< Previous20 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netWAREHOUSING OPTIMISATIONlogical step forward. Given theimportance and prevalence of forkliftsin the warehouse, for loading,unloading, transporting and storing,creating an automated variety is asmart move. The multinational collaboration pullstogether robotics specialists in the UK,Sweden, Italy and Germany and aims todevelop next-generation automatedguided vehicles into current warehousefacilities where there’ll support taskssuch as packing, palletising andtransporting goods. This it willaccomplish via a four-year projectdubbed ILIAD – or Intra-Logistics withIntegrated Automatic Deployment –which has been supported with a grantof €7 million from the EU’s Horizon2020 fund. Though many recent innovations havebeen labelled as either automated orboasting artificial intelligence, few trulyare. Robots and artificial intelligencearen’t mutually exclusive, but thecollaboration claims that each of itsrobotic vehicles will be self-optimising,meaning that it will learn from self-collected data over time. This, theconsortium argues, will make the fleetsfully scalable with the option of addingor removing robots over time. Thesemachines need to work in conjuncturewith human workers, with safetyobserved at all times, so that meanseach forklift has been made “humanaware”. The consortium says that eachhas been equipped with advancedcomputer vision and AI to detect, trackand predict the behaviour of humans.Moreover, it will use this vision to planmovements based on the machine’sown observations of warehouse lay-outsand patterns of activity. Although the overall mission of theconsortium is to develop a “reliablerobotic solution flexible enough tosupport intra-logistics in many differentindustries”, the researchers will use thefresh food sector as their developmentsetting. The reason being is that thefood industry has particularlychallenging requirements, such as theshort shelf life of products; the need forcomplete traceability; the high cost ofwastage, and pressure for rapidresponses to changing market needs.And so we come full circle, with foodmanufacturers faced with a rapidlychanging market, increased demandsand pressure and, above all, the needfor ever faster services and production.An upsurge in output speeds inviteserror, but with the burgeoning smartwarehouse concept, and automationbecoming much more commonplace,soon the average warehouse will be anefficient, reliable and connectedenvironment. © shutterstock/BaloncicThe overall mission of theconsortium is to developa reliable robotic solutionflexible enough tosupport intra-logistics inmany different industries18-21_Layout 1 21/11/2017 15:57 Page 3WAREHOUSING OPTIMISATIONWith substantial manufacturingplants in Wisbech,Wellingborough andPeterborough, Pioneer Foods UK is theUK’s leading cereal maker, providingown-label and branded manufactureand packaging services for many of theleading retailers and brands in the UKand around the world.Logistex have recently installed theirLWS Reflex Warehouse ManagementSoftware into the Peterborough site tocontrol the receiving and putaway ofraw and packaging materials. LWSReflex is a scalable and flexible systemwhich allows the user to simply accessthe built in functionality as and when itis needed, from simple manualoperations to a fully-fledged automatedwarehouse. There are 3 storage zonesat Pioneer Foods UK; Raw materials,WIP (Work in Progress) and FinishedGoods. The receiving process utilisesEAN128 barcodes where available, butallows manual input if necessary. Thereare different stock allocation rulesbased on different customerrequirements. The dynamic assignmentof locations to segregate differentallergens in the WIP store maximiseslocation usage. The materials arereleased to the production environmentwhere they are consumed and WIP andfinished goods are created. Theoperation also handles the allocationand retrieval of finished goods toDespatch Orders. LWS Reflex provides stock controland visibility, and the automaticallocation of stock to orders means thatthe individual customer requirements,such as stock life to depot, are handledautomatically. Also, because the FLTdrivers are directed to pick the highestpriority moves rather than the easiestones to do, Pioneer UK can rest assuredthat the right pallet gets to the rightplace at the right time.Jonathon Thorn, General Manager atPioneer Foods UK, says: “The team atLogistex worked from initialconsultation through to final handover,to understand our business needs,current processes and the potentialgrowth of our capabilities. The teamused that insight to build a softwaresystem that supports our business andreduces time within our supply chain tofulfil customer orders. This has made asignificant difference to our business.”Pioneer Foods UK enhancesoperations with LWS Reflex WMSfrom LogistexFor more information, visit www.logistex.com, email enquiries@logistex.com or call +44(0) 1536 480 600. 18-21_Layout 1 21/11/2017 15:57 Page 4PROCESS, CONTROL & AUTOMATIONautomation22 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netAs 2017 draws to a close, companiesare faced with uncertainty over whatthe following year might bring. Toutedby many as a tough year for business,many are going to be faced withquestions on what they can do in orderto improve efficiency and drive a leaner,more streamlined business into the nextyear. One way to maximise productivity– particularly in a manufacturing facility– is to embrace higher levels of roboticsand automation.The UK food and drink industry isfalling far behind other countries whenit comes to automation and theadoption of robotics into the foodindustry. These were the findings of arecent study into robotics within thefood and drink industry, which foundthat even within Europe, the UK isranked 15th in terms of robotics usage.To give an idea of what that means, theUK is behind countries such asGermany, Sweden and France – but alsonow falls behind Slovakia, Slovenia andthe Czech Republic. The bigger problemstill is that the changes in roboticinvestment within the UK are some ofthe lowest in the bloc, with many foodmanufacturers not seeking to makechanges and instead relying onoutdated and expensive labour models.With the introduction of the NationalLiving Wage this has to change, butthere are some who fear it couldalready mean UK manufacturers cannotcompete with their rivals.A big problem is that thisphenomenon of the UK falling behind isactually quite limited to the food anddrink industry. As an example, the UK isstill highly competitive in theautomotive industry, despite robustcompetition from other countries, andlo and behold, the UK automotiveindustry is a huge investor in roboticsand automation equipment. In yearspast there might have been a fear thatthe initial investment into roboticsystems was too inhibitive (thoughclearly not too inhibitive for ourEuropean neighbours), but even if weconsider that the price in the UK wassomehow ten times what was offeredelsewhere, advancements in technologyhave caused that price to falldramatically. Nowadays a robotic unitsuch as a pallet stacker can cost lessthan the wages of what labour it wouldreplace. The good news for companies is thatautomated solutions are becomingcheaper and more flexible by the day.From basic assembly machines to leak-test fixtures and laser profiling devices,the latest innovations in automatedtechnology are helping businesses toreduce labour overheads and preventcostly wastage.In the past, no matter how skilled theoperative, there was always potential forerror on the production line. Today, weare looking at the possibility of 100%error and waste-free production, allthanks to factory automation. Take, forexample, the hydraulic leak-test fixture,a once-niche technology that is nowcommonly used in engineering andfood and drink production. Thesesimple-to-operate machines are used totest for flaws in hydraulic components,automationA year ofLooking ahead into 2018, efficiency is sure to be abigger concern than ever within the food and drinkindustry. Despite this, UK companies are still behind thecurve when it comes to control and automation – andthat cannot be allowed to continue. 22-26_Layout 1 21/11/2017 15:59 Page 1Food & Drink International 23www.fdiforum.netFulton heat transfer system helps to cleanup at American PanHeat transfer specialist, Fulton, has supplied a skid-mounted horizontal boiler solution toAmerican Pan UK, a supplier of industrial bakeware and pan maintenance services to Europe’sbakery market.Baking pans are refurbished by supermarket and industrial bakeries but, over a period of use,they become caked in carbon and flour residue. The American Pan UK process starts by soakingthe pans for 12/24 hours in heated low volatility organic solvent. From here, the pans go througha series of hot and cold rinses and conditioning tanks, before a new non-stick is applied.Fulton’s skid-mounted heat transfer solution features a horizontal, gas-fired RBC1500 boilerwith NU-WAY gas burner and fully-modulating burner controls to provide a steam output of2,393kg/h and maximum working pressure of 10.34barg. The system was delivered to site and craned into position and, once the Fulton solution wassited and installed, the plant room was built around it. For more information, visit www.fulton.co.uk.valves, pipes and so on. Pressure andflow measurement techniques areutilised in order to assess the integrityof each component – something that isespecially important if dangerous gasesor wastewater are being piped.Readings are then transmitted directlyto integrated software. Although thesemachines need to be operated bytrained staff, the potential cost-savingbenefits are obvious: flawedcomponents equal waste, and wastecan be financially deleterious for bigand small companies alike. Quite simply, automated solutionshelp to speed up production. Productuniformity is absolutely essential withinthe food and drink industry, yet it isdifficult to achieve on a fast-movingproduction line. Automated laserprofiling devices provide a handysolution, with laser triangulationensuring that every surface of a productis inspected. The product’s overall masscan therefore be determined quickly25 Á© shutterstock/Sergey Ryzhov22-26_Layout 1 21/11/2017 15:59 Page 224 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netPROCESS, CONTROL & AUTOMATIONSpiroflow launches new websiteFollowing the release of their new branding back in July, powder anddry solids handling specialist, Spiroflow, has launched a new website. Reflecting a new unified approach and aimed at a global audience,the new website features a responsive and modern design, providingusers with faster and more complete access into the issuessurrounding material bulk handling. Key features include a new navigation bar that separates out thedifferent parts of the business - conveying, automation, spare partsand service - and a resource hub providing additional content such ascase studies, video library, news and FAQs. Michel Podevyn, Spiroflow’s founder, co-Chairman and President,said: “What we wanted to achieve with this new website is to providevisitors with a resource to enable them to solve problems they mightbe experiencing with their current processes, particularly powderhandling issues. In addition we’ve added more relevant content onaftersales and commissioning.”For more information, visit www.spiroflow.com.© shutterstock/Evgeniy Kalinovskiy22-26_Layout 1 21/11/2017 16:00 Page 3Food & Drink International 25www.fdiforum.netSpecialist flowmeter for challenging applicationsAccurate flow and density measurement is essential to meet stringent product quality requirements. In thepast, this has only been possible under ideal conditions in a laboratory, as sudden changes in pressure andtemperature during processing can impair the accuracy of the measurement. This results in a fluctuation inproduct quality – for example, one batch of ice cream is softer, the next is thicker. NowEndress+Hauser has developed a flowmeter specifically for these kinds of challengingapplications: Promass Q.Mass flow errors are often due to the presence of very small bubbles trapped within a fluid(entrained gas), which are difficult to physically remove. To counter this problem, Promass Quses a revolutionary and patented new technique in Coriolis metering: Multi-FrequencyTechnology. This provides additional measurement information, eliminating the error and resulting inunprecedented measurement precision. Promass Q also features Heartbeat Technology for verification duringoperation. For more information, visit www.uk.endress.com.and easily, and, moreover, there areintelligent conveyer solutions on themarket that can hasten the inspectionprocess even further withoutcompromising on quality.The food and drink industry is inparticular expected to benefit fromhigher levels of automation, thanks notonly to the stringent hygienerequirements which will be easier tomeet in an automated system. But alsoto the quantity of products that mustgo through a factory in any given day.Throughput often numbers in the tensof thousands, so even the smallestsaving on each product soon adds upto substantial cost-benefits. Manual systems and manual recordingwere fine when production line speedswere typically 30 or 40 packs perminute, but today, some production linespeeds are ten times this amount andmore. Coupled with this has been theshift away from long batch runs toshorter and shorter batch runs, broughtabout by increased consumer choice,leading to dramatically increasedproduction complexity and frequentproduct changeovers.Given this scenario, any companyrelying totally or largely upon paper-based systems faces huge risks inoperator error. In this highly chargedenvironment, with the need to maintainsome semblance of efficiency amongstthe increased complexity and frequentchangeovers, it is not so much aquestion of if something goes wrong,but when.Efficiency does not only mean thequantity of a product created, however.Product recalls have expanded overrecent years, particularly assupermarkets become more demandingin terms of the freshness of their food.Recalls can be devastating for everyoneinvolved, leading not only to loss ofprofits, but also perhaps loss ofcustomers and reputation. Automationcan help to minimise this risk, as RobertBrooks of Omron Electronics points out.“Ever-widening product ranges meanthat manufacturers are producingshorter runs of more variants, each withtheir own labelling. Recipes forestablished products, too, are changingas NPD departments reformulate. Newpackaging grades and materials may besubstituted for cost or environmentalreasons. At the same time, audits from withinthe sector have increased both thepressure and necessity for factorytraceability, both internally and26 ÁPROCESS, CONTROL & AUTOMATION22-26_Layout 1 21/11/2017 16:00 Page 4externally. And as well as adhering to existingregulations such as the Food Information toConsumers (FIC) regulation in 2011, the sector iscontinually discussing new and improvedregulations.Manufacturers will be only too aware of theplethora of existing and debated regulations, plusthe advice given on handling a crisis should it occur.But our hope is that producers take a look at howexisting technology can assist to meet targets toreduce recalls.It would be easy for food producers to simplythrow their hands up and claim that there are toomany factors triggering recalls, and that it would beimpossible to address them all. Recalls happenbecause of many diverse factors. Also, they aredetected in all areas of the supply chain fromingredient supplier to retailer and consumer.But there are a number of production-level checkswhich can be integrated into control and informationsystems. Taken together, they can dramatically - andreliably - reduce the risk of recalls. If we take acommon type of production line including primarypackaging (robotic pick-and-place and tray sealing),secondary packaging (top-load cartoning), and tertiarypackaging (case-packing and palletising), there arenumber of points at which faults can occur. These canin turn result in an out-of-specification product and thethreat of a recall.Despite originating in the same few metres of theproduction line, many of these potential problems mayappear to be unrelated. In fact, all of these functionscan be managed and monitored from a single controlsystem. Vision systems for verifying packaging, productand codes, temperature control, sensors and robotcontrols can all sit on a single machine control platformwith direct two-way connectivity with factory orenterprise-level databases. Vision systems may not be a part of the qualitycontrol armoury of every food manufacturer, or mayonly be one of several technologies used. In the past,equipment pricing may have prompted potentialbeneficiaries to treat vision with caution. But thatperception is changing, and it is not only end userswho are choosing to fit vision systems on their lines. Automation has been adopted by other industrysectors, sometimes driven by strict regulation. There isno reason why the food industry cannot do the same,for reasons of efficiency and flexibility but also -increasingly - in order to minimise the risk of productrecalls.”26 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netPROCESS, CONTROL & AUTOMATIONALWAYS ONE STEP AHEAD!The new sera dosing pump iSTEP with stepper motor technology• Cleanable wet part (CIP) with FDA approved sealing• Add flavours, additives or enzymes to your process• Most accurate dosing technology• We also provide CIP chemical systems, salt addition, pH controlwww.sera-web.comFind out more: iSTEP.sera-web.com/enPCE set for growthPCE Automation isenjoying one of its mostsuccessful years sincestarting to buildautomation over 35years ago.To help with thecontinued expansion,the company hascommitted to YouthPledge East, part of theNorfolk and SuffolkLocal EnterprisePartnership initiative,which aims to unlockthe potential of youngpeople throughoutNorfolk and Suffolk.PCE, with a thirty-year tradition of training apprentices, has welcomednew recruits throughout its engineering and IT functions. The companyfirmly believes in not only giving young people that initial opportunity, butin also full supporting their apprenticeship and development journey. Managing Director James Cook said: “We are thrilled to be supportingYouth Pledge East. Here at PCE, we like to give our apprentices theopportunity to learn from our best, hopefully to the point where theychoose a career with PCE, becoming fully-fledged members of the PCEfamily.”For more information, visit www.pce-automation.co.uk.22-26_Layout 1 21/11/2017 16:00 Page 5Food & Drink International 27www.fdiforum.netTRACEABILITYSo named forits eclectic linkingparts, ‘supply chain’paints an overly simpleimage of the food industry.In reality, the vast network ismore like the intricate root system of atree, with forking tines breaking off andinterconnecting, or going off in theopposite direction. Despite whateverdistances may occur between theseroots, they all remain steadfastlyconnected to one another. Taking theanalogy a step further, this system, likesaid roots and tree, are critical tomaintaining the lifeblood of the foodand beverage industry. And yet stayingabreast of the myriad operations,transactions and occurrences acrossthis vast supply network can bechallenging at best. Traceability is a lens through whichthis network can be observed,contextualised and recorded, ensuringeverything stays above board and canbe accounted for. It’s in failings oftraceability that the infamous horsemeat scandal and its ilk were allowed tocome to pass and operate relativelyundetected for as long as they did.Scandals such as these highlight failingsand inadequacies in observing, policingand recording the supply network,whether at a local, national or globallevel.Tracing the supply chain isn’t simply amatter of detecting wrongdoings andprosecuting the perpetrators, it’s aboutcreating a robust and interconnectednetwork of information that can beused to followproducts from farmto suppliers, therebyhelping to reducedowntime, improve efficiency,reduce food waste and safeguardworkers and consumers. Of all thetrack-and-trace and similar innovationstaking place to improve the overalltraceability of the food industry, few arehaving the impact of blockchain. Blockchain is one of the industry’sfavourite buzzwords of late, both forfood and further afield, such as financetechnology. With its origins incryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin), thetechnology has been making big wavesin the mainstream. But many still findthemselves unsure of what blockchaincan do for them. In essence, this game-changing technology establishes atrusted environment for all transactions28 ÁTake a byte Traceability in the food supply chain is evolving with the advent ofblockchain technology. © shutterstock/Gts27-29_Layout 1 21/11/2017 16:24 Page 128 Food & Drink Internationalwww.fdiforum.netTRACEABILITYfrom food to fuel and everything inbetween. Think of it as an expansivedigital ledger. In a food context, thisallows all participants from across thesupply chain to gain authorised accessto trusted information regarding theorigin and state of food for theirtransactions. Using this technology, a food makerwould be able to see the quality, originand authenticity of a raw ingredient orsupplier, or allow a supplier to make amore informed decision about stockinga new product. It’s also advantageousin the event of minimising the damagesfrom a contaminated food product as itallows product origin to be ascertainedin a short amount of time, ensuring itsswift and safe removal from stores andsuppliers. In the ‘Labelling and traceability’feature in our October issue, wereported on a major blockchaincollaboration that saw major foodcompanies such as Nestlé and Unileverjoin forces with computing giant IBM.The aim of this groundbreakingcollaboration is to identify new areas inwhich the global supply chain canbenefit from blockchain. In the monthsfollowing our report, there have been anumber of key developments in thissphere, the most exciting of which seestomatoes being put on blockchain. US start-up Ripe has appliedblockchain to agriculture and maintainsthat this technology can be woven intothe complex network of the global foodsupply chain. A pilot project saw thestart-up put its concept into action by© shutterstock/Black_KiraOf all thetrack-and-traceand similarinnovations takingplace to improvethe overalltraceability of thefood industry, feware having theimpact ofblockchain27-29_Layout 1 21/11/2017 16:24 Page 2Food & Drink International 29www.fdiforum.netTRACEABILITYputting tomatoes on blockchain at a180 acre farm in Massachusetts. Thepilot involved tracking the fruit’sripeness, colour and sugar contentstep-by-step which, the company says,reduced spoilage and allowed thesupply chain to be documented. Further demonstrating the abilities ofthis technology, the start-up partneredwith Sweetgreen Inc. – a farm-to-counter salad franchise. Ripe says thatby tracking crops with this tech,growers can yield higher-qualityproduce and, perhaps most excitingly,put better more reliable informationinto the hands of farmers, fooddistributors and restaurants, resulting ina more informed and robust supplychain. With this tech in tow, foodorigins no longer has to be a fraughtbattleground, with growers, stockistsand suppliers now able to prove it. In what could well be a herald of thefuture of the food industry, less aninternet of things, and more a robustinterconnected network of food stuffs,their suppliers and manufacturers,blockchain will be critical to traceability.Ultimately, blockchain is another tool atthe food industry’s disposals, not acure-all that will usher in a golden ageof traceability. It requires willingnessfrom suppliers and manufactures ifwidespread adoption is ever going tooccur, and will likely need to be used inconjunction with a variety of other toolsin order to create the kind of networkof information needed to have anymeaningful impact.© shutterstock/goodluz27-29_Layout 1 21/11/2017 16:24 Page 3Next >