Industrial robot sales in the food and beverage processing market continue to grow, and according to PMMI, now represent the second largest growth sector behind automotive. The packaging and processing industry association recently released the new Rapid Growth Ahead for Industrial Robots in Food and Beverage Processing infographic illustrating this growth.
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 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. PMMI's recent white paper on the subject is also available for download by clicking here.
