Self-Catering: Robotics in the Food-Processing Industry

The 1950s saw robotics pioneers George Devol and Joseph Engelberger develop the world’s first industrial robot, the Unimate. By 1961, the Unimate was installed at a General Motors assembly line in New Jersey to take over the dangerous task of welding die castings. From then on, robots became an increasingly regular feature in factories and processing plants around the world.

Statistics from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) state that there are now more than one million industrial robots in use around the world (only 16% of these are found in the US, the home of Devol and Engelberger). Almost all industries, including the food processing industry, are discovering innovative ways to incorporate robotics into factories and plants in coming years.

The variety of shapes and sizes of products in the food processing industry, as well as the greater delicacy required, means that it is still a relatively new market for automated technology. But recent innovations have solved a number of traditional problems and pointed the way towards an automated, high-efficiency future.

Industrial robots: modern applications

Sales of robotics took a dramatic tumble in 2009 after the economic slowdown, but IFR figures showed increasing sales moving in to 2010 and the worldwide robotics industry has expressed confidence for sustained growth in the future. And it seems that, given the labour-intensive nature of processing food and the exceptional need for consistently high productivity, the food processing industry might prove to be a lucrative market for robotics.

There are many advantages that robots can offer the industry. Primarily, robots make an excellent alternative to skilled human labour. As food processing plants need to remain close to their primary markets, finding qualified workers to carry out difficult and potentially dangerous jobs can be a challenge for plant operators.

Robotic units also have the potential to dramatically improve productivity when compared with their human counterparts. At a Charnwood Foods pizza-processing plant in the UK, operators decided to automate the palletisation of prepared pizzas after a second production line was added. They installed a Motoman SP100X palletising robot to pack pizzas with 12 different box sizes. The robot, which palletises and secures 320 cases an hour, 24 hours a day, has been a great success for the plant. Motoman has also developed a version of the SP100X that can operate in sub-zero freezer conditions.

Robots can also help manufacturers comply with stringent government hygiene codes. Humans will always carry a risk of transmitting bacteria to or from the food products with which they come into contact, so robots can be the most hygienic option – constructed from stainless steel for easy pressure cleaning or covered so that any oil or grease from moving parts is strictly segregated from food.

Advances in robotic grippers

Part of the reason for the food processing industry’s relatively slow adoption of robots is the need for a delicate touch. Preparing or packaging sliced bread is, after all, a world away from the welding and heavy lifting required in the automotive industry.

The rise of robotics in food processing plants can be partly attributed to the ongoing development of new mechanical grippers, unlocking new specialised applications for robots in the food industry.

Modern industrial robots in food processing plants can be fitted with any number of dedicated grippers for different applications. Grippers can work through mechanical movement or vacuum-assisted suction to perform the tricky tasks that would previously have been considered beyond them.

At the Netherlands-based KH de Jong cheese-packaging facility, owned by Friesland Foods Cheese, robots with specifically designed grippers are having a positive impact on productivity while treating fragile cheeses with the necessary lightness of touch.

The plant has installed two sets of robots, developed by FANUC Robotics, to package Edam cheese, of which the plant packages 350t a week.

FANUC’s R-2000iB unit uses suction cups to gently transfer the cheese from a rack to a conveyer belt, ready to be coated with protective Edam paraffin wax. The unit’s grippers are able to perform a wrist-like roll over the cheeses to ensure good contact with the suction cups, and sensors ensure that if an individual ball of Edam is left on the rack, the robot will return to pick it up without dropping any of the others.

After the wax coat is applied, the cheese is boxed up by FANUC’s M-710iC robot, which features six pneumatic “fingers”, allowing the cheese to be picked up and rotated 180° so that all cheeses are uniformly deposited into shipping containers with the label facing upwards and positioned to avoid damage during transit. The M-710iC can even change its own 40kg gripper, which was preciously a time-consuming two-person task.

As a result of the plant’s tireless robotic workforce, KH de Jong project manager Christian Hallers noted a 10% productivity increase along with labour cost savings equivalent to 500 hours a week.

“The system has provided us with a maximum capacity of 3,600 cheeses an hour per line,” Hallers says. “Handling the trays was a potential injury risk area as the metal trays can get damaged and arrive with sharp edges. Also quality has improved and, as the cheese is no longer handled manually, hygiene is maintained.”

The automated butcher

In the past, robots were never trusted for complex tasks such as cutting meat as it was always assumed that an automated machine would be unable to match the performance of a human. But with increasingly sophisticated technology allowing robotic cutters to be extensively programmed based on user requirements, this small application of robotics in the food industry looks set to expand in the future.

German robotics specialist KUKA Robotics says its KR 125 robot can cut pork sides cost effectively and to a high standard. The robot uses an image recognition system to judge its cuts. As it can achieve pre-cuts rather than through cuts, the sides remain attached after cutting for better meat quality and traceability. Modern robotic meat cutters can also be customised to the user’s specifications, for example cutting a higher proportion of ribs compared to bacon or vice versa.

The industrial robot has come a long way since Devol and Engelberger changed the world with the Unimate over 50 years ago, and the food industry is an apt reflection of its surprising new capabilities. The only thing more exciting than the progress of robotics in the last few decades is the anticipation of what robots might achieve in years to come. With the possibility for new applications, quality improvements and productivity boosts, the food processing industry might be wise to embrace an automated future.