9.2. Quality Control in the Food and Beverage Sector
Industry 4.0 has taken over the food manufacturing process in many ways. By integrating high-tech image processing, industrial robots are programmed in order to “see” and react to different situations based on the clearly defined parameters. This mean that the robots are able to identify different various food products on the same process line and simultaneously perform tasks, by identifying issues on the spot. The robots have been programmed with digital image processing. These consist of a series of processes that capture contactless, real time imaging, visual images sent to the computer and automatic analysis based on the results or measurement readings.
This is very beneficial for the food and beverage quality inspection, as it is able to certify labelling accuracy, colours, volume and/or height. This could potentially help inspect the entire manufacturing process from beginning to end with very little margin for errors.
The analytical monitoring enables the robots to perform necessary adjustments while in process. This ensures the required food safety standards are fulfilled and allows early detection of defects which by default reduces food waste and recalls.
To sum up, the 4.0 technology has resolved the limitation due to human imprecision, fatigue and variation in operators’ judgment. Simultaneously, the 4.0 technology is able to store data automatically for the documentation purpose and evidence in the event of customer complaint.
This video shows the vision of the Cognex company, by introducing barcode reading technologies in order to help manufacturers around the world improve product quality by tracking products through the supply chain, eliminating defects, and enabling automation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L66OiQs628U
Tasks
For further reading: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333062733_Short_review_Application_Areas_of_Industry_40_Technologies_in_Food_Processing_Sector
Additional Task: https://h5p.org/node/730997