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Not so long ago, the food and beverage manufacturing industry was among the slowest industry verticals to adopt new production technologies. But now, with the industry growing as aggressively as ever and faced with rising demand, the industry is increasingly relying on automation to keep the shelves stocked. Along with this increasing reliance, the industry has seen certain trends emerge: as to how food and beverage manufacturing is choosing to implement automation in their facilities, what’s driving those trends, and the challenges they face in augmenting the applications of automation in food production. What Are the Major Trends in Food & Beverage Automation? The most notable automation trends among food and beverage producers are: What’s Driving These Trends in Food & Beverage Automation? Industry factors driving these technology trends are actually a combination of several issues, including: What Affects the Degree of Difficulty Implementing Process Automation? The technologies here are not always as easy to implement. A number of hurdles can keep a food and beverage manufacturer from making the leap and updating their production automation systems, but each can be directly tied to available and allocated capital to help boost their chances of approval. These hurdles can include: Leveraging Trends: How to Use Data for Process Optimization Data collection and analytics are essential for modern automation. By connecting sensors, PLCs, and SCADA systems to centralize analytics platforms, manufacturers can: Automation in Food Manufacturing: Where is the Greatest ROI? Before narrowing the focus to specific applications, food and beverage manufacturers should first look at production operations holistically to better understand the scope and impact any automation change could have on their facility. This assessment should consider how flexible the line needs to be, how much runtime they have, how much manpower is available to staff the line, and how many … Continued