This way to the future

The revolution
in food distribution

At the BLANC & FISCHER family holding press day 2022, Mr Egon Kofler, CEO of B.PRO GmbH, offered an exciting glimpse into food distribution of the future. We met Mr Kofler for an interview to find out more. 

Mr Kofler, as CEO of B.PRO GmbH, I can imagine that you spend a lot of time deliberating strategies for the future of the company?
Kofler: Of course! One of the core tasks of the Management Board is to ensure the successful future of the company.

Can you give us any insight into where this journey will take B.PRO in the next few years?
Kofler: A good example to illustrate this is a classic food distribution system, like those used in hospital kitchens, for instance. 

In order to create an optimal process for daily operations, we start with a B.PRO tray dispenser, where one person places the tray on a food conveyor. Another person places the patient card on the tray. At the next station, the plate dispenser positions starter and main-course plates on the tray. Now comes the food serving. The food is served onto the plates at a food serving trolley. Sometimes another food serving trolley is used for the desserts. And perhaps a cup is also added to the tray from a basket dispenser. Finally, once all of the food is on the tray, it is taken to the B.PRO shelf trolley for distribution to the hospital patients.

This process for the preparation of one tray of food involves up to seven people.

Seven people – that sounds like an extremely complex process that is probably also expensive?
Kofler: And this is exactly what motivates B.PRO to optimise it. We want to automate the process and thus reduce personnel requirements. After all, personnel is currently in extremely short supply and incurs high costs. Of course, such shortages and high personnel costs also mean that the hospital cannot operate so profitably. The quality of food also depends on the staff. If workers are too slow, for instance, the food will be cold when it arrives with patients.

What is your solution to this? How can B.PRO design the process to be more effective and efficient?
Kofler: Through the optimal and successful interplay of human and machine. We have given a lot of thought to how to make traditional food distribution as automated as possible. The solution lies in the automation of processes through the integration of robotics. Through the use of automation and robotics alone, food distribution can be organised in a much more efficient manner. Instead of seven people, the new and innovative process will require significantly fewer employees. 

Our strength is that we already have all the necessary expertise of automation in the B.PRO Group – through our subsidiary BRIMATO, for instance, which is a specialist in automation. All we need to do is implement this know-how to make automated food distribution a reality for our customers. 

So it sounds like B.PRO is well positioned for the future!
Kofler: Undoubtedly! The future will be both challenging and exciting. But it will also offer us many opportunities. B.PRO is optimally prepared for the future. And we will take full advantage of all of the challenges it brings.

Mr Kofler, thank you very much for this fascinating insight into the future of B.PRO!
 

Press report: Setting the course for a positive future [german]

Video of the BLANC & FISCHER family holding press day 2022 [german]