The eye-catching BMW i8 on the stand caught the attention of visitors and exhibitors alike and raised the question, why is an environmental super car at a food exhibition? On camera, Jake Norman from OAL explained how the Food is Life consortium is seeking to bring about disruptive change in the food industry by adopting technologies and best practises from the automotive industry. The BMW i8 is a fantastic example of what has been achieved in car manufacturing.

Food Is Life firmly believes that the food industry can benefit by learning and exploiting technologies from the automotive industry to improve the production and safety of food. OAL’s APRIL, automated processing robotic ingredient loading, is the first system to do so and will be launching early 2016.

Developed with the University of Lincoln at the National Centre for Food Manufacturing, APRIL enables parallel food processing and can emulate a chef’s method of cooking on an industrial scale. Utilising grant funding from Innovate UK, OAL have put their expertise and skills into making this research concept a reality.

Imagine a food production line without any platforms or pipework in a smaller factory. This is the purpose of APRIL with the aim to increase capacity, significantly reduce the number of operators and produce better looking, healthier, tastier foods. . Unprecedented flexibility means you can respond to the every changing food landscape, protecting your significant investments. Harry Norman explains,

“APRIL will make much better use of ingredients. By removing pipework and pumps along with enhanced process control that comes with robotics, APRIL will make great food and significantly improve businesses bottom line.”

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