From the Editor
20
Stacking up
Large daily deliveries by a British bakery are
made possible by robots.
robotics
Per Vegard Nerseth
Group Senior Vice President
Head of Business Unit Robotics, ABB
14
A sweet deal
South Korea’s leading confectioner upgrades to
keep up with demand.
2|10
Welcome to this issue of Robotics dedi-
cated to consumer industries. At ABB we
think a great deal about what our value of-
fering is in this arena, and at the end, this
is what we do: we create more uptime out
of flexible automation with our robots and
tools. The stories in this issue prove it.
Even in the dark days of 2009, when
the entire robotics market shrank by al-
most fifty percent, robots for the Food
and Beverages segment bucked the glob-
al trend and continued their double-digit
growth; and I believe we are only scratch-
ing the surface.
The industry needs to stay focused,
remain careful with ever-scarcer resourc-
es and be mindful of increasing com-
plexity. Together, we can ensure more fit
companies for the future.
The economic benefits that robotic
solutions provide are critical to the suc-
cess of our customers. Check out our
article on how Propack in Canada has
helped Nutri-Nation Functional Foods in-
crease its packing flexibility and efficien-
cy (page 11).
Also, don’t miss our story on health
and safety trends affecting the food in-
dustry (page 16). At ABB we understand
how safety issues can make or break a
producer’s bottom line.
On a similar theme, our story on Ma-
chinery Automation & Robotics’s work
with the meat industry in Australia (see
page 12) underscores that some work
environments are not suitable for people,
and automation has more than just an
economic role to play.
Inside you’ll find similar success sto-
ries that I hope will inspire you and spark
ideas for your business. We at ABB Ro-
botics remain focused on helping you
grow. In fact, we have more new, value-
creating robots being developed in the
pipeline for you. Watch out for them in the
coming months!
Robotics Fall 2010 • International customer magazine from ABB Robotics for consumer industries • copyright 2010 • Marketing Communications Manager:
David Marshall Tel:+44 7889 165637 • E-mail: [email protected] • Publisher: ABB Robotics AB, 721 68 Västerås, Sweden • Design: Interbrand Zürich
Content and production: Appelberg Publishing Group AB • Any use of text or photos requires the written consent of the publisher.