Wayne Labs

Food packaging (and consumer goods packaging in general) are seeing some stiff demands. While PMMI is predicting that the global food packaging market in itself will reach $400 billion by 2025, with a CAGR nearly 5%, there are some real challenges to overcome, both in packaging and the supply chain. For example, processors struggle to keep up with new customer demands, while product and packaging changeovers occur frequently to meet consumer needs. In addition, OSHA has been cracking down on unsafe machines, and the need to clean is more important than ever.

What can we expect in the future of vision-guided robotics that is practical, reliable and cost-effective? As robotics become more economical and customers’ needs change to reduce reliance on human staffing, robotics for repetitive tasks such as cutting, positioning, and pick-and-place tasks will become more accepted by customers.

No doubt about it, COVID-19 has changed the way most—if not all—businesses operate. While food and beverage processors have had to struggle with supply chain issues, robotics and system suppliers have had to face similar supply chain problems, plus come up with solid methods of service and maintenance support during the pandemic.

Prevent dust explosions with proper education, training and building/equipment design.

A combination of funding cuts, aging infrastructure, and new pollutants has pushed the responsibility for water treatment back upstream to the facilities that produce the wastewater. This means food and beverage processors and other manufacturers that generate copious amounts of wastewater.

While not intuitively obvious, some processes lend themselves to having their control systems linked to a building’s control system, climate controls or HVAC. For example, a spiral freezer should be linked with process and environmental controls to save energy and improve the process. Other process applications that can benefit from further integration with environmental controls include drying, baking and other yeast-based processes.