How Technology Can Alleviate Workforce Issues in Food Manufacturing

MICHAEL COSTA | SENIOR EDITOR

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION’S 31st annual Automation Fair drew more than 18,000 attendees over two days in Chicago, giving industry professionals an inside look at how Rockwell is addressing current challenges and trends through industrial automation and digital transformation.

One session during the event featured food and beverage executives discussing how technology and automation can be applied to ongoing labor issues, plus other processing challenges. Here are some of the key takeaways from that session.

Working with a purpose

The panelists agreed that before any technology options are implemented into a food processing facility to help with labor—such as adding robots, for example—the company culture from the top executive down to every new hire needs to be infused with a sense of purpose.

“Really think about the culture of your organization,” said Michael Chaney, retired senior vice president of product supply at Procter & Gamble. “If you’re dependent on [retaining sta through higher wages], it’s not enough.”

Brian Marsh, senior director, digital manufacturing at Nestlé, added, “There’s not a large enough labor pool out there to fill our needs. There’s lots of options for people to do other things now, so it’s really important for us to create a new environment for people to come into manufacturing. We’re constantly looking at new ways of working in our factories to try and make it more fun and easier by eliminating jobs nobody wants to do.”

Marsh mentioned one new initiative he created that combines technology and team communication is an OEE workgroup made up of line operators at Nestlé that meet regularly and parse data to identify trends on their equipment and give them a chance to solve challenges together.

Simplify training

Andrea Zaman, COO, Pearson Packaging Systems, posed a rhetorical question to the audience that cut to the core of today’s training issues for new hires. “What if your entire production floor is all brand new at the same time with no experience? Now there’s your workforce challenge.”

New workers are needed to contribute faster than ever due to ongoing (and widening) gaps in the food manufacturing workforce, so technology such as digital twins is becoming an essential training tool today.

“Nobody wants to go sit in a classroom and read 3-inch binders full of standard operating procedures. So how do you get them on the floor and engaged quickly? Give them the information they need at their fingertips so they can start doing something vital,” Marsh said. “Being able to build these virtual environments, you can get people trained on things before they ever even touch [a machine]."

Passing down tribal knowledge from experienced workers was another topic of discussion, and how social media and smartphone/tablet video recording can make it easier for retiring workers to transfer crucial information to today’s digital native workforce.

Marsh said at one of Nestlé's pizza plants, they have a machine operator “who loves TikTok so much that he started creating videos on how to do di erent things on the line. My team can build a training video, but what he was doing was much better. We had people laughing on the floor and everybody wanted to see that video. We’re now trying to create a new job for him because of his passion around making those videos. So, if you see what I call the ‘bright lights’ in your organization, try to embrace them, even if it means creating a new job for that individual within your organization. They love what they’re doing and they’re

‘What if your entire production floor is all brand new at the same time with no experience?

Now there’s your workforce challenge,’ said Andrea Zaman (standing) from Pearson Packaging Systems. Also pictured L-R: Michael Chaney, P&G (retired); Joe Francel, Microsoft; Brian Marsh, Nestlé.