Labour costs are by no means the only reason for companies to invest in technology, but they are a big push in that direction.
The average cost of the labourforce at UK produce companies has been estimated as 35 per cent, but in some companies it can be as high as 65 per cent.
Yet still a large proportion of the industry has failed to take advantage of the possibilities offered to it by the robotics industry. Machinery in all of its forms is well-used generally, but as a labour substitute it is under-utilised. “There are some big gaps,” said Professor Richard Napier of Warwick HRI. “Investment has to managed against cost savings. Companies can reduce labour input, but it must be in order to enhance quality, precision, efficiency and waste management amongst other things.”
Napier was talking at Warwick HRI’s Robotics in Horticulture conference last week, which was organised to coincide with a Defra funded study being carried out by the research institute into the potential for reducing labour usage in the horticulture industry. “We are trying to look at the whole picture,” he said, “across the whole range of the horticulture industry.”
That involves analysis of the economic framework in which growers operate and the many barriers to implementation of new technology, including the general aversion to change within the industry and the fragility of customer relationships. “Seasonality too creates problems for companies looking to make the most efficient use of their machinery,” said Napier. “But the main question to answer is what do you think you will be doing in this field 10 years from now that will make you more competitive?”
Automation is both an addition to and a substitute for labour, said Napier, adding that there are elements of human capacity that are very difficult to copy or replace. “Hand, eye or brain co-ordination are not trivial to reproduce. If you are to replace them, you need something that can at least match them for computational ability and competitive edge.
“When put into that context, labour is still relatively cheap, but it is fickle and harder to find.” Whichever way the industry looks at it, he concluded, the opportunity to reduce man-hour inputs into horticulture cannot be ignored.
Stu Allerton, from the department of food manufacturing technologies, Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association (CCFRA), said automation is not merely a way of replacing humans. “The correct use of robotics can improve the quality of the working environment - people’s jobs can be restructured to make them more interesting and more efficient.”
He said that any company introducing machinery into the workplace would be well served to include the workforce in the decision making and implementation process. “It is not a good idea to nickname your robot P45, especially while there are people around waiting for theirs,” he said.
“There are a number of lessons the horticulture industry can learn from the food industry as a whole. Don’t wake up one morning and say ‘I must have a robot’, but equally don’t be frightened to incorporate machines into the working environment. It is vital that whatever choice you make is the right choice. You need to know exactly what you need and what will be right for your systems. You are engineers in your own environment.”
Allerton added: “You don’t need to be over-ambitious from day one - whatever issues you might have need to be sorted out before implementation.
Read Machinery Focus next week for more details of speakers the Warwick HRI event, including news on research into automation of mushroom picking and the potential use of magnetic Resonance Imaging - or MRI scanning to the layman - for monitoring product quality.
INTEGRATED ILAPAK
Packaging systems specialist Ilapak has unveiled a new fully-integrated version of its Indy intelligent product feeding system.
The automatic, multi-belt system is available with the firm’s Carrera 2000 PC electronic flow-wrappers. “It offers a simpler and more cost-effective way to increase throughput on virtually any type of flow-wrapped products,” said an Ilapak spokesperson.
The new system allows the Indy product feeding system and the Carrera flow-wrapper to be operated using a single, common set of controls. Any product or size changeovers can be carried out quickly and easily via the Carrera’s PC screen.
Indy was previously only available as a separate unit, but now its integrated design and simpler control system can reduce costs and make the product feeding system more economical. An added bonus is that the streamlined design has a smaller footprint and so takes up less space on the packhouse floor.
Feeding belts are easily removed by hand and no tools are required so cleaning is quick and easy to carry out. Feeding systems can be supplied in four, six or nine-belt versions according to type and size of product required.
RAPID SCREENING FOR PLANT STRESS
The new OS-30p from Hertfordshire-based ADC Bioscientific can carry out rapid screening for plant stress in the field using just one key operation.
The chlorophyll fluorometer uses proven fluorescence techniques and gives field investigators a fast, non-destructive method for the screening of photochemical efficiency.
This latest offering from ADC, which specialises in the design and manufacture of bio-science and environmental research instruments, weighs only 500g. It is battery operated and consists of a handheld control module. And - for the first time - an integral optical probe means it can be used one-handed as there is no external probe to position.
Using just one key operation, OS-30p measures fluorescence parameters which appear on a graphical display screen. The instrument has been designed as a complete field system to screen plants as part of research programmes investigating environmental stresses including temperature, pollution, water and nutrient deficiencies.
KNIVES ARE OUT
Air Control Industries (ACI) has come up with a novel method for drying potatoes after washing: Airknives.
Blower-powered Airknives are an effective alternative to the conventional sponge-roller table. They provide a continuous air film across the full width of the conveyor to ensure 100 per cent exposure of moving potatoes to the air flow.
“A major benefit of using Airknives is the minimising of risk of cross contamination resulting from bacteria that might be carried by sponge rollers,” said a spokesman from ACI. “This is particularly advantageous where potatoes will not be peeled or further processed before eating, such as Greenvale AP’s punnet and high-care products.”
Somerset-based ACI’s Airknives can be adjusted so that the volume and speed of air flow can be tailored to meet specific line requirements, according to conveyor speed and volume of throughput. This can be achieved by blower-size specification, the number of Airknives installed or a combination of both. Capacities range up to 2,000m3 an hour at pressures of 250Mbar. Blowers can also be installed in acoustic enclosures to reduce noise-operating levels.
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