It has often been said that necessity is the mother of invention and the COVID-19 pandemic has served as the backdrop for numerous instances when this has been proven true.

With more advanced predictive maintenance tools at their disposal, today’s maintenance and operations teams can improve efficiencies and minimize unplanned downtime.

Few other industrial environments can match the diverse and difficult operating conditions found across the food and beverage processing industries, which can have an adverse impact on the machinery used on the factory floor and also on overall productivity.

In recent years, the use of collaborative robots (cobots) has offered great efficiencies to the food and beverage industry. These machines reduce the need for humans to perform strenuous, repetitive tasks. Food & Beverage is also using artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance decision-making. The two technologies are being fused to provide an even greater return.