The Future of Automation in Asia

ONE unavoidable price of successful development is the transition of workers from manual labour to white-collar jobs, leading to a reduced workforce for manufacturing lines. Most government policies towards migrant labourers are not responsive to industry requirements, and relocating operations to areas with a ready labour force is a long-term and capital-intensive process.

The F&B sector in Asia is poised for strong growth in 2012. Industry statistics have indicated healthy expansion in 2011 for countries like China (food consumption: 13.2%; soft drinks sales: 15.0%), India (food consumption: 5.9%; soft drink sales: 7.5 %), Thailand (food consumption: 6.6%; soft drinks sales: 7.8%), Viet Nam (food consumption: 10.0%; soft drinks sales: 10.7%) and Indonesia (food consumption: 7.4%; soft drinks sales: 11.5%), according to Business Monitor International.

Increased consumption of food and beverage products, driven by strong economic growth, has led to a rise in the demand for packaged goods in Asia. A recent survey from ICD Research cites that four out of the top six growth regions in the packaging industry are within the Asia-Pacific region; these are India, Singapore, South Korea and China. In this scenario, automation technologies used for decades in other industries are becoming more attractive for the F&B sector; but what options are available and is there a checklist to make sure the right decisions and choices are being made?

Quality considerations in technology selection

For machine visions systems specialist, Cognex, the bottom line is that F&B manufacturing industry in Asia is expected to expand to meet growing demand over the next 12 months.

"Such demands place pressures for better Quality Control measures to ensure that products are traceable throughout the supply chain and that are safe for end-user consumption," said Didier Lacroix, senior vice president, International Sales and Services, Cognex Corp.Before deciding on an automated QC system, F&B manufacturers there are specific questions that manufacturers should ask themselves. The first is: How effective are my current QC processes?

Although an automated inspection system may be require a hefty investment, it does reduced costly human errors that could lead to even more prohibitive product recalls. "An existing QC system that is dependent on human vision to pick out errors – such as misprinted or missing packaging information – is subject to variables such as operator fatigue and human subjectivity. If the system is not capable of ensuring 100 per cent accuracy in error detection, it probably means that an automated solution is required," Mr Lacroix says.

An equally important question is: What should I look for in an automated system?

"With the variety of automated vision QC systems that are out on the market, manufacturers need to find out how easy (or difficult) it is to configure the system and whether the system can be quickly understood and controlled by operators. Another consideration is whether the system can be installed within a short timeframe, and with minimum disruption to production," he explains.

A third and equally important question prior to purchase: Does the vendor provide close technical and service support in my location?

"Whilst a particular vendor may offer an effective product that meets the needs of the manufacturer, the solution is incomplete if the former does not have a presence either with a branch office or via a localised integrator/representative. The vendor's speed of response is also critical for the healthy operation of the manufacturing facility," says Mr Lacroix, adding, "If it takesAdidas Ultra Boost 3.0 Cny