Marel hf is again breaking new ground in the development and manufacturing of high-technology solutions for the food industry. The company is working on full-automation technology that includes robots packing meat and seafood products without human hands getting involved. Marel has set itself the target to become a world leader in food-processing robotics.

To date robots have been used mostly for homogeneous tasks in a fairly dry processing environment. Marel's development project focuses on using robots to handle food materials even when they are sensitive and vary in shape and processing is carried out in conditions where wetness and cleaning need particular attention.

“Our work on robot-based solutions began last year, the aim being to design and develop a system that automatically packages food,” says Marel’s CEO Hörður Arnarson. “It looks promising and we’re now starting to develop these solutions for the fish and meat sectors. We’re also developing specialised robots that will cut and trim fish fillets. These robots are designed and manufactured here at Marel.”

The projects are conducted partly in collaboration with the Technology Fund of the Icelandic Research Council and the Added Value for Seafood Fund. The work poses various technical challenges, such as the development of grip equipment, sensor technology, pre-cleaning processes and the design of total solutions suited for existing processes in fish and poultry processing.

“Robotization in food processing is a realistic prospect in the next two to three years, as well as clearly being Western food processors’ answer to cheap labour in other parts of the world,” adds Arnarson. Robots are thus set to take over monotonous and arduous tasks, while humans move on to more demanding and fulfilling work. Robots also enable more flexibility in processing, and are expected to cut response times for the manufacturing of new products.

“This is a milestone for Marel,” says Arnarson, “just like computer vision and weighing were previously. We aim to be the world leader in food robotics, a field in which we can use all our technology and know-how acquired over decades of research and development.”