Application of Robotic Packaging System in Traditional Indian Dairy Products

摘要

Traditionally, packaging has been a very labor intensive activity filled with many tiresome and repeatable tasks. Recent advances in technology have improved the status of automation in food industry which is further enhanced with evolution and involvement of robotics at every stage of food production, processing and packaging. Robotic packaging have already penetrated the pharmaceutical industry deeply because of rise in demand for protective and safe handling of drugs. The International Federationof Robotics (IFR) reports showed that out of 178,132 industrial robots sold worldwide in 2013 only 6200 were for food industry. According a report published by Allied Market Research Group about robotics packaging, the present market is valued at 2471 million dollars in 2016 with projected value of 4,649 million dollars by 2023 growing at a CAGR of 9.6%. Asia-Pacific region is expected to dominate the robotics market with China being the major contributor (45.6% share in 2016) due to increased demand for automated technologies in various industries. Vacuum gripper type of robotic system dominates the market at present and expected to maintain the same trend till 2023 with tray packing being most prominent. Packaging automation usually cuts the cost by16% in a dairy industry. The robotic efficiency varies with food commodities and food industries have witnessed an increase of approximately 25% in productivity using robotics, yet application of robots in food processing is only 5% (Mahalik & Yen, 2009).