Here's How Robots Help Businesses Achieve Consistency, Accuracy, and Speed

Food processors who use robots report significant improvements in item consistency—packed products are more likely to include the same amount of food, weigh the same, and be wrapped in the same way.

FREMONT, CA: New robotics technologies are helping to speed up day-to-day operations and enhance product quality across industries. Robots can be beneficial for enterprises in the food processing industry, where a workforce shortage is becoming increasingly problematic.While it used to be impossible to fully or partially automate several key industry jobs, new robotics technology is helping to expand the number of potential uses for robots in the industry.

Compared to traditional food processing processes, food processing robots have a few significant advantages. Robots are capable of repeating a task over a workday or shift with slight variation in precision. Robots, unlike human laborers, do not get fatigued and maintain a continuous pace of work. This combination of precision and speed has been proven to boost site throughput while maintaining company standards for packaged items.

Food processors who use robots report significant improvements in item consistency—packed products are more likely to include the same amount of food, weigh the same, and be wrapped in the same way. Certain food items, particularly fragile fruits and vegetables, may not be well suited to automated packaging techniques.

Experimentation, on the other hand, frequently leads to custom solutions that can address these specific issues. Processors in the cannabis sector, for example, were able to speed up the packaging process and produce more consistent packed items after experimenting with new weighing and packaging robots. This can take the form of robots with soft silicone grippers and attachments that help companies package delicate products in the food processing industry.

Sector-Specific Applications

Niche robotics developed to automate specific operations can potentially aid a few areas within the food processing industry.One Danish robotics company has developed a line of cake decorating and filling robots, for example. These robots are equipped with technology that allows them to predict which cake will be decorated next, reducing the need for human intervention.While these robots will not be valuable to every business, they are a good example of how robots that can automate particular jobs might benefit many industries.