Page 42 - Food & Drink Magazine March 2021

ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION
The ultimate moving feast
In the first of a two-part series, warehouse and logistics automation company Swisslog examines the challenges facing the food and beverage industry, and how automation can help companies remain competitive and adaptable. Senior sales consultant Arijit Biswas writes.
ABOVE: Flexible power. Swisslog’s PowerStore is a flexible automation system designed for food, beverage, and other FMCGs.
GETTING fresh food from farms, to distribution centres, to stores, to consumers, while meeting ever-changing consumer demands makes food and beverage supply chains one of the trickiest to manage profitably.
Further complicating this delicate supply chain are factors such as: volatile commodity pricing; inventory management that accounts for perishability; traceability, quality and safety; frequent new introductions; high demand uncertainty; complex manufacturing constraints; and environmental impacts of climate change.
This is the first in a two-part series on the changing nature of the food and beverage industry.
DEALING WITH VOLATILE COMMODITY PRICING When a consumer buys food at the supermarket, it may seem like the prices are steady
week-to-week, because at that level, they generally are.
This is because companies have often hedged commodity prices to avoid being susceptible to the typical volatility of the industry.
In reality, these prices are fluctuating all the time, which can make it difficult for food and beverage processors and distributors to set price levels.
The price of grains, meats and a huge range of ingredients can change dramatically over time. These changes would affect every company that uses that ingredient as part of their product mix.
THE UNCERTAINTY OF HIGH DEMAND
In addition to pricing fluctuations affecting supply, there is also a high degree of uncertainty in demand for food and beverage products. Restaurants, pubs and clubs
change menus to meet current trends, and consumers change their buying and eating habits regularly. The food and beverage industry is highly unpredictable in this area, so companies need to be as adaptable as possible.
INVENTORY MANAGEMENT FOR PERISHABILITY
One of the biggest challenges in the food and beverage industry is the perishability of goods such as fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish and dairy. According to Deloitte, more than 30 per cent of all food produced is not eaten. Much is wasted or lost in production.
TRACEABILITY,
QUALITY, AND SAFETY Traceability, quality, and safety are important in most industries, but because the end customer is consuming the product, the food and beverage
42 | Food&Drink business | March 2021 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au