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News Release from: RTS Flexible Systems | Subject: Food automation (Exclusive)
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 20 March 2008
Is the food industry underestimating
automation?
UK Manufacturers underestimate the efficiency potential of automation and robotics in their production processes, but David Bradford of RTS highlights some success stories in the food industry
The potential investment returns achievable are often significantly better than many expect, according to leading automation and robotics integrator RTS Flexible Systems "Many manufacturers may be missing opportunities to steal a competitive advantage
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 15 May 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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Using automation and robotic systems may be a more viable and profitable proposition than they realise" advises David Bradford, managing director of RTS Flexible Systems.
"What's needed is a more holistic approach when justifying Return on Investment.
Increasingly, we are encountering some manufacturers who could be described as 'visionary' when it comes to investment in automation: they are being rewarded by additional benefits and unexpected returns.
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It's now up to up to the rest of industry to catch up, and develop appropriate responses to the significant level of under-investment in automation in the UK, compared to our European counterparts.
To begin with, we need to change mindsets.
Automation should be justified in terms of its overall impact on profit margins, rather than calculating like-for-like labour replacement".
As an example, the World Robotics Survey 2006 showed an annual investment of 1,363 robots in the UK, compared to more than 10,000pa in Germany.
The problem was investigated in a industry-wide opinion survey within the food industry, sponsored by RTS, and called "Appetite for Automation": this was conducted in association with the British Robotics Association, The Food Processing Faraday Partnership and the North West Food Alliance.
It's been more than a year since the survey was conducted, but there are signs of continued reticence among UK manufacturers to invest.
The survey highlighted potential perceived barriers amongst senior engineers in food companies, including some worries about a skills and knowledge shortage in automation and the restrictions on long-term investment imposed by short-term contracts placed by the supermarkets.
"The good news is that we are seeing more manufacturers, who are recognising the benefits - and reaping the rewards - from automation.
What drives them? In our experience, they tend to have an entrepreneurial vision of the impact of robotics on their processes.
"Successful automators ask the question: 'What else can we achieve with automation? They have an over-arching view of the impact of automation on the entire production process - and equally, therefore, on its impact on the bottom line.
They don't see automation simply as a bolt-on or straightforward labour replacement.
They take a strategic view of the benefits of automation and often recognise the contribution it can make to achieving a commercial advantage over their slower competitors, who still see investment in automation as a barrier".
High speed pick and place robots with a throughput of up to 120 per minute, advanced vision-guided technology, line-balancing software and innovative robotic gripper designs all make a contribution.
However, more than the technology, it is the ways in which robotics can be used which is really yielding rewards.
Robots are turning out to be able to improve the flexibility of production and even to have an influence on product quality.
"Automation can provide flexibility, for example in picking and placing product in multiple packs", Bradford continues, "as well as in anti-social jobs like handling hot heavy loaf tins".
A key point to consider is consistency over long periods.
Whether you are running a line for eight or 24 hours-a-day or, with robots the speed of operation is controlled to meet the needs of the line; there's no drop in speed, or the need to take breaks.
Bradford concludes: "Clearly every project needs to have a robust justification for Return on Investment, but more and more we are seeing people who are experiencing additional benefits and unexpected returns.
These are the areas which will drive automation forward in the future".
CASE STUDIES:.
1) POPPADUMS.
A robotic system can pick up products as delicate as poppadums.
What's more it can pick up four in succession and put them down together.
It can do this at 100 picks per minute, 24 hours per day, seven days per week with a very low breakage rate.
RTS has proved it can be done reliably and repeatably - and that the installed system can deliver a healthy Return on Investment in less than two years, by significantly reducing labour costs over three shifts and increasing production capacity.
The RTS system is able to collect four poppadums one by one from a conveyor and place them for packaging in the vacuum forming machine.
It is also capable of handling multiple product variants for variety packs.
The key to the solution is the end-effector technology, which enables the poppadums to be handled extremely gently.
Also key was the ability of the RTS own vision software to determine which poppadums can be picked successfully from the conveyor by instructing the robot to avoid any that are damaged or overlapped with another.
2) CHEESE SAVINGS.
Ilchester Cheese invested in a robotic picking unit to save the labour costs of two operatives per shift on the line.
However the investment expectation was turned on its head by the additional benefits delivered by savings made in raw material costs.
By looking beyond the labour costs issue, the management realised additional benefits for the business.
The robots pick 20g cheese portions at approximately 150 units per minute and place them into consumer retail packs.
In the manual operation, it was difficult for operators to differentiate between portion thicknesses at production speeds.
So, to ensure a minimum packaged weight for sale, some cheese was being given away above the minimum thickness.
The RTS vision system detects oversize portions and removes them for recycling.
If the decision to invest had been based on the labour savings alone, it would have achieved break even within the 2 year target.
However, the additional savings in yield made the return even more attractive.
Better quality assurance also reduced the risk of underweight returns from retailers saving cost and the damage to reputation.
3) BOTTLE FILLING.
- A gripping solution! By eliminating a labour-intensive manual handling process for plastic bottles, the investment in a high-speed RTS robotic system at Jeyes paid for itself in just one year.
The automated RTS cell was integrated into the existing Aircare air freshener bottle filling line, and used an innovative bespoke gripper to pick up bottles and place them into carrier blocks for filling.
Explains Jeyes Engineering Manager Geoff Holcroft: "The Aircare bottle has a difficult circular shape in slippery PET that doesn't stand up, so it has to be placed in a puck prior to filling and capping.
We used to have two operatives who took bottles from large boxes, re-orientated them and placed them in pucks prior to filling.
Now a new bowl feeder feeds bottles into a single line conveyor, where their orientation is detected from a moulded stud on the bottle.
The RTS system can pick and place bottles into pucks at an average of 5,400 bottles an hour.
It can do this 24 hours a day, while the operatives worked for up to 3 shifts, and needed regular breaks.
We calculated we broke even in just over 12 months and it has been increasing our margins ever since".
4) HOT BREAD TIN HANDLING IN PLANT BAKERIES.
The William Jackson and Son investment in a new automated bread tin store from RTS is set to increase flexibility and capacity of production and reduce overheads.
Based on state-of the-art 4-axis robots, it is the key focus of Phase 2 of a GBP13million plant upgrade programme at the Hull-based independent bakers.
The RTS solution promises a return on investment within 2 years by redeploying labour and reducing the replacement costs of bread tins.
However the greatest benefit will be in increased efficiency and flexibility of production.
Similarly, the RTS solution for a tin store at Frank Roberts and Sons deployed 6-axis robots for the first time ever in a UK bread tin store, promising exceptional material and labour cost savings, with a healthy ROI.
To help maximise the available floor space, RTS solved the problem of how to automate the loading and unloading of bread tins on two separate bread plants by installing the automation in a confined 8ft of headroom space. Request a free brochure from RTS Flexible Systems ...
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