The degree of automation in the food and beverage industry is increasing. The DLG Robotics Working Group has now once again analysed the role played by robots and presents the second DLG Trend Monitor „Robots in the food and beverage industry“.
The current trend monitor is based on responses from a total of 51 German and Austrian companies. As in the last survey in 2014, robots are currently used primarily in companies in the alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage industry, followed by companies in the „milk, dairy products and cheese“ and „baked goods“ sectors. If these are supplemented by companies from the „meat, poultry“ sector, the „pioneer industries“ have remained largely identical in terms of the use of robots. The analysis of the Trend Monitor shows that robots are now used in almost all sizes of business. The only exceptions are very small companies with between 1 and 9 employees. On the other hand, there is still a correlation between the size of the company and the use of robots, i.e. the larger the company, the more likely it is to already be using robots.
Number of robots in operation
While only a single robot was used in a third of the companies that had already deployed robots in 2014, at least two robots have already been installed in the companies that took part in the current survey. However, there are also companies in which larger numbers of up to 100 robots are in operation. Of the 21 companies already using robots, 17 stated that they wanted to install more robots. In the 2014 survey, this was also the case for 19 out of 41 companies, which shows that a positive experience with robots is obviously their best advocate.
Type of robots that are used
This year's Trend Monitor also asked which types of robots are used in companies. By far the most frequently used robots in the participating companies are Articulated robots followed by gantry robots, delta robots and Scara robots. In three of the companies concerned, different types of robots are already in use. In one company, a co-operating robot is also already in use.
What are robots currently used for?
With regard to the question of which tasks the robots are currently used for in the participating companies, the picture is essentially unchanged compared to the Trend Monitor in 2014. The most frequently mentioned areas of application for robots are still in the physically heavy work of palletising as well as in packaging and repackaging tasks. With five and six mentions, robots are also relatively frequently entrusted with sorting and order picking tasks. Use directly in production was only mentioned by two companies.
Objectives of the use of robots
When it comes to the specific goals that companies associate with the use of robots, the distribution is basically very similar to that of the 2014 survey. There is a slight shift in the two frontrunners, namely general Efficiency improvement and automation in the sense of Staff savings. While the latter was in second place in 2014, it moved up to first place in 2017, a shift that is undoubtedly due to both the general economic pressure in the industry as a whole and the increasing Shortage of skilled labour are expressed. As in 2014, the aspect of „humanisation of the workplace“ ranked third. As in 2014, the aspect of improving production hygiene ranked last in the categories provided, although this place is by no means inferior, meaning that the topic is definitely important in practice.
Of the 28 companies that do not yet use robots, 20 stated in the survey that they would like to use robots in the future, while only eight companies have not yet considered this or reject the use of robots.
Reasons why robots have not yet been used
In view of the advantages promised by the use of robots in the food and beverage industry, the question arises as to why many companies, indeed entire sub-sectors, have not yet been able to decide in favour of their use. The main argument put forward by these companies against the use of robots is that robots are not yet seen as an economically interesting approach to solving current problems. This argument is put forward by companies of all sizes. However, as in 2014, there is again a clear trend towards it being mentioned less frequently as the size of the company increases. As in the 2014 Trend Monitor, other possible arguments fall significantly behind the aspect of a lack of profitability, with the issue of integration into existing lines or a lack of integration expertise as well as the question of space and a lack of experience playing a significant role.
Robot manufacturers and system houses face greater challenges
Even if the question was not explicitly asked in the current Trendmonitor, the different answers once again show that some companies in the food industry feel too isolated when it comes to robots. In practice, it is not enough just to buy a robot. Rather, it must be customised to the respective production process and integrated into it. The potential for solving tasks through the use of robots is influenced by numerous factors and at the same time the possible potential is also offset by limitations. According to the results of the trend monitor, robot manufacturers, plant manufacturers and system houses need to focus more closely on the conditions in practice in order to answer the relevant questions and address the topic of robotics in the context of the future. Digitisation and Networking to further pave the way into the food industry on a broad front.
For free download of the complete DLG Trend Monitor: Robots in the food and beverage industry 2017
[infotext icon]DLG Robotics Working Group
The aim of the DLG working group „Robots in the food and beverage industry“, which was founded in 2008, is to provide interdisciplinary and neutral information on the possibilities of using robots in the various sectors of the food and beverage industry[/infotext].
