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to meet consumer requirements/ shortages, and overall profitability. through the supply chain, even down
demands. This means upgrading to the way the products are delivered
existing equipment or purchasing Manufacturers are well aware of to the restaurants that prepare
new equipment. That can be a huge the challenges today and tomorrow, the food or the consumers’ home
challenge when the cost of a square developing new and innovative and kitchen. Automation will not
foot of a food plant is so expensive products to automate every process replace people but will improve the
and fixed base cost is considerable. possible. jobs in food processing skills workers need to keep up with
The decisions of how to proceed may will continue to shift away from the pace of change. New demands
not be easy but aren’t an impossible manual labor, where workers sit in the skill sets of food processing
industry. along the side of a conveyor picking, workers will require a higher level
sorting and packaging food items, to of training to meet the machinery
You will find a variety of different operators that monitor the processes production capabilities. No matter
machinery including automated in a control room with an eye on the type of product or the way it is
ovens, cutting and forming equipment speed, efficiency and packaged, automation has found
machines, sortation equipment, quality control. However, the food its way into the process of the food
mixers, and blending machines, industry is not an industry that can industry. At the end of the day, plant
filling equipment, wrapping run in the dark – it will always require floor automation is good for the food
equipment, and as many robots human intervention. Available labor processing industry – keeping costs
as a highly automated automotive in the food processing industry will down and food quality up.
assembly line. Automation is now continue to be one of the greatest
a necessity in the food industry to challenges, driving even more need * Author is a trainee at G.B Pant University in
address the required levels of quality for automation … beginning with Button Mushroom Production & Hydroponics
control, production speed, labor harvesting and moving right on

Food Marketing & Technology 39 March 2020