< Previous20 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netMATERIALS HANDLINGexpects to have that happen to them, several high-profile cases insupermarkets have made it into mainstream media, and it’s veryimportant that the supermarkets have a quick resolution to the issue.In some cases the larger supermarkets might give only give a number ofhours for a supplier to trace the problem back and come back with ananswer. A survey of over 250 companies found that 11% of companiesfelt that they would need at least a day to accurately trace where a faulthad originated from, and this could easily lead to a loss of a largecontract. Keeping track of all these variables obviously has an impact on thespeed of a warehouse, even though the overall efficiency of theoperation is higher. What is always important to remember however is that while speedand efficiency are the two major concerns for Directors and Managers,especially when it comes to choosing what products to use. The safetyof the operators on the floor must always be kept in mind. Materialshandling remains one of the most accident prone sectors in business,and this is more the fault of the work involved than the industry itself.The very need for materials handling equipment is because humanworkers are dealing with loads too heavy for their bodies. So anyaccidents will clearly be very dangerous. Even the smallest accident in the workplace can have a devastatingeffect, not only on those involved, but also the entire supply chain.Many workers will down tools to come to the aid of anyone in danger,and the entire distribution centre might be halted while the accident isdealt with. The impact of this follows on down the line, in terms oflorries arriving for stock that is not ready for them, to deliveries tocustomers arriving late, or not at all. PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/PHOTOGRAPHEE.EUChilled foods logistics provideradds new trucks to fleet In the largest single order for trucks ever placed by thecompany, 35 FH tractor units have joined the fleet of leadingchilled foods logistics specialist, Samworth Brothers SupplyChain.These are the first-ever Volvo trucks to enter service with the100 strong fleet of Samworth Brothers Supply Chain. Thecompany is the transport and distribution arm of SamworthBrothers, a food manufacturer who own well-known brands suchas Ginsters and Soreen. Samworth Brothers Group is a fourthgeneration family business with headquarters in Leicestershire.The order comprised 34 FH-460 6x2 tractor units plus aspecial, white liveried, FH-500 driver training vehicle. The latter isequipped with I-Shift Dual Clutch and extra seats. The truck isused exclusively by drivers undergoing training with theinnovative Driver Academy that was recently launched bySamworth Brothers Supply Chain.As well as developing the professional driving skills of existingdrivers, the Driver Academy is also involved in recruiting andtraining new drivers from both inside and outside the company.18-20_Layout 1 27/05/2016 09:10 Page 3Food & Drink International 21www.fdiforum.netTEMPERATURE MONITORING AND CONTROLTemperature controlled storage anddistribution remains one of the mostpowerful industries in the food and drinkindustry, with the cold chain accountingfor roughly 9% of the £187 billion of salesin the food and drink industry. When itcomes to distribution centres which play akey role in the supply chain towards theretail market, the costs of temperaturecontrol systems can quickly scale out ofcontrol. Therefore it’s important at alltimes to focus on methods of efficientlymaintaining temperature levels, with aslittle ambient loss of temperature aspossible. At the end of the day, it’s farmore expensive to keep air cool, then it isto warm it up. Doors and loading bays create animmediate but necessary breach in awarehouse’s defences, allowing the coolerair inside to escape via convectioncurrents. What’s more, this is aninescapable consequence, as the ultimategoal of these facilities is to store and shipout goods as quickly as possible to theirfinal destination. As such while it mightbe result in energy savings to install anumber of doors between the cold storagefacility, and the loading bays. This onlyslows down the productivity of theworkers within, and how soon they canhave the stock shipped out. Ultimately it becomes a difficult balancebetween energy savings, and throughput.The final focus must always be on theefficiency of a distribution centre at itsPHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ZURIJETAMaintainingtemperature Temperature control remains a powerful facet of the supply chain, butnew innovations in transportation might mean things will be heatingup in the industry.22 Á21-23_Layout 1 27/05/2016 09:09 Page 1www.etiltd.comdesigned for the food & drink industryThermometersAs the UK’s No.1 thermometer manufacturer we offer a wide product range including our Thermapen® 4 with 360° self-rotating display, intelligent backlight, sleep mode & waterproof casingNEW 22 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netTEMPERATURE MONITORING AND CONTROLcentral goal – the storage and distributionof goods. Energy savings must comesecond to this, though should still bepursued at every opportunity. Air curtains provide a potentialsolution to this problem, or at the veryleast minimise the loss of heat at loadingbays. A cold store air curtain works bycreating a curtain of air that cuts throughcurrents, creating a barrier between theexternal ambient air, and the chilledtemperature within a cold store. Thegreatest benefit of these systems is notjust the ability for the air curtain tominimise energy loss through temperaturecontamination, but also to allowcontinual access for any workers. There isno door to be opened or closed, and thecurtain is safe for workers to travelthrough as they deliver and removepalletised goods. Not only does thisimprove general efficiency within the coldstore, but it also enables rooms to be keptat varying temperatures – importantwhen a facility might have to cater for awide range of food products that requiredifferent refrigerated temperature levels. Of course there is more to efficientlyrunning a temperature controlled storagefacility than plugging up the entrances.Managing stock within the distributioncentre can become increasingly morecomplex, as the temperatures are keptlower. For instance, machinery andsystems that rely on battery power cancome under risk, as continued exposure tothe cold has a negative impact on batteries– typically resulting in 50% degradation tobattery life. This can become a largerconcern with the recent move towardselectric lift trucks and fork-lifts, which cansee vehicles running out of juice atinopportune moments. When it comes toworkers within these facilities as well,there are a host of new concerns andproblems to be aware of, many of whichwill require some remedial training forcompanies moving employees to cold storefacilities. In the above example of electricvehicles staff need to be made aware thata vehicle which is marked down as havingan eight hour battery life, might struggleto manage more than four or five.Changing the labelling on these vehiclescan go a long way to preventing problems,alternatively investing in batteries withlarger voltages can help minimise theproblems. The goal with temperature control inthe warehousing industry is almost alwaysto prevent leakage of controlledtemperature, while also adapting theworkforce and equipment to work withinthe changed conditions. But what aboutthe transport side of things, which isnaturally the biggest chink in thetemperature-controlled armour?Refrigerated vans and lorries have beencommon sights for many years, yet they’verarely been able to match up to the safetyand control of a dedicated storage facilityitself. Simply put, the technology has notbeen in place to bring the same kind ofsafeguards a warehouse has, into avehicle. But that’s not to say companiesaren’t innovating in this direction, withsome interesting results and implicationsfor the future.One such example is Linde, who havestarted using their pioneering cryogenicrefrigeration technology Frostcruise, in afleet of vehicles in Europe for dailydeliveries to Marks & Spencer andStarbucks retail stores. Frostcruise is acooling technology that indirectly uses thecryogenic effect of liquid nitrogen at atemperature of -196°C to provide rapidand evenly distributed temperature pull-down. It is able to maintain an accurateproduct temperature set point throughoutthe truck compartment, despite multipledelivery stops, reducing the risk of foodspoilage and improving food safety.21-23_Layout 1 27/05/2016 09:09 Page 2Food & Drink International 23www.fdiforum.netTEMPERATURE MONITORING AND CONTROLBest of bothTME’s new combined temperature monitoring offers the best of both solutions across thesupply chain: instant temperature spot checks and continuous temperature monitoring allmanaged through a central hub.TME’s innovative MM7000 Bluetooth barcode thermometers now interface with the powerfulNotion Pro radio system, generating temperature results from both wireless sensors andhandheld measurements.Temperature results from both types of measurement are transmitted or downloaded to acentral cloud-based monitoring system allowing all food temperature data to be stored in oneplace.Benefits include unique product and location identification, 24/7 alarm notifications reducingthe risk of damage to stock and mix and match solutions allowing customers to choose theideal combination of instrumentation and sensors to suit their particular food application.For more information, visit www.tmethermometers.com.Trials conducted by Linde within anambient temperature of 16°C demonstratethat Frostcruise can reduce compartmenttemperature to 2°C within eight minutes,less than half the time of a mechanicalrefrigeration system. Frostcruise also hasthe ability to maintain accurate producttemperature despite multiple deliverystops.With most of the world’s chilled andfrozen food overland transportaccomplished by using refrigeratedtrucking, the new technology is also anexcellent cost alternative to conventionaldiesel-powered mechanical refrigerationcompartments. Its comparativeenvironmental benefits include substantialnoise reduction during deliveries in urbanareas. This allows for deliveries at night orin the early hours, even in urban areaswhere laws usually limit noise pollution to60–65 dB after 10:00 pm and before 6:00am — a level which many diesel-operatedrefrigeration systems find difficult toachieve. This represents a significantadvantage for refrigerated truckingbusinesses, giving them the flexibility tomake deliveries even at unusual times orto residential locations. Frostcruise hasbeen recognised by the Noise AbatementSociety in the United Kingdom for its rolein reducing noise pollution in the urbanenvironment.In regards to early trials, Linde Gases’Mark Ewig says, “It was clear to us that acryogenic system could meet theenvironmental requirement, owing to itszero carbon footprint at the point of use,”he says. “When we compare carbonfootprints in the in-transit refrigerationarena, carbon emissions from theFrostcruise transportation refrigerationunit are zero compared with 63.4kg perday for an equivalent diesel-mechanicalunit.It all comes down to efficiency and 97%thermal efficiency is hard to competewith. Our system has only two movingparts — a valve and a fan, compared tomechanical TRU that run on hundreds ofmoving parts, which also creates potentialfor component failure.”Initial trials taking place at MacFoodsaw early success for the concept, withfleets now being rolled out to a number ofother customers. It is new advancements like this thatwill perhaps shape the future of thetemperature controlled industry, asinvestors and manufacturers look to moreenvironmentally friendly and efficientmethods of achieving their goals. Thefood and drink industry continues to besqueezed by economic constraints, so it’sclear savings must be made at everyopportunity. This is usually touted as aterrible factor of the industry, but there’sno denying such adversity breedsinnovation.PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/RACORN21-23_Layout 1 27/05/2016 09:09 Page 3When it comes to contactless level measurement of liquids in small containers, smaller is better. With the smallest antenna of its kind, VEGAPULS 64 is simply the greatest! With its excellent focusing and insensitivity to condensation or buildup, this new radar sensor is truly exceptional. Simply world-class! www.vega.com/radarThe ultimate for small tanks!The future is 80 GHz: a new generation of radar level sensors 24-31_Layout 1 27/05/2016 12:57 Page 1Food & Drink International 25www.fdiforum.netCONTROL AND AUTOMATIONThe UK food and drink industry isfalling far behind other countries when itcomes to automation and the adoption ofrobotics into the food industry. Thesewere the findings of a recent study intorobotics within the food and drinkindustry, which found that even withinEurope, the UK is ranked 15th in terms ofrobotics usage. To put this intoperspective, the UK lags behind countriessuch as Germany, Sweden and France –but also now falls behind Slovakia,Slovenia and the Czech Republic. Thebigger problem still is that the changes inrobotic investment within the UK aresome of the lowest in the bloc, with manyfood manufacturers deferring the decisionto make changes and relying on outdatedand expensive labour models. With theintroduction of the National Living Wagethis has to change, but there are somewho fear it could already mean UKmanufacturers cannot compete withoverseas rivals.This problem seems to be limited to thefood and drink industry, the UK is stillhighly competitive in other sections suchas the automotive industry, where the UKis a huge investor in robotics andautomation. In years past there might have been afear that the initial investment intorobotic systems was too inhibitive (thoughclearly not too inhibitive for our Europeanneighbours), but even if we consider thatthe price in the UK was somehow tentimes what was offered elsewhere,Last to the party The UK has fallen behind our European and global rivals in the food and drink industry, andmany believe it is a result of poor investment into robotics.27 ÁPHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/GRAPHIC COMPRESSOR24-31_Layout 1 27/05/2016 12:57 Page 2Many companies within Food & Drink have already spent £millionson automation projects but have still failed to achieveperformance improvement objectives because they didn’t engage thefactory floor operational teams at an early stageKey to driving factory wide involvement in performance improvementis up to date information, analysed, prioritised and distributedto those who can make best use of itHarford’s integrated Management Information System gives you instant usable information on all your production line KPIsallowing you to spot problems & bottlenecks when they occur& giving you the best chance to take advantage of improvement opportunities3Automated Line Efficiency & OEE3In-line Vision3Autocoding3Automated Short Interval Control3Paperless Quality Assurance3Labour Utilisation3Average Quantity Control3Materials Optimisationallowing you to improve efficiencies, reduce wastage and add profitto your bottom line, like no other partner canHarford…keeping you compliant, saving you money…without the paperchase…and helping you to get the very best from your automation investmentsT: +44 (0)1225 764461W: www.harfordcontrol.comGET THE GROUNDCREW INVOLVED!Call today for yourfree site auditWANT TO MAKE YOUR AUTOMATIONINVESTMENTS REALLY SOAR?PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/DMITRIJS MIHEJEVS 24-31_Layout 1 27/05/2016 12:57 Page 3Food & Drink International 27www.fdiforum.netCONTROL AND AUTOMATIONadvancements in technology have causedthat price to fall dramatically. Nowadays arobotic unit such as a pallet stacker cancost less than the wages of manual labour,that it would replace. As Roy Green from Harford ControlLtd explains: “As there are still manycountries, even within the EuropeanUnion, who have much lower labour ratesthan the UK, the only option for UK foodand drink manufacturers, therefore, is tocontinue to maintain their high qualitystandards, whilst improving efficiency.This can only be effectively done with avision of the end result required and acommitment to automation andperformance improvement.The vision is absolutely essential, aspiecemeal automation, without the overallvision, tends to improve some areas, butcan create ‘bottlenecks’ in others, so theoverall door to door efficiency is often notimproved but, due to the significant costof automation, the unit costs go up ratherthan down – the exact opposite of theintention.One of the most important things forany company embarking upon, or evenwell into automation projects, is tomeasure the effectiveness of theinvestments made. Unfortunately, this isoften not done, or not done well enough,as the necessary investment for themeasurement architecture is often seen asa ‘nice to have’ rather than an absolutenecessity to measure the effectiveness ofinvestments already made and to helpidentify further necessary investmentsalong the automation journey.We see so many companies who haveinvested heavily in automation and oftenask two questions. Firstly, ‘How muchdid your automation project cost’ andsecondly, ‘How effective has it been?’They usually know the answer to the firstquestion but often have little idea aboutthe second.Speaking to a large cake manufacturerrecently, we were told that they spent inexcess of £2 million on end-of-linerobotics and the Manufacturing Managertold us that this should have enabled theproduction of 20,000 cakes during a shift,but in actual fact, they had only produced12,000. When he asked his Factory FloorTeam Leader why this was, the responsewas: ‘I don’t’ know, must have had somedowntime’.PHOTO: CHINAHBZYG / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM29 ÁBritish Encoder Products adds newmodel to rangeBritish Encoder Products - a leading UK manufacturer of opticalshaft encoders, and part of the global EncodersProducts group - offers a wide range of bothincremental and absolute encoders from itsstandard hollow bore, through bore andspindled versions to its more versatile TRU-TRAC model that integrates an encoder andspring loaded measuring wheel into one easyto use package. New to the company’s range is the Model30M magnetic encoder module that offers acompact, flexible, and effective low cost feedbacksolution. This versatile and highly reliable encodermodule is suitable for a wide range of industrial, commercial and consumer applications. “Celebrating almost 30 years of UK manufacture, British Encoder Products combines opticalsensor technology with intelligently engineered housings for performance our customers cancount on,” the company said.For more information, visit www.encoder.co.uk24-31_Layout 1 27/05/2016 12:57 Page 428 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.net24-31_Layout 1 27/05/2016 12:57 Page 5Food & Drink International 29www.fdiforum.netCONTROL AND AUTOMATIONT: +44 (0)1371 811544 • E: sales@pacepackerservices.com • W: www.pacepacker.com Award winning automatedpacking, filling, case loadingand palletising systems If this is a short term problem, becausethe rest of the production plant, or eventhe labour force, have not kept pace withthe automated improvement potential,then the shortfall of information, as atemporary thing is understandable, as awork in progress. Unfortunately, thetemporary information shortfall has ahabit of becoming permanent and, giventhe choice of spending £100,000 on acontrol system to measure theeffectiveness of automation investmentsalready made, or spending £100,000 onyet another piece of automation, manycompanies will choose the latter.As integrated improvement and controlspecialists, we focus very strongly oncollecting information from existingautomated processes, line side HMIs(where full automation is not possible)and also the direct set-up of machinessuch as date coders or barcode scanners,in-line check-weighers, etc., to minimiseoperator error. Some places where wehave been involved in helping companiesto make the link between automation andeffective information management, wehave seen net profit increases of as muchas 500%. These opportunities aretherefore available for everybody. All thatis necessary is to have the will and thevision to see the potential value ofautomated systems and to appreciate theneed to measure, analyse and control theautomation investment, to ensure optimalefficiency is achieved and sustained,thereby achieving rapid payback andcompetitiveness.”But automation can also allowcompanies to stay ahead of trends, andadapt to changes in the marketplace. AsPaul Wilkinson, Business DevelopmentManager at Pacepacker Services explains,“Shows like MasterChef, Bake Off andcelebrity cookery programmes, combinedwith a desire to lead healthier lives usingfresh ingredients, are influencing peopleto cook everything from exotic cuisines tolocal produce from scratch. In an effort toreduce food waste, rather than big weeklyshops, almost half the nation is now moreinclined to shop for recipe ingredientswhen they need them. With emergingmarkets like dinner subscription servicesreally taking hold, food suppliers areexploring pick and place and packingsolutions to ensure consumers have accessto the freshest, most seasonal produce,and all the ingredients to whip up a menushowstopper.Five years ago, who’d have thought thatour mega-supermarkets would be strippingback their extensive ranges to create asimpler, easier to navigate shoppingexperience,” comments Paul. “Thegrocery sector is having to be even morepsychologically innovative, and this30 ÁPHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/VLADIMIR NENEZIC24-31_Layout 1 27/05/2016 12:57 Page 6Next >