Robots are pushing the digital transformation in the food industry forward

The trade fair that is staged in Cologne presents a comprehensive offer and holistic solutions, which will support food producers of every size and industry in pushing their automation forward. The exhibitors at the fair grounds are offering an extensive portfolio of robots for this purpose that can be operated increasingly more simply and intuitively - turning them into reliable employees for the everyday work routine.

New possibilities for small food manufacturers

The implementation of robots has long since not been limited down to large companies. Since they carry out repetitive and physically strenuous work with an increased risk of injury, they are also very popular among small and medium-sized food producers. Food manufacturers, who are investing in robots for the first time or who want to identify new fields of application, will find easy-to-use concepts at the fair grounds in Cologne, which reduce the integration costs and automation hurdles. Functions like brake energy recovery and power saving modes reduce the energy consumption by up to 20 percent and contribute towards an improved sustainability. The exhibitors offer tailor-made programming tools for all possible users. This begins with hand-led teaching, carries on with the implementation of pre-fabricated modular components and ends with high-performance programming environments for the development of demanding applications.

Manifold robot solutions: From palletising through to the production

Whereas in the past primarily tasks such as palletising and depalletising as well as secondary packaging dominated the tasks, today robots are implemented across the entire value chain - from the delivery of raw products, to the production, through to the intralogistics. Many of the technology suppliers, who exhibit at Anuga FoodTec have already been carrying out end-of-line palletising successfully using articulated robots for some time and are represented with a wide offer of palletising applications, including for example special versions for cold storage facilities. Thanks to simulation software users can adapt the palletising to suit the box measurements, weights and pallet samples at any time. The exhibitors will demonstrate what the four and six axes robots can do with their multifunctional grippers at the fair grounds in close-to-reality demo cells.

In addition image processing-controlled pick-and-place robots will be on display. They are considered to be the fastest-growing robot segment in the food industry. Whereas many steps were carried out manually in the past, packing lines are totally automated today. Grippers and vacuums that are easy to change over offer a range of products and formats. This is based on a plug-and-play philosophy that enables the robot tools and format parts to be exchanged in a few easy steps and without having in-depth knowledge of the machine. Up to 50 formats and more are possible on a modern picker line. And last, but not least the Scara, articulated or delta kinematics offer decisive hygiene advantages as well, because they reduce the risk of contamination when handling food such as fish fingers, cheese sticks or burger patties. There is frequently only one point of contact with the product: the vacuum gripper which is easy to clean. The packed food and the packaging material itself such as cardboard or foil can also be handled using robots.

Fit for implementation in the hygiene section

In areas that come into contact with the product it is predominantly the intensive cleaning processes that have to be carried out several times a day that make the implementation of conventional robots impossible in the food industry. To fulfil the high hygiene standards, grippers, robots and accessories have to satisfy special demands. The latest reference models of the technology suppliers underscore what robot-friendly hygienic design looks like today: Thanks to stainless steel executions or special finishes, the use of FDA-certified parts, interior media and supply cables and the protection class IP69, even when exposed to extremely wet conditions, the robots don't need any additional protective covers. Being sprayed down with hot water, lathered down with cleaning chemicals and scrubbed manually is no problem for them.

Hygienic design not only refers to the surfaces, but also to the lubricants implemented. That means: If the lubricant from the robot comes into contact with the food, for instance in case of a fault or through oil vapour escaping, it is not allowed to be detrimental to the consumers' health. All axes are thus equipped with food-grade NSF-H1 lubricants. In spite of these special lubricants being used, the manufacturers still guarantee the full performance capacity of their robots.

Artificial intelligence and order picking: How robots increase the efficiency

The latest progress in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) enables autonomous gripping and positioning, which greatly expands the range of tasks robots will be able to carry out in future. Collaborative robots, known as cobots, will take on a key role here. Ten percent of the new robots sold are meanwhile cobots. Able to bear increasingly higher loads, they can be safely implemented next to human employees - without bulky casing and safety fencing. The fast reaction times, touch-sensitive surfaces and integrated safety functions make this possible. As soon as the sensors and cameras detect a person in the working area, the software automatically slows the robot down or stops it completely. Once the person moves away, the robot carries on with its work at the normal speed. Food manufacturers will encounter both stationary and mobile cobots that cover a host of application scenarios at Anuga FoodTec. Experts see a potentially huge and fast-growing market for AI-controlled applications for the automation of warehouses. Machine learning is the key for more efficiency in the order picking sector. For example, robots will make it possible to take the adequate, respective decision for every situation within the supply chain within the shortest space of time.

Intuitive automation: Robots are becoming reliable employees in the everyday food life

Especially for small and medium-sized food manufacturers, the versatility of the cobots opens up new options of automating their processes flexibly and raising them up to a higher level step-by-step. Placed totally according to need and the situation at hand, the lightweight robots can be continually implemented in different places to keep the production going or to fill in for absent staff - for example for the automatic decoration of bakery products or at the end of the line to pick seasonal items that come in different flavours.