The Factory of the Future

Overview

The technologies required in the The Factory of the Future (FoF) revolve around identifying and exploiting the appropriate technologies to enable new products to provide a competitive advantage. The FoF will make better use of digital technologies, whilst the supporting software and hardware systems that will make the appropriate technologies easier to access, monitor and control.

Potential research areas will include:

• The physical FoF arrangements for our global food and beverage partner,
• How the demand for personalisation of products affects the viability of the current model of a centralised factories relying on economies of scale,
  • Technological trends or emerging technologies most likely to have a significant impact on the factory of the future and the role the workforce will play in the FoF,
  • How our global partners product innovation is shaping the FoF,
  • Trends shaping the FoF (including sustainability, communications infrastructure, digital tools including cloud-based systems and digital twins, bespoke customer snack food products, resources & transport networks),
  • The consequences of environmental pressures and zero waste approaches on the recycling of materials and products within the supply chain.

The factory is seen as digital, having increasing intelligence and or exploiting the opportunities of big data. Software tools are increasingly being seen as much simpler and easier to use, in addition to being more intuitive. The influence and use of automation & robotics is also a key consideration, i.e., are ‘new robotics’ including collaborative robotics seen as important with an emphasis on how to integrate these technologies in the best way.