When thinking of recent advances in technology, the food and beverage industry isn’t one that immediately springs to mind. But it is fast becoming a more connected, automated future of picking, packing and producing food. 

With the world’s population increasing, the food and beverage industry is becoming increasingly competitive and dynamic in order to meet the new and growing demands of the modern consumer. Food manufacturers are today presented with a growing array of new technologies, including data, robotics, AI and the mechanisation of processing techniques, which automate manual processes and improve or replace conventional processing technologies. 

For employers, this will have far reaching implications, including the ability to increase production and efficiency, reduce costs and potentially better the shelf life and safety of their products. As advances within the industry occur, it will also mean that food and beverage organisations will need to consider the skills of their workforce, and how these may need to change in order to fulfill the new requirements of jobs that utilise these technologies. In this way, upskilling and pre-employment programs can be a useful tool for employers when building a workforce that’s able to adapt to these innovative changes. 

Here are four innovations shaping the future of food manufacturing and the skills that go with them. 

Robotics in food packaging 

The food processing and packaging market was valued at US$ 302.2 Billion in 2019, and is predicted to reach US$ 386.9 Billion by 2025. This expansion has seen a significant uptake of automation technologies in order to meet demand, with 94% of food packaging operators now using robotics within their packaging process, according to a survey by the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. 

Contemporary robotics allows for order picking and packaging to be much more efficient, reducing instances of human error. For example, once an order has been placed online, the robot will be able to detect the location of the specific product, package it and then provide the customer with real-time information and status of the product being delivered. 

Food packaging robots provide the opportunity for workers to avoid performing repetitive and tedious production line tasks. Instead, these employees can be upskilled and trained within other areas, whether that be working directly with the technology, or even overseeing and managing the production line process. 

Automation in food manufacturing 

Robotics and automation have long-posed challenges for the food manufacturing sector, with the shape and size of food items often highly variable, making it hard for robots to grasp products. However, new advancements in grippers that can quickly but gently handle delicate or irregularly shaped items have been game-changing for the industry. So much so, that the value of the global food automation industry is expected to double within the next five years, reaching $2.5 billion by 2022. 

Many advanced grippers are often paired with robust robotic vision technology to guide an automated robotic arm, allowing it to compensate for variations in product shape. These autonomous solutions that robots bring mean that high precision movements take place, resulting in greater accuracy and consistency in processing applications and mitigating workplace accident levels. 

The improvement of food safety 

Though food safety should already be high on the list of priorities for most food manufacturers, this is likely to increase even more so following the pandemic, with consumers becoming increasingly concerned by food safety and traceability. 

There are several innovative technologies that are being used to improve food safety and help companies reduce the number of spoilt product and recalls. Robotics, for example, are able to limit human contact with foodstuffs, and therefore decrease the risk of contamination leading to foodborne diseases. 

Many food and beverage organisations are also implementing blockchains, which are secure, digital ledgers that hold information about various transactions and data. This allows for is complete transparency throughout the supply chain, because you can track goods from their origin all the way to distribution and sale. 

The IoT and transportation 

The food and beverage industry has a rather unique challenge with regard to supply chain operations. Food may be clean and correctly handled at the source with no traces of contamination, but it’s then passed on to a third party, whereby control is relinquished. There is a chance that refrigerated transport carrying frozen food may break down, or perhaps a distributor doesn’t appropriately store perishable goods, resulting in contamination. 

This transportation stage can be more effectively tracked and optimised with the help from the IoT (Internet of Things) and smart, connected sensors. For example, sensors can be embedded in the packaging of foods to track their movements, while additional sensors can monitor storage temps, travel times, unexpected exposure, package tears and more. 

Most importantly, these sensors are connected to a central data processing system where human workers can identify problematic changes. This setup allows supply chain participants to take action sooner in order to remedy potential problems or even pull contaminated goods out of the supply. In this way, employees are still an integral part of the process, however the skills they require are different to those more typically associated with traditional food manufacturing and processing.  

If you’re looking to upskill your workforce or are interested in pre-employment programs, contact Acclaimed Workforce today, or learn more.