6 Ways to Fight the Food & Beverage Worker Shortage

By Todd Gilliam, Americas Industry Manager for Consumer Packaged Goods, Rockwell Automation

The food and beverage industry is severely impacted by workforce challenges. From pandemic disruptions to looming retirements, employers need a way to extend their workforce. Finding and keeping talent are two of the top challenges identified by food and beverage company leaders.

And they are not alone. According to the 2023 Annual State of Smart Manufacturing Report that compiles feedback from hundreds of manufacturers, skilled worker shortage, supply chain disruption and security/risk management are top challenges for business. Survey results show the No. 1 challenge is employee retention.

Without modern tools, technologies and work processes to drive efficiency, producers will struggle to be successful and remain competitive.

The good news is that by using innovation, technology and data to make decisions, employers can equip workers with the right tools while supporting the path for success through learning and development.

Companies embracing digital transformation can gain more productivity from their workforce and combat the decline in institutional knowledge that’s diminishing as a generation of skilled workers ages out of the labor force and current workers leverage their career mobility.

The U.S. shortage of skilled manufacturing workers — more than 600,000 before the pandemic — is projected to be 2.4M by 2028, according to the Pew Research Center.

Automation systems need to be more flexible and sophisticated than ever, and they also need to present your workforce with a more intuitive and transparent user experience.

Because workforce demographics are changing dramatically, consider the devices you use and the employee experience. Make information easy to consume and role specific. For example, a video library is an easy way to consume information and simple to adopt.

Engage remote assets and expert assistance to avoid downtime and boost productivity by augmenting people with team collaboration tools, mixed reality (MR) guides, Industrial Internet of Things-enabled machines and Artificial Intelligence-enhanced applications.

How to Start

With these overarching themes in mind, here are six practical suggestions you can immediately incorporate to begin this augmentation and empowerment journey.

1. Support operators and maintenance teams with augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and MR. Extended reality (XR technology) encompasses virtual, mixed and augmented reality and is a powerful tool in training and retaining employees.

HoloLens, RealWear tablets and smartphones are some of the tools from Rockwell Automation to give workers knowledge transfer abilities using AR expert guidance. With VR-enabled work instructions and a digital twin, you can train workers with remote assistance to increase efficiency, productivity and safety.

Remote support also provides maintenance staff with help when they need it. With AR remote assistance, the subject matter expert can visualize what’s happening remotely and help the technician correct the issue using remote visibility.

AR also is used to help train new employees with remote assist and work instructions. Video training for employees allows them to retain information more effectively than in a classroom setting, and is also easier for language translation, if needed.

2. Prepare with simulation and predictive modeling. Emulation facilitates low-cost, offline controls verification, taking logical controls testing off the project’s critical path. It also allows users to model physical assets and start controls testing earlier and safer so they can carry out more exhaustive testing and conduct tests that aren't possible on the real system.

Simulation allows technicians to create repeatable test schedules and conduct testing off-site. The virtual process saves time and money at commissioning.

The advantage of virtual commissioning and simulation/emulation is using a dynamic digital twin of a machine or system as an offline method to simulate, test and debug the control system under realistic operating conditions. The key factor is data — getting valuable feedback and quickly going through iterations to develop the right model.

With emulation, workers can also model processes by using model predictive control or multi-variant control to collect data and then adjust the process in real time.

3. Empower with information. Company leaders want actionable insights aligning with the Connected Factory Worker concept for effectively troubleshooting and resolving plant disruptions, and predicting future issues before they result in costly downtime, or product or safety issues.

Production monitoring technology (overall equipment effectiveness tools) or asset performance management technology available in an easy-to-deploy cloud environment — such as computerized maintenance management systems (CMMSs) — gives workers access to data in one pane with no data silos. This allows the enterprise to move from a reactive to proactive digital strategy.

4. Enable faster machine changeovers. With a marketplace with constantly and rapidly changing demand, manufacturers must focus on machine design and working with OEM partners to create adaptable machines that can better enable a flexible manufacturing production line.