APRIL™ features in Made Smarter 2017 UK government review
We're very proud to feature in the UK Government Made Smarter Review 2017 launched today! The report sets out the aim for the UK to be a leader in Industrial Digitalisation, and APRIL™ Robotics was highlighted within the food section.
The report discusses the ‘perfect storm’ scenario food manufacturing faces because of an over-reliance on cheap labour:
Restriction on labour supply (due to Brexit).
Rapid above-inflation rises in labour cost (driven by the National Living Wage).
In certain sectors (e.g. fresh produce packing, sandwich manufacturing), up to 90% of the line workforce can be migrant ‘low skilled’ workers.
But for businesses which rise to this challenge, the falling cost and increased functionality of robotics offer quick productivity gains and an ability to exploit new market opportunities and grow exports. Digital technologies are at the heart of being able to exploit this opportunity which is multi-faceted and growing rapidly. Learn more in the video below where our team discuss the role of robotics in reducing capital expenditure.
You can download the full report and read more about the challenges and planned actions to enable digitalisation in food processing.
