Automation for the ‘food nation’
recipes. Ingredients storage for GA Pet
Foods
The business serves more than 50,000 When GA Pet Food Partners was planning
customers every week, with around 70 its new Ingredients Kitchen, a state of the
organic products which include bespoke
dedicated franchised distributor partners
across the UK, each of whom deliver
veg boxes as well as the additional
items customers order from Riverford’s
Picking technology has increased efficiency and
accuracy at Riverford Organic Farmers
UK food manufacturers of every
shape and size are investing more in
automation, according to Robert Wood,
business development manager of
Daifuku.
Whether it’s the impact of Brexit,
anticipated skills shortages or a growing
appreciation of automation, food
manufacturers are increasingly harnessing
the benefits of automated warehouse
systems such as ASRS (automatic storage
and retrieval systems), picking systems,
high bay storage and even ‘co-bots’
working on factory floors. And it’s not just
the ‘big boys’ that are investing in scalable
automation solutions; we have worked
with several fast growing, medium-sized
food producers in recent months that
demonstrate this trend perfectly.
additional products to customers, this was stacker cranes in the ‘Larder’ and ‘Pantry’
not an issue; but once that number began storage areas of the food preparation
to escalate, the task of picking on the road plant which covers an area in excess
became onerous for drivers. It was obvious of 20,000m 2 . Raw ingredients are now
that the company needed to embrace transported within the facility using
automation, but they were not sure how to Daifuku’s renowned STV (sorting transfer
go about it. vehicles) high speed pallet transport
That was when Daifuku was invited to
The award of the project was the result
automation technology was out there – of a close collaboration between Daifuku
and how it could help their business. Having and GA Pet Food Partners during the initial
conducted a technology showcase and planning of the project. Installation of the
market overview for Riverford, Daifuku also warehouse automation system will be
developed several scenarios to analyse how
automation could help their business.
Following extensive research and
modelling, the Devon-based businesses
opted for a pick-to-light system to handle
ambient, chilled and meat products, all of
which needed to be handled in separate
areas of the warehouse. Daifuku also
totes to picking staff.
technology into its headquarters in
Buckfastleigh, Devon.
systems to transport new purpose-made
While moving the function of picking
ordered items to Riverford’s main
warehouse has enabled the delivery
drivers to focus on customer care on the
doorstep, automation technology has been
Founded by entrepreneur Guy Singh- fundamental in enabling Riverford to offer
Watson, the veg box business has carefully customers a range of recipe boxes. These
introduced automation to elements of its specially developed meals arrive with
warehousing function to further improve cooking instructions, all organic ingredients
the efficiency of its nationwide delivery and even nutritional information for
service. Crucially, new technology has each meal. The careful introduction of
helped the £65.9m million* turnover automation has enabled the business
company to offer its customers an even to embark on an exciting new chapter in
wider selection of ethically-produced, Riverford’s remarkable history.
14 FDPP - www.fdpp.co.uk
system.
help the business to understand what Earlier this year, Riverford Organic Farmers
automated picking, packing and conveyor
on automation.
As part of the project, Daifuku provided
Helping Riverford to flow
produce - engaged Daifuku to introduce
in Lancashire, it turned to Daifuku for advice
website. When the business offered a few specified the extensive use of conveyor
- Britain’s largest supplier of organic
art, high grade nutrition production facility
complete later in 2018, with ‘go-live’ and
full production at the Ingredients Kitchen
commencing in 2019.
Both projects demonstrate the huge
contribution that sophisticated automation
systems can make to the efficiency,
accuracy and reliability of warehousing
during periods of transition and growth for
food producers. To the uninitiated, planning
a new warehouse production system
can be daunting. That’s why we invest so
much in the initial scoping and planning
stages of a project. We’ve even developed
at new virtual reality headset that allows
us to walk clients through proposed
technologies, without the need to put on a
hard hat or a high viz jacket!
Daifuku is exhibiting at this year’s
IMHX event in Birmingham (NEC, 24-27
September, 2019)
* Unaudited figures quoted in the Financial
Times, July 2019.
www.daifuku.com