Drives & Controls September 2022

34 n FOOD & BEVERAGE September 2022 www.drivesncontrols.com Adding automation can enhance existing food factories F or many people, newmachinery is associated with new factories, but that doesn’t need to be the case. Even the oldest factories can be remodelled and refurbished to accommodate automation, and to raise productivity while cutting capital and operating costs. Often, ageing properties are ideal for refurbishments and the potential can be huge. Right now, the cost of land for development is at a premium, which can be off-putting even for those with the biggest budgets. Even if land is secured, there are inflation and supply chain risks to contend with, and it’s often a slow, laborious process to get a factory built from the ground up to being fully operational. Refurbishments represent a viable alternative. It’s time to dispel the myth that newmachinery must mean new factories too. Refurbishments are multi-faceted. They provide a chance to re-assess every aspect of a company’s production processes, from the structure of its production arrangements to the makeup and efficient servicing of the factory itself – and far beyond, to deal with energy, water, fire, environment, compliance, insurance and business resilience. In my 35 years’experience of food production construction projects, I’ve found that this re-evaluation process can be hugely illuminating. Often it leads to less space being needed for current processes, as remodelling streamlines processes and uses floor space more efficiently. Redesigned floor plans allow for modernisation, with automation at its core. As new space becomes available, it can be tailored to accommodate automation which can accelerate production processes and productivity. As automation is added, the roles of manual workforces are moulded around the new machinery. This boosts the need for remodelling as production processes are altered and optimised. Last year, my company did just this at Young’s Seafood’s factory in Grimsby. By removing numerous redundant coolers, ceiling panels and concrete floors, we were able to create new production works incorporating automation technologies, thus futureproofing the business. What we installed was the most advanced process line in the country, including fish and breadcrumbing lines and a high-risk fryer operating at 130ºC, with an advanced spiral freezer capable of freezing up to seven tonnes of produce per hour at –30ºC. This amounts to 23,331 fish fingers which, if stacked on top of each other, would reach 2km high – 22 times the height of Big Ben. It was a multi-million pound project that showed what’s possible working within the scope of an existing property. But even the tightest of budgets can yield impressive results. At the other end of the scale, we recently completed a project in East Anglia involving the installation of new process lines, converting low-risk areas into high-risk areas, with high-care drainage, food-safe floors, and stainless-steel works – all for less than £500,000. Because refurbishments are tailored to suit the logistics and practicalities of each site, they can be adapted to suit a range of budgets. A refurbishment that can improve operations substantially, does not need to cost a lot. As times change, so do processes. That’s why we see a lot of potential to save space during refurbishment projects. Ageing properties often incorporate bulky, now-defunct machinery and equipment. Removing them creates more space to manoeuvre. Investing in refurbishing ageing properties can also go a long way to keeping energy and other costs low. It’s much more sustainable, especially compared to the high carbon use alternative of a new build. Integrating automation into food factories is a growing trend. As it gains momentum, there should be a bigger emphasis on the benefits of adapting existing infrastructure, and not just on new-build projects. n Automation is becoming increasingly common in food factories. What isn’t widely discussed, however, is how food manufacturers can integrate automation into their existing factories. Paul Waldeck, executive director of the food and beverage construction specialist Ambrey Baker, explains the potential benefits. Adding automation technologies to existing food factories can yield many benefits compared to building new factories from scratch