Industrial Robot Sales Booming in Food and Beverage

Industrial robot sales in the food and beverage processing market continue to grow and now represent the second largest growth sector behind automotive, according to the new Rapid Growth Ahead for Industrial Robots in Food and Beverage Processing infographic released by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies.

Industrial robot sales in the Americas are estimated at $3.5 billion, with the market for industrial robots sold into the food, beverage and personal care industry projected at $456.1 million, or 13 percent of all industrial robot sales in the Americas.

Applications for industrial robots are moving into meat processing, fruit and vegetable handling and pick and place for processed foods. This expansion is due to technology advances such as end of arm tooling or gripping technology, robots being able to withstand hygienic and harsh conditions, the introduction of collaborative robots, easy programming and set-up, flexibility and the advances in artificial intelligence.

Robot selection varies upon application. Processors looking to add robots to their manufacturing lines are looking at payload, working envelope, footprint, speed, accuracy and repeatability. For full details, download the complete white paper.

The upcoming ProFood Tech (March 26-28, 2019, McCormick Place, Chicago) will showcase the latest advances in robots for food and beverage processing. As the only processing trade show in North America addressing all market sectors, ProFood Tech will bring together 7,000 professionals from all food and beverage processing markets.

Produced by three of the world’s trade show leaders, PACK EXPO, Koelnmesse (organizer of Anuga) and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), the three-day event will showcase cutting-edge crossover technologies and innovative solutions from 400 exhibitors over 125,000 net square feet of exhibit space.

ProFood Tech’s free educational program, the Knowledge Hub, produced by IDFA, will offer a targeted range of learning experiences in three venues on the show floor. The program will address pressing business challenges with fresh ideas and strategies from respected leaders in the food and beverage industry, discussions on best practices and deep dives into consumer trends that are changing the food and beverage landscape. 

• The Impact Zone will encourage interactive discussions and offer opportunities to learn from the experiences and successes of industry colleagues.
• The Innovation Zone will feature breakthrough technologies, ideas and formulations designed to spark creativity, help find solutions and uncover fresh opportunities.
• The Disruption Zone will deliver a line-up of sessions for professionals to learn more about implementing disruptive technologies to meet consumer demands. 

PMMI’s Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network will present “Leading Change,” an interactive breakfast on Wednesday, March 27 from 8:00 to 9:45 a.m. Featured speakers, Diane Wolf, a former VP at Kraft Foods turned consultant, and Karen Norheim, EVP at American Crane and Equipment Corporation, will share how they navigated the manufacturing business to become a leader within their companies. Register here.

ProFood Tech registration is $30 until March 1 after which the price will increase to $100. Register online at profoodtech.com.