Master Siomai is a food cart franchising business developed by Masterrific Foods in the

Philippines. The siomai cart is located in various areas including schools, food courts, traditional
markets, etc. In 2008, Master Siomai had 45 Master Siomai franchises, and with 2 to 4 of them
opening every week, Master Siomai soon became one of the largest franchising companies in
the Philippines. By 2012, Master Siomai already had more than 700 franchises selling delicious
siomais in the Philippines, and they need to make 120, 000 siomais every day. How can Master
Siomai keep up with the fast growth and still be able to deliver the large volume of siomai?

At the beginning, Master Siomai had 40-50 people making siomai by hand, but slowly the
production amount couldn't keep up with the demand and the inconsistency of siomai quality
became a concern. In 2008, Master Siomai met ANKO at a trade show and bought a siomai
making machine, HSM-600, to try it out. Two months later, Master Siomai purchased another
siomai making machine because of the great satisfaction. Master Siomai had the siomai making
machines running 24 hours a day to make 120,000 siomais, and later, to reduce the labor cost
and increase siomai quality, they decided to buy more machines. At the same time, they also
proposed a Japanese siomai making machine requirement. Japanese siomai is also called
seaweed siomai; it was developed by Master Siomai to provide dynamic selections of siomais.
Months later, ANKO developed a semi-auto seaweed siomai making machine and Japanese
siomai also became a popular food in the Philippines.

ANKO is a food processing equipment supplier that has been providing quality siomai making
machines for more than 30 years. ANKO's strong R&D team has been designing innovative
food processing equipment to assist restaurant owners or food processing companies to
perform effective jobs. ANKO's turn-key project design has helped clients to build efficient
production lines and eventually to make their business profitable. ANKO’s stainless steel
material is imported from Japan to ensure the high quality of each machine, which means that
every food processing equipment is built to last forever.

As a result, the implementation of siomai making machine has allowed Master Siomai to expand
their business not just in Manila but also to the south of the Philippines. ANKO recently has just
finished developing 100% automatic Japanese siomai making machine to upgrade Master
Siomai’s production capability, which allows Master Siomai to expand their franchising business
quickly.

(http://food-processing-equipment.ready-online.com/siomai-machine.html)
Technology’s impact on bakery production is reflected in higher throughputs, increased
efficiencies and superior outcomes. To realize technology’s full potential, however, requires
human change, either in the goals of management or the expectations of staff.

An example of the former is found in vacuum cooling. First, it was simple salad greens that were
subjected to vacuum cooling as an alternative to shipping 1,000 lbs. of ice per pallet from the
West Coast to the Northeast, demonstrating the solid economics of the technology. Vacuum
cooling of baked goods, on the other hand, is a rarity in North America, although executives in
Europe and elsewhere who have crunched the numbers are gravitating to the technology.

Ambient cooling in large spiral coolers is the norm for commodities like buns and rolls, with blast
freezing sometimes used for higher-priced goods. Time, space and mechanical refrigeration
have costs, and some bakers are switching to vacuum to speed throughput, lower labor costs
and reduce energy inputs.

About 30 bakeries worldwide are using a system from Aston Foods AG in Steinhausen,
Switzerland, including two continuous systems in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, according to CEO
Christian Vetterle. No refrigerants are involved in the cooler: The pressure gradient is managed
by controls that adjust the vacuum to anywhere from 10 to 500 millibars (0.145-7.252 psi),
depending upon how much steam is generated by the product load.

Not only is the final set-point temperature reached faster, “bake time itself also is reduced,”
Vetterle explained in an e-mail exchange. “In a traditional baking process, the definition and final
stabilization of the crumb-matrix happens during the last phase of baking,” when starch and
proteins gelatinize. “This process can take place during the first phase of vacuum cooling as
long as the temperature of the crumb is between 60-95°C.” Starch retrogradation is much
slower, which retards the drying out of finished goods.

Capitalizing the system gives many executives pause, he allows, although companies as far
flung as Australia and South America have crunched the numbers and converted to vacuum
cooling. All had to first make a financial case for the investment, says Vetterle. Some realized
substantial sales increases, as a result of both compressed production time and positive
consumer responses to better-tasting baked goods.
(http://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2014/automation-technology-in-food-production/)
Robots have changed manufacturing in almost every industrial sector and have increased
efficiency and product consistency. However, until recently, food manufacturing has been an
exception to this trend. There are many reasons for this, but one of the most often cited is that,
unlike most products, food products by their very nature differ significantly in consistency and
shape. This presents a considerable challenge to automated processing procedures.

The food manufacturing industry is one of the largest manufacturing sectors in most
European countries. It represents some 13 percent of all manufacturing in the European Union,
contributes approximately €900 billion to the economy and employs some 4 million people. It is
a very diverse and fragmented industry with very large and very small manufacturers; however,
the vast majority can be classified as small-to-medium-size enterprises (SMEs).

Food manufacturing and assembly is mainly performed manually, and this is particularly
so in SMEs. Currently, some of the larger manufacturers use state-of-the-art automation; this is
not as prevalent in SMEs, where both the technical infrastructure and spending on engineering
research and development are significantly lower.

Food retail within Europe tends to be focused on a comparatively small number of major
retailers; as a result, these retailers have a significant influence on product range and pricing.
However, some general issues faced by food manufacturers include pressure to reduce costs,
competition from non-European countries, demand for a greater variety of products, shorter lead
times, increasing public awareness of food and hygienic standards and environmental
legislation.

(http://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/magazine-archive1/augustseptember-2014/robotics-and-
automation-for-the-food-industry/)
 New automation techniques and robotic solutions are continuously being developed, and
are having a particularly significant impact in the food industry. Robotic solutions can be very
versatile and customised to your production requirements.
Automation & robotics solutions provide significant benefits to the Food Processing
Industry which include:

● Increased productivity
● Reduced Labour Costs
● Consistent Quality
● Reduced Product Waste
● Improved Safety
● Measurable Return on Investment (ROI)

Scott Automation & Robotics provides solutions for all aspects of the food industry
ensuring our clients have the certainty of reliable, fast and accurate processing whilst ensuring
quality assurance. Our solutions include:
● Conveying
● Vision and sensing systems
● Robotic picking
● Robotic packing
● Robotic packaging
● Robotic palletising
● Automated stretch wrapping
● Full process automation

(http://www.machineryautomation.com.au/food/)

“We don’t have 29% of regular foods on menu today as our kitchen expert isn’t well”, said the
manager of a reputed hotel while we discussed automation of food products as a necessity in
the 21st century. If you too have faced the same problem, then you’re at the right place where
the solution is served.
How many successful food making machines can one recall when the term “automatic” is
tossed? ‘Not many’ would be the answer. Trying to find the reason to this, we came across the
fact that people of the world are unaware of the benefits one gets on a greater scale on
automating the process of food making. Hence, here we are to introduce you to the wonderful
world of Automatic Food Making Machines and their benefits!!
Labour Reduction: In the case mentioned above, if the kitchen master is removed from the
frame, it affects theeconomical condition of the hotel. If automation is brought into this picture,
the dependency or the need of the chef reduces to zero ‘automatically’. Wouldn’t many such
cases be solved with just this one step up towards automation!?
Food Standardization: Does the taste of the food depend on the mood of the chef? Does his
breakup with his girl affect the reputation of your hotel? If this has been your experience then its
time you must switch to automation. This will deduct all the possibilities of disastrous food and
maintain a taste which shall create a signature reputation for your company. Automation
facilitates the consistent quality, trouble-free production and transparency critical to keeping
retailers and consumers satisfied with food and beverage products.
Wastage Reduction & Expansion: Two significant advantages of industrial switching to
automatic machines are their flexibility and potential for expansion. While a complete
automation solution might not be appropriate for smaller businesses, industrial automatic
components and machinery can be added as needed, and customised and expanded as
business with minimal wastage of resources.
Increased safety: Automation allows managers to monitor and have more control over
processes, which filters down to further refinements made by staff. Having the data and the
power to make adjustments in one place means the time from incident and reaction is shortened
significantly, and minor problems have less time to become major. In this manner, automation is
a vast improvement over the old-fashioned method of recording data in electronic spreadsheets
or paper records.
Brand Protection: Maintaining quality, ensuring safety and facilitating traceability all tie into a
manufacturer’s key concern: maintaining a brand’s good reputation. Automation facilitates the
consistent quality, trouble-free production and transparency critical to keeping retailers and
consumers satisfied with food and beverage products.
So if you’ve found something that can ease your life, switch to Automation! This shall work as
your everyday support in taking your brand to greater heights. What are you waiting for…!?

(http://www.dosamatic.com/5-advantages-of-automation-in-food-industry/)

Food processing equipment features some of the most sophisticated automation around.
But, most machines are assembled manually. That’s because high-mix, low-volume production
is the rule rather than the exception. Food processing machinery comes in all shapes and sizes
to meet the widespread demands of companies that produce beverages, bakery items, candy,
dairy goods, frozen food, fruit, meat, poultry, seafood, snack food, vegetables and other edibles.
Equipment categories include chillers, dryers, feeders, fryers, grinders, homogenizers, mixers,
roasters, separators, slicers and ovens.
Most food processing machines have similar automation and motion control needs, such
as material conveying and positioning, heating, drying and cooling. They also require
cleanliness, gentle handling and precise control of temperatures, pressures, treatment times
and other process parameters. In addition, food processing machinery is often seamlessly
integrated with high-speed packaging and labeling equipment. Equipment and systems
designed for the food processing industry share many of the same basic components used in
discrete manufacturing, including compressors, electric motors, pumps and valves. But, the
machines become even more complex once a labyrinth of digital sensors, pipes, transmitters,
tanks, tubes and other components are added into the mix. And, food processing machinery
must be capable of withstanding constant cleaning and disinfecting with all sorts of harsh
agents, ranging from steam and water to alkaline solution, organic solvents, hypochlorites,
iodine compounds and nitric acid. Above all, food processing equipment must meet strict
regulations enforced by government agencies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“There are two distinguishing features of food processing machinery,” says Dale
Robinson, director of business development for consumer and industrial products at EWI. “If the
machinery comes in direct contact with the food product, [it] must be fabricated from stainless
steel, and be free from cracks and crevices that might retain food particles. In those cases,
stainless steel surfaces—particularly corners and joints—must be ground to specific ‘smooth’
surface finishes to prevent the retaining of food.
“The second distinguishing feature of food equipment is very high processing and
packaging speeds,” adds Robinson. “This is particularly true of beverage and snack food
processing lines.” Snack foods are typically processed and packaged at speeds of more than
100 bags per minute, while beverages are processed at rates of more than 2,000 cans per
minute.
Those requirements make food processing equipment challenging to design and
assemble. For instance, engineers must always consider ease of cleaning.
“There are standard tubing and connectors designed for quick cleaning and sanitation,”
says Robinson. “Those commercial, off-the-shelf-components are not the problem, however. All
custom-designed features, structures and assemblies of food processing equipment must be
designed for cleanability. The conventional name for this feature is clean-in-place or CIP.”
“The most complex food machines tend to be the ones that have the highest need for
clean design and the largest risk for food bacteria growth,” adds Mike Hosch, director of product
and strategic development at Dorner Manufacturing Corp., a leading supplier of conveyors used
in food processing applications.
“These are machines that serve the dairy, meat, poultry and fish markets,” Hosch points
out. “These areas are governed by the highest restrictions in equipment design, along with
tighter limitations for the selection of materials and material finishes.”
The food processing industry uses all types of conveyors, including traditional belted
conveyors, modular belt conveyors, side flexing chain conveyors and positive-drive
homogeneous belt conveyors. “The type of conveyor technology used usually depends on
where the [device] is being used in the food production process,” says Hosch.
(http://www.assemblymag.com/articles/92042-food-processing-industry-hungers-for-automation)
In recent years, 3-D printers and scanners — machines that create digital models

of objects, and then build them on the spot in three dimensions using a special kind of

printer — have become smaller, more user-friendly, and more widely used. They can

now been used to create television and car parts, replicas for museums, 3-D sculptures

— and, in some cases, food.

 In 2007, a group called Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories created something called

theCandyFab, a 3-D printer that creates elaborate shapes out of sugar. The CandyFab

is a DIY project — it’s open-source, uses recycled material, and costs less than $ 500 to

produce — and works by fusing together layers of sugar. The machine prints one two-

dimensional design, then prints another design on top of it, fuses them — and continues

until a three-dimensional shape emerges. Among the project’s accomplishments:

Printing a gigantic sugar screw, and creating beautiful mobius-strip-like sculptures.

And in the past few months, Dave Arnold, the director of technology at the

French Culinary Institute, has been experimenting with a 3-D printer called Fab@Home.

The machine, which is on loan from Cornell University, creates three-dimensional

objects by discharging materials from two 10mL syringes (meaning the ingredients used

have to be in homogeneous paste form, and the final product can’t be any bigger than a

pound of butter).

(http://www.salon.com/2010/02/01/cornucopia_food_printers/)

When it comes to the business ventures, the latest craze nowadays is franchising. Why
franchising? With franchising, you need not to have a hard time introducing your business
concept to the market because the name is already established for quite some time.
Advertisements are already out and you need not to be a marketing expert to exert more efforts
on making your name known to the public. Speaking of franchising, the most sought after trend
in the franchising business is the food cart industry. For obvious reasons, Filipinos just love to
eat. We eat more than three times a day, we have snack or merienda and even midnight
snacks. Actually if you would count pre and post workout snacks then that would add more. But
anyway, if you are planning to get your very own food cart franchise then you need to make a
very rigid and thorough research on what your target consumers would long for.

For the Pinoys who are always budget conscious, affordability of the product counts.
Affordable foods that we have available are mostly finger foods or snacks. And among these
finger foods, the most prevalent name that astounds everyone is siomai. Yes, this long time
Chinese snack has been around and has always been the crowd’s favorite. Even in the food
cart industry, siomai is one of the best sellers. Aside from the taste of the siomai which is well
loved and adapted by the Filipinos, siomai is easy to munch and is very apt for the Pinoys who
are always on the go.
● Siomai Chino
● Master Siomai
● Siomai House
● Emperor Siomai
● Siomai Goodness!

(http://foodcartfranchisephilippines.com/2015/03/best-5-siomai-food-cart-franchises-in-the-
philippines/)

Caldwell, D. (2012). Robotics and Automation in the Food Industry, 1st Edition: Current and
Future Technologies. Sawston, Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing.

Summary:

The implementation of robotics and automation in the food sector offers great potential for
improved safety, quality and profitability by optimising process monitoring and control.
Robotics and automation in the food industry provides a comprehensive overview of
current and emerging technologies and their applications in different industry sectors.

Part one introduces key technologies and significant areas of development, including automatic
process control and robotics in the food industry, sensors for automated quality and
 safety control, and the development of machine vision systems. Optical sensors and
online spectroscopy, gripper technologies, wireless sensor networks (WSN) and
supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are discussed, with
consideration of intelligent quality control systems based on fuzzy logic. Part two goes
on to investigate robotics and automation in particular unit operations and industry
sectors. The automation of bulk sorting and control of food chilling and freezing is
considered, followed by chapters on the use of robotics and automation in the
processing and packaging of meat, seafood, fresh produce and confectionery. Automatic
control of batch thermal processing of canned foods is explored, before a final
discussion on automation for a sustainable food industry.

With its distinguished editor and international team of expert contributors, Robotics and
automation in the food industry is an indispensable guide for engineering professionals
in the food industry, and a key introduction for professionals and academics interested in
food production, robotics and automation.

Gray, J.O., & Davis, S.T. (2013). Robotics in the food industry: an introduction (pp. 21–35) .
Sawston, Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing.

Robotics in the food industry: an introduction

● J.O. Gray, The University of Manchester, UK
● S.T. Davis, University of Salford, UK

Current manufacturing procedures are discussed together with the drivers for change with
emphasis on the need to adopt state-of-the-art engineering technology. The challenges and
opportunities presented by the adoption of automation are emphasised and some food-factory-
of-the-future concepts are outlined.

Davies, E.R. (2013). Machine vision in the food industry (pp. 75-110) . Sawston, Cambridge:
Woodhead Publishing.

Machine vision in the food industry

● E.R. Davies, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK, 2013, Pages 75–110

Over the past decade, machine vision has been applied much more widely, uniformly and
systematically in the food industry. This has been ensured by continual developments in the
constituent methodologies, namely image processing and pattern recognition. At the same time,
advances in computer technology have permitted viable implementations to be achieved at
lower cost. To some extent, progress is now being held up by the need for tailored development
in each application: hence future algorithms will have to be made trainable to a much greater
extent than is currently possible. In addition, recent developments such as hyperspectral
imaging should become accepted in a number of niche areas.

Berrie, P.G. (2013). Sensors for automated food process control: an introduction (pp. 36-74) .
Sawston, Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing.

Sensors for automated food process control: an introduction

● P.G. Berrie, Endress + Hauser Process Solutions AG, Switzerland, 2013, Pages 36–74

The measurement of process variables provides not only the means for monitoring and
controlling a process, and hence for providing constant quality unaffected by the operator; it also
can be key to reducing capital tied up in inventory and to using energy more efficiently. Parallel
to this, the management of assets both at process and enterprise level is gaining in importance.
This chapter reviews the requirements of the food industry on field instrumentation, the
instruments available to measure process variables, and the integration of these instruments
into automation systems. A few practical examples and an outlook on future developments
complete the chapter.

Jayas, D.S., & Singh, C.B. (2013). Optical sensors and online spectroscopy for automated
quality and safety inspection of food products (pp. 111-129) . Sawston, Cambridge: Woodhead
Publishing.

Optical sensors and online spectroscopy for automated quality and safety inspection of
food products
● C.B. Singh, D.S. Jayas, University of Manitoba, Canada

Due to increasing consumer demand for healthy, high quality, and safe food, food processing
industries are exploring/adopting new non-destructive, fast, and accurate techniques for
quality and safety inspection of their products. Optical sensing and spectroscopic
techniques have high potential for automated real-time quality and safety inspection of
agricultural and food products. These techniques have already been adopted
successfully in several food processing units for automated quality monitoring of their
products. This chapter discusses various optical sensing techniques under three broad
categories namely: spectroscopic, fiber optic and image sensing. Working principles,
instrumentation, advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of these techniques have
been described and various applications for quality monitoring in the agriculture and food
processing industries have been reviewed.
Holmes, J.F., Russell, G., & Allen, J.K. (2013). Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
(SCADA) and related systems for automated process control in the food industry: an
introduction (pp. 130–142) . Sawston, Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing.

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and related systems for automated
process control in the food industry: an introduction

● J.F. Holmes, G. Russell, Georgia Tech Research Institute, USA

● J.K. Allen, The University of Oklahoma, USA
Pages 130–142

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) is becoming the standard for industrial
control systems. Despite the basics of SCADA dating back to the 1960s, this control
technique has only become more evident in food processing environments over the last
decade. The recent adoption of SCADA is due to increases in the cost of labor,
reductions in the cost of control systems, and the general advances in food processing
systems requiring more advanced control systems. This chapter provides an overview of
SCADA, some high-level examples, and what should be expected of those with plans to
implement a SCADA system into a food processing environment.

Purnell, G. (2013). Robotics and automation in meat processing (pp. 304-328) . Sawston,
Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing.

Robotics and automation in meat processing

G. Purnell,
Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education (Gifhe)
Pages 304–328

Tasks in the meat processing sector are physically challenging, repetitive and prone to worker
scarcity. Despite the potential for automation, the inherent biological variation of meat and the
commercial characteristics of the supply chain have limited the widespread implementation of
automated systems. This chapter describes potential benefits and challenges, and gives an
overview of some of the robotic and automation equipment available and in development for
beef, pork and lamb processing.

Buljo, J.O., & Gjerstad, T.B. (2013). Robotics and automation in seafood processing (pp. 354-
384) . Sawston, Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing.

Robotics and automation in seafood processing

J.O. Buljo,
T.B. Gjerstad
Pages 354–384
Automation and the use of robots are enabling technologies in the seafood industry when the
goal is reduced production costs and increased product quality. The seafood processing
industry has a relatively small robotic involvement compared to some other industry
sectors, and needs to increase this involvement in spite of the challenges regarding
robotic handling of fresh food products and hygienic requirements. Some technological
possibilities are briefly described in this chapter; among other technologies, some new
gripper solutions are mentioned. The application and adoption of automation and
robotics in different unit operations in fish processing are described and some future
trends are briefly discussed.

Papadopoulos, A.I., & Seferlis, P. (2013). Automation for a sustainable food industry: computer
aided analysis and control engineering methods (pp. 441–485) . Sawston, Cambridge:
Woodhead Publishing.

Automation for a sustainable food industry: computer aided analysis and control
engineering methods
● A.I. Papadopoulos
● P. Seferlis
Pages 441–485

The concepts of sustainability and automation are analyzed in the context of food manufacturing
processes. A number of automated tools, methods and technologies that facilitate
automated design and control in the broader chemical process industry are reviewed
and discussed with respect to their ability to incorporate sustainability considerations. A
review of the scientific developments associated with automated design and control in
food manufacturing is also performed to evaluate the assimilation of the presented tools,
methods and technologies. It is concluded that food manufacturing processes provide
significant opportunities for further integration of automated tools, methods and
technologies that advocate sustainable development.