How Automation in the Food and Beverage Industry Increased Safety and Efficiency


On today’s episode of Conveying Progress, a Benda Manufacturing Podcast, our guests helped us explore how automated robotics and systems support operations in the food and beverage supply chain.

Coming off a year of challenges accelerated by COVID, including those surrounding worker safety, food safety, supply shortages and more, food processing and packaging plants are seeing benefits from automation, easing the weight of some of these challenges by helping manage people, processes and machinery with more efficiency and care.

Giving insights on this episode are guests from Benda and our strategic partner, Advanced Equipment Company. From Benda, Mark Battista, Sales Manager and Jose Martinez, Territory Manager joined the conversation, as did AEC’s Brian Hester, Material Handling Specialist, and Charlie Williams, Material Handling Specialist.

The industry is diving headfirst into automation. At a high level, both BMI and AEC create innovative automation solutions for a variety of industries. However, the core one we’re exploring today is food and beverage and its supply chain. Both companies are also shifting to automation at scale on the industry’s food packaging and processing side.

“As we see in the food and beverage industry, there are a lot of people handling your food, and they’re all on top of each other … and automation is key to keeping everyone safe and healthy,” Battista said regarding one of the reasons why automation is being pushed in the food industry. COVID-19 also pushed the industry’s hand when having to socially distance workers.

With the push toward automation, high-quality equipment is more important than ever. AEC uses BMI for its stainless-steel food grade and sanitation-type conveyor systems. Williamson gave an example of how using a conveyor in a sausage manufacturing setting. The company was able to consolidate functions and have two people do the work of six.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

mentorship
WAVIT’s Mentorship Program: Cyndie Nelson on Building Careers Through Guidance
July 19, 2025

The AV industry, like many others in tech, often thrives on innovation—but it’s mentorship that sustains it. Behind every successful professional is often a mentor who provided guidance, shared hard-earned lessons, and opened doors that might have otherwise stayed shut. Programs like WAVIT (Women in AV/IT) bring this spirit of mentorship into focus by intentionally…

Read More
mentorship
Empowering Innovation: Kim Porter’s Role in the WAVIT Mentorship Program
July 19, 2025

In an industry where innovation often hinges on experience, mentorship is the bridge that connects the wisdom of the past with the promise of the future. Engineering, especially in the mechanical domain, is traditionally seen as a discipline of precision, but its culture is just as vital as its calculations. That’s why programs like WAVIT’s…

Read More
mentorship
Passion, Power, and the Mentorship Paradigm Shift in Tech
July 19, 2025

In today’s rapidly evolving tech world, mentorship has emerged as more than a professional development tool—it’s a powerful human connection that fosters resilience, purpose, and authenticity. Particularly for women in engineering and STEM, mentorship isn’t just about career guidance; it’s a lifeline to navigating environments where their voices may still fight to be heard. While…

Read More
AV
Lessons in Leadership: Mitek’s Cyndie Nelson on the Power of Mentoring Women in AV Technology
July 19, 2025

Mentorship has long been considered a cornerstone of professional development, but in the fast-evolving world of AV technology and sales, its value has never been more evident. The unspoken nuances of tradecraft—those bits of wisdom not found in textbooks—are often only accessible through the lived experience of mentors. Particularly for women in traditionally male-dominated industries,…

Read More