Shortlisted for two awards in the first round of the Made in the UK Awards
We’re pleased to announce that our APRIL™ Robotics Cooking Cell has been shortlisted in the first round of the Made in the UK Awards in the categories Digital Engineering/Technology and Manufacturing Innovation.
The APRIL™ Cooking Cell developed with the University of Lincoln at their National Centre for Food Manufacturing revolutionises the way we manufacture food. By combining advanced materials handling and processing technologies, APRIL™ can consistently emulate how chefs cook in a professional kitchen bringing restaurant standard food to our supermarket shelves.
She effortlessly moves pans around the factory without pumps and pipework to combine and process ingredients; heating, mixing and pouring soups, sauces and ready meals on an industrial scale. Using a pre-programmed schedule, APRIL™ can process multiple recipes at the same time to a consistent and accurate standard, without contamination.
APRIL™ moves away from traditional linear continuous production set-ups where high volume and limited flexibility impedes quality and consistency (due to pumps, pipework and large vessels). With an 80% smaller factory footprint, intelligent scheduling and automated modular processing system, APRIL™ increases flexibility, optimises productivity and improves efficiency in a safer and more hygienic environment.
This opens up opportunities for manufacturers to research and develop new products and extend shelf-life of products contributing to reducing food wastage.
“We are excited by the new thinking involved in the APRIL™ robotic chef approach. Modular robotics cells may transform food manufacturing kitchens, by breaking up processes in a different way, in doing so providing a step change in performance.”
As a company, we are passionate about revolutionising the way we manufacture food, helping to secure the future of the UK’s largest manufacturing industry through innovative technological solutions, processes and applications.