We in the trade press have been extolling the virtues of automation for a long time, and you’re probably sick of hearing us ramble on about it. Nevertheless, if there were any other reason to take a hard look at implementing automation—at least partially—in your facility, it would be now. COVID-19 has certainly created some practical problems: Short-staff due to people at home sick with coronavirus, social distancing impossible on cutting/protein lines, changeover time killing production output…and the list goes on.
You’re probably also sick and tired of hearing the usual automation vendors tell you how you could have been up and running if you only had their automation system. Problem is, one vendor’s automation system isn’t likely to provide all the solutions you need—and then you face the challenge of having several vendors’ automation systems “talking” (or not) to each other and speaking the same language and dialect.