Breaking bottlenecks ~ Software to solve food and beverage’s costly headache

In food and beverage, the stakes are especially high — a single point of delay can undo the efficiencies achieved everywhere else. Here, Beth Ragdale, software business manager at industrial automation and control specialist Beckhoff UK, explains why tackling bottlenecks requires a rethink of traditional production lines, moving beyond purely mechanical fixes to embrace flexible, software-driven solutions.

The word “bottleneck” carries more weight in food and beverage than almost any other sector. A 2018 study by Garvey found that many companies in the sector experience as much as 500 hours of downtime every year, to the tune of $20,000 to $30,000 an hour. That’s $10 to $15 million dollars lost to downtime a year.

A close-up view of cookies on a conveyor belt in a modern bakery. The cookies are decorated with sprinkles.

This is an industry where speed is critical, hygiene is non-negotiable and the smallest of slowdowns can ripple through the production line, throwing schedules off balance and squeezing margins.

While it’s impossible to prevent bottlenecks entirely, the real step-change in reducing the impact of bottlenecks comes from integrating software-driven control that can adapt the line in real-time, removing the need for mechanical redesigns.

Limiting infrastructure

Traditionally, manufacturers have responded to bottlenecks by redesigning machinery. A slow capping station? Make it bigger, faster, stronger. A conveyor lagging behind? Upgrade it.

Mechanical design is vital. It provides the strength, reliability and precision that production lines need, but it has limits. Physical systems are inherently fixed once built and even carefully tuned equipment can become a constraint when demand shifts, product formats change or new regulations emerge.

This is particularly the case when it comes to stock keeping unit (SKU) proliferation and rapidly changing consumer preferences, requiring food and beverage producers to have equipment that can adapt as quickly as the market does. This calls for a rethink of what’s considered “core” to the production line, moving beyond purely mechanical solutions.

How about hybrid?

Instead of relying solely on mechanical redesign to break bottlenecks, the conversation is moving towards software-driven flexibility. These are systems that use mechanics as a foundation but rely on advanced control to orchestrate production at a much more granular, adaptable level.

Mechanics provide the strength and reliability, while software offers adaptability, precision and the ability to orchestrate production in far more dynamic ways. It’s this kind of flexibility that opens new possibilities.

Instead of running the entire line at the speed of its slowest process, software can manage the flow so faster stages feed into slower ones in a controlled, balanced way. Rather than tearing down equipment for every changeover, adjustments can be made in code.

Hygiene factor

In terms of hygiene, food and beverage plants face strict cleaning and sanitisation requirements, often involving partial disassembly of machinery. Systems designed with minimal exposed components, smooth surfaces and sealed drives reduce cleaning time while maintaining safety standards.

This is where linear transport systems, like Beckhoff’s XTS, come into play. The XTS uses a sealed, hygienic design that minimises exposed mechanical complexity, reducing the effort and time required for cleaning. This is not only a win for food safety but also another way to reclaim productivity otherwise lost to extended cleaning cycles, a bottleneck many overlook.

At first glance, the XTS looks like a conveyor — a way of moving products from point A to point B. Rather than relying on fixed mechanical paths and timing, the XTS uses software-controlled movers that can be positioned and operated independently along a flexible track.

Each product carrier becomes its own controllable element, capable of varying speed, acceleration and position on demand. Instead of all products moving at the same pace through every stage, the line can slow down for delicate operations, speed up where capacity allows and even reroute flows dynamically.

These flexible motion profiles also open up opportunities for process optimisation that go beyond eliminating existing bottlenecks. Producers can use real-time data from the XTS to identify emerging slow points before they become critical.

Predictive adjustments can be made during a run, maintaining optimal throughput even as variables shift. Over time, this allows for a more proactive approach to productivity, one where bottlenecks are anticipated and avoided rather than reacted to after they occur.

The theory of constraints

However, it’s worth acknowledging that no production system can ever be entirely free of bottlenecks. The theory of constraints, which is a process improvement methodology that emphasises the importance of identifying the system constraint or bottleneck, teaches us that there will always be a slowest step. Remove one, and another will take its place.

The goal isn’t to chase the impossible dream of eliminating bottlenecks entirely, but to create a production environment in which they can be moved, resized and managed with minimal disruption.

Mechanical redesigns have a role here, but they are most powerful when combined with the adaptability of software-driven motion systems. Real-world results show how this approach pays off.

In one frozen pizza facility, replacing mechanical change-outs with the XTS eliminated lengthy manual adjustments between 26 different SKUs, cutting downtime and maintaining a high throughput of 15 cases per minute without product damage. In a sector where downtime can cost tens of thousands of pounds an hour, that kind of flexibility doesn’t just keep production flowing, it saves millions in potential lost revenue.

For more information on the XTS, visit the Beckhoff UK website or call +44 (0)1491 410