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Automation in Food Processing

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Springer Handbook of Automation

Part of the book series: Springer Handbooks ((SHB))

Abstract

Factory-based food production and processing globally forms one of the largest economic and employment sectors. Within it, current automation and engineering practice is highly variable, ranging from completely manual operations to the use of the most advanced manufacturing systems. Yet overall there is a general lag in the use of automation technology compared with other industries. There are many reasons for this lack of uptake and this chapter will initially discuss the factors that make automation of food production so essential and at the same time consider counterinfluences that have prevented this automation uptake.

In particular the chapter will focus on the diversity of an industry covering areas such as bakery, dairy, confectionary, snacks, meat, poultry, seafood, produce, sauce/condiments, frozen, and refrigerated products, which means that generic solutions are often (considered by the industry) difficult or impossible to obtain. However, it will be shown that there are many features in the production process that are almost completely generic, such as labeling, quality/safety automation, and palletization, and others that do in fact require an almost unique approach due to the natural and highly variable features of food products. In considering these needs, this chapter has therefore approached the specific automation requirements of food production from two perspectives. Firstly, it will be shown that in many cases there are generic automation solutions that could be valuably used across the industry ranging from small cottage facilities to large multinational manufacturers. Examples of generic types of automation well suited across the industry will be provided. In addition, for some very specific difficult handling operations, customized solutions will be shown to give opportunities to study the problems/risks/demands associated with food handling and to provide an insight into the solution, thereby demonstrating that in most instances the difficult/impossible can indeed be achieved.

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Abbreviations

ABB:

Asea Brown Boveri

BS:

base station

CCP:

critical control point

DC:

direct-current

DCS:

distributed control system

DCS:

disturbance control standard

DPC:

distributed process control

EC:

European Community

EHEDG:

European Hygienic Engineering and Design Group

EU:

European Union

FDA:

US Food and Drug Administration

HACCP:

hazard analysis and critical control points

HMI:

human machine interface

IRB:

institutional review board

ISO:

International Organization for Standardization

ISO:

independent system operator

IT:

information technology

KISS:

keep it simple system

PLC:

programmable logic controller

SCADA:

supervisory control and data acquisition

SCARA:

selective compliant robot arm

SME:

small and medium-sized enterprises

cGMP:

current good manufacturing practice

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Advanced Robotics, Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163, Genova, Italy

    Darwin G. Caldwell PhD

  2. Department of Advanced Robotics, Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163, Genova, Italy

    Steve Davis PhD

  3. Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, S1 3JD, Sheffield, UK

    René J. Moreno Masey MSc

  4. Department of Advanced Robotics, Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163, Genova, Italy

    John O. Gray PhD

Authors
  1. Darwin G. Caldwell PhD
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  2. Steve Davis PhD
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  3. René J. Moreno Masey MSc
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  4. John O. Gray PhD
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Darwin G. Caldwell PhD , Steve Davis PhD , René J. Moreno Masey MSc or John O. Gray PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. PRISM Center, and School of Industrial Engineering, Purdue University, 315 N. Grant Street, 47907, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Shimon Y. Nof

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© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Caldwell, D.G., Davis, S., Moreno Masey, R.J., Gray, J.O. (2009). Automation in Food Processing. In: Nof, S. (eds) Springer Handbook of Automation. Springer Handbooks. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-78831-7_60

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-78831-7_60

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-78830-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-78831-7

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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