Bizerba VP predicts future of digitalization amid heightened COVID-19 hygiene hurdles

21 Jan 2021 --- The packaging sector is facing unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, with industry players forced to innovate and adapt to drastically changing consumer behavior and heightened hygiene concerns.

With lockdown restrictions in place almost worldwide, the digitalization of previously in-person services has been integral to Bizerba overcoming COVID-19 challenges.

PackagingInsights sits down with Robert Keller, vice president of global services at the German company specializing in industrial weighing and labeling technologies for the packaging industry and others. 

Keller discusses how his company has transformed pandemic drawbacks into advantages, while further detailing what areas of industry are experiencing the most change. 

COVID-19 heightens hygiene awareness 
The virus has placed a special vigilance on standards in the packaging industry, explains Keller, one that has made the public more aware of this sector than ever before. 

“Due to COVID-19, the focus is increasingly on hygiene, which is particularly important in both production and retail.”

Bizerba's stretch film wrapper.“On the one hand, this means products should be packaged more cleanly and hygienically than ever before; nothing should be touched directly anymore. As a result, the packaging and labeling business has become extremely important. Of course, this is also reflected in our business.”

“On the other hand, it has become more important than ever to reduce contacts to ensure hygiene. This has led to an extreme increase in demand for our ‘Remote Support’ service, which has been established for many years.”

Providing distanced assistance is nothing new, but in pandemic times, it is often now the sole means of support, he describes. 

“Remote access to our machines has already been possible for a long time, but the pandemic has made this requirement increasingly important for many of our customers, and it has been used to a much greater extent. Thus, our customers could be served well, even during this time.” 

A remote helping hand 
Bizerba used a variety of means to bridge physical gaps and increase remote support. 

“One challenge, of course, was how to get our experts to customers over long distances, or how to support customers in countries where we were not allowed to enter due to the current situation. These challenges led to us performing installations and repairs via remote support using augmented reality at the customer site,” explains Keller. 

“This allowed our customers to receive instructions from the expert remotely on exactly what to do with videos and images using our Augmented Services app.” 

“The next steps are visible in the images, and the additional instructions via the app guide the customer through the process to complete the installation or repair. In this way, remote support works just as it would if an expert were on site.”Online orders are becoming increasingly automated thanks to digital technology.

Doubling down on digitalization
Bizerba’s solutions are pioneering pre-pandemic, industry-wide trends, notably digital connectivity, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation. Keller explains the common themes running through the packaging sector. 

“In terms of digitalization, one trend is that all devices, whether in the supermarket or in the production, are connected. All devices can be maintained, programmed and updated remotely.” 

“Consumables, for example, can also be reordered electronically in this way. In addition, condition monitoring plays a major role, i.e., monitoring devices to ensure their functionality. This is not only helpful for service, but also for the customer himself in the supermarket or the user in the production.”

“Condition monitoring identifies problems or requirements and allows appropriate action to be taken to ensure high system availability and avoid downtime. Hence, a clear trend in the packaging industry: maximum availability, increased productivity.”

Training for digitalization 
Experts have said that digitalization is in its infancy but will soon conquer all aspects of the trade. Training staff to become proficient in using new technology is the first step Bizerba will take. 

“In the future, we will also offer complete training for our customers and service technicians through digitalization. With the help of virtual reality, we will develop digital training offers so that operation, maintenance and repair on virtual machines. This reduces the need to travel and ensures that expensive hardware will no longer be necessary on-site,” explains Keller.

“The hardware is one thing, but the intelligence for digitalization lies in the software. This links all the process steps together.” 

“Here we offer many, flexible software solutions: from the device software to a variety of RetailApps, for a wide range of applications, to management software. This is an essential part of the overall solution and we at Bizerba have been following this development for years.”Keller says Bizerba's machines have been aided by distanced assistance throughout the pandemic.

AI and automation 
AI and the “fourth industrial revolution,” where production can be fully automated by machines, is another key area for Bizerba. 

“An exciting area of innovation is in AI. If we take a broader view on the packaging industry, smart shelves or fresh food shelves, for example, will also play an important role in the future. They report when certain items, for example, packaged meat, run out on the fresh food shelf and automatically trigger an order.”

“The packaging machine in the preparation room can then package on demand so waste can be avoided and the supply of hygienically packaged fresh products to customers is guaranteed at all times.”

E-commerce, in particular, has presented an area in which human labor is increasingly unnecessary, continues Keller. 

“We also see digital ordering and operating processes as very relevant for the future, in which packaging solutions will also play an essential role. Digitalization has certainly made inroads here.”

For example, orders can be placed online and, by connecting slicers and packaging machines in the supermarket’s preparation room, this order can be produced and automatically packaged quickly, freshly and in a space-saving manner,” he concludes.

By Louis Gore-Langton