A survey of automation practices in the food industry

Abstract

Over the last few years, the food manufacturing industry has experienced unprecedented growth and became one of the major forces in the US economy. Some recently published surveys [N.A. Aly, A survey on the use of computer-integrated manufacturing in food processing companies, Food Technol. 43 (3) (1989) pp. 82–87; R.H. Caro, W.E. Morgan, Trends in process control and instrumentation, Food Technol. 43 (7) (1991) 62–66] indicate that the food industry has been rather slow to adopt new automation technologies, yet considering utilizing such technologies in the near future. A nationwide scientific survey of US food manufacturers was conducted to better determine the current state of automation in the food industry. The survey also included system integrators and equipment suppliers that sell goods and services to US food manufacturers. It has been determined that although there has been a significant increase in food process automation over the last decade, the current level of automation is extremely variable. Larger manufacturing plants are generally better automated and have less desire for future technological evolution. Equipment suppliers and system integrators are more advanced in the field of food process automation, but this advancement is seldom used due to food industry's low demand for advanced technologies.