We have been taking a look at what really matters when picking a location for a new food or beverage plant. In the previous parts of this series, which is based on the Food Automation & Manufacturing Conference 2017 presentation by Karl Linck, vice president of engineering for Sargento Foods, we considered the aspects of land, locale and logistics. This edition will discuss the top trend in the food and beverage processing industry—automation, and how this is affecting site selection decisions.
With more plants becoming more automated, this is having tremendous ramifications on the labor needed to run the advanced equipment and machinery. In the past, Linck says, people worked on the paradigm that if robotics and automation was installed in a plant, then this would have a ROI in less than three years. This was to improve the cost of good manufacturing (COGM) and profitability.