Meat+Poultry - June 2019 - 98

PA C K A GING SOLUTIONS

"We can pick delicate, slippery, variable product repeatedly and reliably without damage or
downtime," he says. "With Soft Robotics, you
also can run your robots at a faster rate than
with traditional robotic grasping technologies,
generating ROI sooner."
Understanding ROI is one of the most important steps for a meat processor when deciding to
implement robotic automation, Vause says.
"With the continued stress in the labor market
and new technologies like Soft Robotics, we are
finding that the ROI is very impressive," he adds.
Souser says the company's systems handle
tough, repetitive tasks and allow processors to
redeploy their workers elsewhere in the plant.
"Often, we also fill the voids where our
customers cannot find enough labor for their
lines," he says. "The ROI on our equipment,
based on pure labor savings, is 18 to 24 months,
but there are often other factors that contribute
to a higher ROI including overall line throughput,
as the robots don't need breaks and are on time
every day."

OPTIMIZED AUTOMATION

98

2019 AUTOMATION TRENDS + TECHNOLOGY MEAT+ POULTRY

The entire
logistics
chain - from
primary
product
handling
to grocery
store order
fulfillment
to home
delivery -
can now
recognize
the power of
automation."
Carl Vause

FUTURE FOCUSED
Souser believes meat and poultry processors
will continue to struggle to staff their lines with
adequate labor for the foreseeable future.
"If anything, based on demographics and the
retirement of baby boomers coupled with the
lack of interest from the next generation in filling these jobs, this pressure will only increase,"
he says. "Automation is a big part of the solution."
Finally, Chaudhry notes that if and when food
processors are able to implement robotics and
automation systems, there will be a continuous
need for data collection and analytics to maintain efficiency.
"Without data, you are unable to make the
effective changes and efficiency gains the automated system was designed for," he says. "Your
automated systems may not always include
robots and it's very important to have machine
capability, through digitalization, to continuously collect production- and service-related
data and subsequently, the infrastructure to
analyze the data to proactively maintain the
most efficient system. That's the true implication of automation."

Soft Robotics

Until recently, the handling of variable, delicate
product has not been able to be replaced by robots,
Vause says.
"With the invention of soft robotics, the entire
logistics chain - from primary product handling
to grocery store order fulfillment to home delivery - can now recognize the power of automation," he says.
The easiest tasks for robots to perform are
repetitive, with consistent product and fixed
pick-and-place location points, Chaudhry says.

Automated systems
allow robots to handle
products quicker
and with a lighter
touch than human
hands can achieve.

"However, if one person is performing multiple tasks simultaneously, i.e., pick, move, rotate,
inspect and place, then break down of that 'one'
task into subtasks is required," he says. "At
times, that one task has to be subdivided over
multiple robots."
In addition, Chaudhry says the benefit of
human labor is they are able to continuously be
compensating for variations while performing a
task "without thinking."
"That's obviously not the case with robots," he
says. "Every action and sub-action have to be
identified and converted to a program and translated into action for the robot arm and down to
its end-of-arm tool. As the technology improves
through artificial intelligence, faster data
processing and materials, so will the ability for
robots to perform these intricate tasks."
Souser contends that because meat and poultry packaging environments are typically cold
and wet, the repetitive tasks that need to be
performed, such as loading product into a tray
over and over again or loading large or heavy
packages of meat into cases all shift long, are
often not very desirable to line workers.
"Our robotic systems automate these
processes," he says. "Our systems never get tired
or require time off. They just run."
Meat+Poultry - June 2019

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