Danish Crown: Massive investments in automation
Just over a year ago, Danish Crown established a department that will independently develop new technology and new machines that can turn automation into a competitive advantage for the group.
It has quickly proven to be a real move. At the end of August, Danish Crown applied for a patent for a newly developed machine for the first time in over 20 years, and historically Danish Crown has only applied for a patent four times in Denmark. With another application on the way, it is a good picture of how the group will develop and protect its own knowledge and solutions in the future.
"Our foreign colleagues have a competitive advantage in the form of lower wage costs, and we must make automation our competitive advantage together with, for example, sustainability. We do this better by developing and patenting solutions for work tasks that are solved just as well or better with technology, so that employees' skills can be used where their expertise is indispensable," says Henrik Andersen, technical director at Danish Crown.
In the coming year, over DKK 1 billion of the total investment budget of DKK 2.2 billion has been set aside for the modernization of the production and for the construction of Danish Crown's new factory in England, where automation is paramount.
The other major investments in automation in the coming year include new palletizing systems at the factories in Vejle and Horsens, which will make it easier for the employees to do some of the most demanding work tasks and at the same time make the processes more efficient.
"With investments in the latest automation, we believe that we can put our production together smarter, increase our competitiveness and at the same time create a better working environment. These are huge amounts of investment in one year, which have rarely been more difficult to predict, but for us it makes good sense in every way," says Thomas Ahle, CFO of the Danish Crown Group.
The investments are a cornerstone of Danish Crown's Feeding the Future strategy. Over a five-year period until 2026, the plan is to invest over DKK 10 billion in the production technology.
The massive investments in automation automatically fuel the discussion that it reduces the number of jobs. But if you are to believe a study from Aarhus University this year, that is not necessarily the case. The study concludes that companies that invest in automation will over time increase the number of employees and raise production levels, unlike companies that do not.
Danish Crown also does not believe that the increased automation will significantly affect the number of jobs, and the jobs that will disappear will be the very physically demanding jobs where you are currently under pressure from a high employee turnover.
"We believe that, in the long term, automation can strengthen our competitiveness, create growth and therefore new jobs. But we're also very clear that we'd rather have eight jobs where employee expertise comes to the fore than have ten, two of which are both physically taxing on employees and can be more effectively addressed with technology", says Henrik Andersen.
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