BFPA Chairs the 2019 Appetite for Engineering Conference at the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry
28 Oct 2019
BFPA CEO Chris Buxton reports on the recent Chairmanship of the IML Publishing sponsored Engineering Conference 2019 – ‘Appetite for Engineering’.
Originally conceived to promote more informed use of engineering in the Food Manufacturing sector, this year’s Appetite for Engineering Conference was held at one of the key Catapult Centres – the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centre at Ansty near Coventry.
For many years, the BFPA CEO has had the privilege of chairing this conference and undertaking the opening address. 2019 was the twelfth event in the series and the theme was ‘How best to Prepare and Survive in a Post-Brexit world!”
This theme was developed around three main drivers; Productivity, Efficiency and the all-important skills agenda.
There was an excellent range of speakers including:-
Ian Wright, Chairman of the Food & Drink Federation (FDF),
Ed Keenan, Head of process at Integrated Food Projects,
Chris Edwards – OBE, Head of Quality at Muller UK & Ireland,
Jordan Brosnan of Coca Cola,
Professor Martin Howarth from Sheffield Hallum University and
Lydia Cordice of Mondelez.
A particular highlight of the event was a panel session on the adoption of automation technology in the food sector. Adoption of automation and robotics in the UK is woefully behind the rest of the western world and much was made of the need to realise the productivity and efficiency gains that can be gained from appropriate use of this technology.
Many BFPA members are not aware of the importance of the food sector amongst the end-user community. It is the single largest sector addressed by our Pneumatics members and in fact, the headline sponsor for the event was Festo who have very significant investment in Food & Drink manufacturing.
The food and drink sector is not, on the face of it, an obvious candidate for the attentions of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult network, thanks to its traditional reliance on manual labour and the large number of SMEs involved. However, the sector is ripe for a digital revolution. As well as its reliance on manual labour and a preponderance of small businesses, the other apparent obstacles to change for the food and drink sector are fast development cycles and short-term contracts. Ironically, this is exactly where opportunities lie. Global manufacturing is under pressure to be more efficient and reduce waste, as well as reduce its reliance on manual labour.
The food and drink sector cannot be immune to the external forces that will bring this about, namely the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution such as automation and digitalisation. Nevertheless, it is a major challenge. Productivity in the sector is higher than other sectors, thanks to manual labour that can be easily trained and re-deployed. This has made the sector resistant to adopt new technologies outside of its traditional supply chain and implement changes in processes and production methods. It is also a very competitive sector with low margins and profits squeezed by the big supermarkets. This has resulted in short term thinking and aversion to risk, which compounds this reluctance to invest in new technology, skills and training. This is where the knowledge, experience and capabilities of the HVM Catapult centres such as the AMTC can be most effectively deployed thus it was highly appropriate that the Appetite for Engineering conference was held at Ansty.
Members interested in attending next year’s event should contact Chris Buxton on 01608 647900 or 07787 400747. The proof is in the pudding!
