A Shift in the Process: Innovation Spurred by Necessity
Necessity is still the mother of invention. And that adage holds true even when it comes to the pet food processing space. As consumer needs and wants shift from traditional models, manufacturers are now forced to stray from traditional solutions and adopt the concept of invention to meet these new needs.
Gray Solutions, a Gray company, is front and center in this paradigm shift. “Systems within a processing operation need to be tightly integrated because the demand is so volatile,” says Gregory Powers, vice president of solutions architecture for Gray Solutions. To accommodate the changing environment, many manufacturers are leaning away from more solid plant schedules and leaning into more fluid workflows which allow for changes in demand.
Of course, thinking through all these changes are one thing, but putting them into practice is another challenge all to itself. Powers says he and Gray Solutions are seeing companies relying more heavily on robotics and automation to implement the new systems, and in new ways. Manufacturers are not just looking for the latest and greatest in terms of technology, but now they are also applying these advantages further up the line in places traditionally not serviced by robots or automation. It may look different than traditional ways, but these new innovations are providing the same great products to consumers in a more efficient and effective way than ever before.
To learn more about this story, check out the full article Pet food e-commerce boom has major influence on manufacturers’ operations from Food Engineering.