In an age of rapid industrialization and intense competition, food processors are looking to increase throughput, regulate line changeovers and accommodate shorter production runs – which is leading the industry to see an increase of robotic integration into upstream operations. Food processors are investing in pick and place robots that can handle standard applications as well as delicate applications, such as fresh fruit and washdown applications, such as meat products. With the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) predicting the number of pick and place robots to grow by 4% by 2016, food processors are already seeing how effectively the technology solves pain points at the processing stage. Today, the breadth of robots is expanding – they no longer primarily exist in downstream operations such as packaging and palletizing.
Efficient product sortation and placement is critical to remaining competitive and protecting profitability. There are 10 key ways in which food processors utilize pick and place robots to improve upstream operations.