The rise of automation in food factories

The COVID-19 pandemic is driving many industries to adapt to a ‘new normal’. The past two years have seen a steady rise in demand for automation across many industries, including food production.

The pandemic resulted in numerous increased pressures on food factories. There was a need for increased, more efficient production, as well as stricter than ever health and safety measures.

Despite these challenges, most large food companies were able to survive the pandemic by automating their process.

If you’ve yet to adapt your food factories to incorporate automation, Ambrey Baker has put together some reasons why you should, and some additional factors to consider.

Increase efficiency

One major positive of automating your factory space is increased efficiency. Most simply because technology can work longer hours than people, with the occasional break needed for maintenance. Not only do these longer hours mean more work can be done, but it’s often much more efficient.

Automation also allows factory owners and production managers to gather in-depth and accurate data insights from the production line. This real-time data helps identify potential issues more quickly, alert you when maintenance is needed, improve maintenance and further increase outputs.

Waste management

We have previously discussed a number of ways to reduce food waste in factories. Automation plays a significant role in the factor. Not only does reducing food waste help achieve sustainability targets, but it can also help significantly reduce costs.

Long-term flexibility

Recent times have highlighted the importance of remaining flexible. Manually updating processes to accommodate ever-changing demands, and regulations can be a huge drain on time and resources.

By investing in automation, your factory becomes much easier to adapt. These changes can simply be programmed into the automation software, eliminating the need for added workforce training.

Whether you’ve already made upgrades to your food factory, or you’re still weighing up which new technologies to invest in, there’s plenty more to consider. Having the warehouse space to account for new technologies should be high on the list.

However more space doesn’t necessarily mean new factories, some lots can be done to make the most of your existing space.

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 at enquiries@ambreybaker.co.uk or check us out on LinkedIn.