New webinar: managing productivity in a skills crisis

Food and drink factory managers have faced a growing skills shortage for years, with an ageing workforce and tight supply of younger skilled workers. Now the situation is at crisis levels.

Over-reliance on migrant workers has been hit by immigration policy limiting the pool of EU recruits who can get UK visas. Staff have had to stay at home and self-isolate during the pandemic, including some essential to continued plant operations.

Lack of lorry drivers​

The situation has been compounded by a continued lack of trained lorry drivers to distribute food and drink to trade customers.

Political action might offer long-term relief. Increased use of robotics is one answer, but many processors have already installed obvious equipment or struggle with budgets to invest. Complex robotic solutions also demand further skills and take time to integrate, test and bed in.

Operations managers must still meet increasing customer demand daily, so what can they do immediately to practically address the challenge and deliver targets? Three experts will offer vital advice in a free 60-minute webinar How to boost food manufacturing productivity in a skills crisis​​​. The event will be held on Thursday 9 September from 3pm to 4pm UK time and will incorporate a live Q&A session.

David Hamilton, Bakkavor​

Speakers include David Hamilton, site engineering manager at Bakkavor's UK pizza factory at Holbeach, who will tackle areas such as continuous improvement and developing robust maintenance and engineering plans. Holbeach is a 24/7 operation making 90 million pizza bases and 75 million finished pizzas a year.

Hamilton has broad experience in the food industry in similar roles for Greencore, Intersnack Group and United Biscuits.

Andrew Brodie, Avara Foods​

Andrew Brodie is people and communications director at poultry supplier Avara Foods, one of the leading UK suppliers of poultry to major retailers and foodservice chains. The company employs more than 7,000 people across the UK in an end-to-end operation from farm to the supermarket shelf.

Brodie has held his current position since Avara came together as a joint venture between Faccenda and Cargill in 2018 having previously held the position at Faccenda following spells with Cargill, Unilever and Danone.

Jack Payne, Aptean​

Completing the trio of presenters is Jack Payne, vice president, product management and solutions consulting at Aptean​​. Payne has spent more than 30 years in the food manufacturing industry, helping companies tackle their biggest industry challenges. His experience has led him to become a well-respected industry resource for best practices and technology innovation.

Register now​​ to hear how experts in the industry are coping with the skills and labour shortages confronting them.