Knowledge Base
Your guide to automation, robotics and compliance for food manufacturers.
Whether you’re comparing systems, planning a project or looking to improve performance, this is the place to start.
Our engineers and project teams share proven answers from real automation projects across UK food factories.
Costs and pricing
Understand what affects automation costs and how to budget with confidence.
Are you wondering how much it will cost to automate your label and date code verification (Autocoding)? Whether you're looking to improve compliance, reduce waste, or eliminate human error, this guide will help you understand the factors that affect pricing, so you can make the right investment for your business."
Case studies
Real results from manufacturers who’ve automated with OAL.
Ilchester Cheese Co, a global leader in flavoured cheese, needed scalable packaging checks across 200 products. Using OAL’s APRIL™ Eye vision system, they doubled capacity, cut traceability from hours to minutes, and eliminated labelling errors. The result: stronger compliance, higher quality, and easier work on the factory floor.
ADM Milling is a market leader for flour and bakery ingredients with a strong reputation for product quality, technical support and customer service. At their Corby mill, OAL has seamlessly upgraded and modernised production-critical control panels, achieving zero unplanned plant downtime - a notable achievement given the complexities involved.
As a fast-growing leader in the high-quality convenience meats industry, Edwards needed to ensure the correct application of labels and date codes on its expanding range of award-winning products. OAL automated their manual processes with a state-of-the-art, AI-driven label and date code verification system that has been critical in Edwards growth plans.
Worldwide Fruit is a growing £200+ million turnover fruit marketing and distribution business. Quality is critical to their customers, and they wanted a solution that could scale across their complex operations handling thousands of SKUs from over 1,000 global growers. OAL has helped Worldwide Fruit automate to ensure all its products have the right date code, right packaging and country of origin.
Best practice and process
Expert insight from OAL on improving quality, safety and efficiency through automation.
See how AI vision systems verify packaging quality in food factories, from label accuracy to seal integrity and allergen control.
The use of robotics and automation is gaining immense popularity in the food and beverage industry, with the potential to revolutionise how food is produced, processed, and delivered. Automation systems are playing a pivotal role in reducing the risk of contamination by minimising human intervention and improving product traceability.
Explainers and definitions
Clear answers to common automation and compliance questions, from barcodes to traceability and robotics.
What is the difference between a 1D and a 2D barcode? It's a question we hear a lot from customers when they first start looking at label and date code verification.
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