Navigating the complexities of automated integration

Automation is being implemented across factories and warehouses nationwide. So, we’re discussing the importance of a calculated approach to automating cold storage facilities.

Warehouse automation is shaping the future. Yet the perception that its solution comes ‘one size fits all’ is misguiding thinking.

In the chilled food sector, the latest innovations are helping tackle the issues that concern manual workforces: cost, health & safety, and productivity. However, integration isn’t a linear procedure, it must be done so on a case-by-case basis.

The benefits

Automated chilled storage provides total isolation. This makes it easier, cheaper, and more energy-efficient to run at optimal temperatures, eradicating manual intervention and further heat produced.

With the temperature steady, energy consumption can flatline. For many, in a climate of rising energy bills and sustainability targets, this is a major plus, especially when considering the need for temperature-resilient environments amidst rising global temperatures.

Without manual intervention, the space can be reimbursed for storage and allows for vertical solutions to be implemented. Health & safety regulations limit manual workforces to 15m shelving systems, with automation, no such limits exist. This is especially beneficial for retrofitting, as existing spaces can be revolutionised without additional units being built.

Automation can offer 100% accuracy – in picking, inventory tracking, and time efficiency. This is without ever wavering performances, whereas the comparison with manual workforces is always determined by the individual, whose performances can dip and dive each day for both personal and professional reasons.

In all, it contributes to a safer working environment. High-risk roles become automated, with operations controlled remotely and optimised to avoid collisions, blockages, and bottlenecks.

Key considerations

Because automation installation comes coupled with large figure costs, there’s pressure to get its adoption right and quantify the costs. Yet, what works in one factory may not work in another, which is why its integration must be a calculated process.

When considering integrating automation into cold storage facilities, there are key technical, logistical, and economic factors to consider. Automation can offer long-term cost-saving results by replacing manual roles, but what effect will that have on your company structure? What new roles will have to be created, and recruited to maintain the technologies? They are all contributors to the costs and timeframe of a refurbishment project.

It is therefore vital that feasibility studies precede integration projects. Consequently, each storage unit’s existing frameworks can be considered, with any integration improving current practices rather than working against them.

These studies result in a comprehensive analysis of a project’s feasibility through costings, and success rates. They offer a disciplined approach to identifying and eradicating risks before they manifest, accommodating technical, economic, and legal considerations.

They work in tandem with cost planning, which can be continually adapted throughout the lifecycle of a project, allowing for flexibility regarding unexpected expenditures and savings.

Automated cold storage provides many benefits, but integration solutions must be carefully designed for each specific case to experience those rewards to their fullest.

As food factory construction experts, Ambrey Baker can help you assess the most cost and time-efficient to refurbish and extend your factory to accommodate new technologies.

To find out how we can help you create a food and drink solution that is as versatile as you need it to be, get in touch today or check us out on LinkedIn.