CenFRA: Robots are not over-priced one-trick ponies

06-Jan-2011 - Last updated on 06-Jan-2011 at 21:02 GMT

If the Centre for Food Robotics and Automation (CenFRA) is to have a long-term future, it has to work harder to convince UK food manufacturers that robots are not prohibitively expensive and inflexible, according to its new boss.

Ian Nicholls, who took the helm in November following the departure of Steve Blayze, told FoodManufacture.co.uk that he was investigating a “range of alternative funding arrangements” to help CenFRA sustain itself after cash from current backer Yorkshire Forward dries up.

He also remained confident that the Doncaster-based centre - which recently secured enough cash from Yorkshire Forward to tide it over until the end of March - could become self-sustaining “reasonably quickly”.

He added: “It was always understood that the money from Yorkshire Forward was there to provide a safety net. Admittedly it was originally hoped that it would be available until March 2012, not March 2011, but we’re all very optimistic.”

Looking again at robotics

The challenge for CenFRA, which helps manufacturers explore the benefits of increased automation, was to educate manufacturers and encourage those that had looked at robots a decade ago and dismissed them to look again, said Nicholls, who has had a distinguished career in the food industry, holding senior positions at ABF, Mars and RHM before going into consultancy in the late 1980s.

“A lot has changed over the last few years in terms of the capabilities and price of this technology, and we have to tackle a lot of misconceptions that are out there.

“Robots are very flexible now – and much cheaper than they used to be. Suppliers also realise that they must deliver a faster payback than ever before because any new technology can become obsolete in five years.

“Robots are out there now that can pick up everything from eggs to poppadums without damaging them, or peel onions in every different shape or size.”

Cash on offer

There were “pockets of buoyancy and opportunity” across the food industry where firms could benefit from robotics, while CenFRA had exciting projects on the go in confectionery and ready meals manufacturing in particular, he said.

“We’ve just launched a £1,000 ‘chequebook’ scheme that offers food and drink manufacturers £1,000 towards an audit which will enable them to identify how they could benefit from increased automation.”

The introduction of simulation techniques enabling firms to ‘virtually’ evaluate the merits of automating production processes before making investments had also proved successful, he said.

This was partly because it helped managers present something more concrete to bosses when trying to secure funds, but also because production staff were better able to visualise how the kit might function in practice, he said.

“Often you can’t really envisage how something will work using an engineer’s drawing.”