Material handling systems help food and beverage manufacturers offset rising energy costs
Overcoming rising energy prices
Material handling systems help food and beverage manufacturers offset rising energy costs
Given that energy accounts for 15 per cent of food and drink manufacturers ’ costs , according research by Centrica Business Solutions , the continued rise of energy prices is a major concern for these companies . Indeed , the same study found that 56 per cent of manufacturers believe investing in energy efficiency technologies is “ very important ” for their business . But where should they invest ? Here , Stephen Harding , managing director of Gough Engineering , looks at how improved material handling processes can help manufacturers overcome rising energy costs .
Energy costs were a significant worry for businesses across the UK , last year . In April 2022 , 21 per cent of businesses surveyed by the UK ’ s Office for National Statistics ( ONS ) said that energy prices were their
4 FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk main concern , up from 15 per cent in February . These figures have remained consistent ever since .
So , how can food processors better offset these costs , and how can they do this while benefiting production and yielding a return on investment ( ROI )? It all boils down to how businesses optimise their production processes — and that includes material handling .
Equipment schemes Proper material handling is about optimising the mechanical and physical relationship between products and ingredient flows , versus machinery and processes .
Equipment schemes describe bespoke systems that ensure a plant ’ s production line runs according to the manufacturer ’ s key performance indicators
( KPIs ). KPIs would generally include the time , quality and quantity of production , and the manufacturer ’ s core value adding process to manufacture end products .
An equipment scheme can rely on equipment to automate the weighing , mixing , cooking , heating and cooling operations during a process . This equipment may have built-in quality assurance systems for sieving or screening processes to ensure products are transferred , or conveyed , from one process to another without them being damaged .
Weigher systems , for instance , check the quantity of produce or ingredients at certain stages of production . Industry 4.0 sensors can capture this data , relaying it to Supervisory Control and Data