Surveys are always a great way to get a snapshot of industry trends. There really is no better way to learn about what the majority of people are dealing with on a daily basis than to ask those on the ground floor and compare it with others’ experiences.

For yet another year, the Food Engineering Annual State of Food Manufacturing Survey has found that automation is number one on the top 10 industry trends list. To stay competitive, more processors are focusing on and increasing automation in their plants. Moreover, the growth in the capabilities of connecting equipment and allowing machines to, essentially, talk to each other is just another indication that automation’s role in food processing will become ever more ubiquitous.