robotic Industries Association have been sent a packet with Now and Later candy as part of an offer for saving money now and later on Robotics Online insertions. This is for January insertions, but if the ad is ordered and material sent right away it will go on the site early for extra click time. (For more information call me at 734/994-6088.)

This is also our small way of spreading good cheer. Even if you don’t advertise you can enjoy or share the candy. We hope the holiday season is a good one that leads to a Happy New Year for all..!

Food Lovers Can Thank Robots

By Brian Huse, Director, Marketing & PR, Robotic Industries Association

This Thanksgiving, people who love food may have a robot to thank. Maybe not one to prepare and cook the meal (and only a few prototypes have been designed to wash the dishes), but somewhere in your freezer or cupboard is probably an item that a robot handled.

Since the days of I Love Lucy (and before), companies that make food have been searching for faster, more efficient handling of their product. Interactive Design, Inc. (IDI) an RIA integrator member, tackled a job that would have foiled even Lucille Ball had she been tempted to make fun of handling frozen food on a conveyor instead of chocolate candy.

Expert integrators at IDI used eight Adept Quattro (delta) robots to solve a production challenge for the maker of frozen baked goods. You’ll have to ask Nate Maholland at IDI for the details (I’m not sure how much I can reveal), but whether you are in the food business or make power transformers to keep the ovens working, IDI can help.

RIA members like IDI show us just how versatile robotics are in today’s business world. Most are just as comfortable solving food processing challenges as assembling a new kind of core for transformers. In fact, one of IDI’s customers will use their system to market a patented new process for making cores that meet new specifications from the government for more efficient transformers.

Robotics technology is often just one aspect of a member company’s expertise. IDI is also a member of Automated Imaging Association which reflects their prowess as machine vision integrators. Other times they can provide solutions that take advantage of the latest mechatronics technology, and they have capabilities in more applications and industries than I can fit into this little blog.

A call today with IDI reminded me how thankful the Association is to have members as versatile and qualified as they are and it felt right to share that on our blog site. Who are you thankful for this holiday season?

See Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance in the episode where they package candy on a conveyor belt.

See Adept Quattro in a video where it packs chocolate candy at speeds that would make Lucille faint.