Change in the sector is picking up pace; transforming at a faster rate than ever before. The industry is faced with the challenge of delivering more food, faster, safer and more sustainably - all while vacancies in F&B manufacturing remains well above the UK average.
Enter the Smart Factory: a new way of operating with the potential to tackle all these issues at once.
But how does one get started on their Smart journey? How do you afford such an investment, spot what needs technology and what’s sure to bring long term ROI in a fast-evolving landscape?
These will be among the questions we’re set to answer in our upcoming webinar: Investing in the Smart Factory: Possibilities, Buy In, and Future Trends.
To help us address this topic, we’ll be joined by four experts:
- Amanda Johnson, director of innovation at Sheffield Hallam University Advanced Food Innovation Centre (AFIC)
- Liz Salter, industrial associate at Cambridge University IfM Engage
- Rich Harvey, operations controller at Ornua Foods UK
- Ines Ashton, digital and AI strategy director at The Compleat Food Group
This four-strong panel will dive into the world of automation, robotics and AI, pulling from their extensive experience in technology and food.
Meet the panel
Ines Ashton is the digital and AI strategy director at The Compleat Food Group, leading the company’s digital transformation across manufacturing, data, and AI.
With over 15 years of experience spanning banking, publishing, oil, pharmaceuticals, and FMCG, she has previously driven large-scale analytics and AI programmes at Shell and Mars Inc.
Ashton is passionate about using data and technology to build smarter, more resilient businesses – and brings a people-first, practical approach to digital change.
Rich Harvey leads the day-to-day performance of Ornua Foods UK’s leek manufacturing operation. Responsible for more than 400 colleagues across three shift teams running a 24/5 schedule, he oversees the delivery of c.300 million packs of cheese annually.
As the UK’s largest supplier of British and Irish cheese, Ornua Foods UK partners with major retailers to supply over 80,000 tonnes of dairy products each year across a wide range of consumer formats.
With 20 years’ experience in food manufacturing, most within the dairy sector, Harvey brings extensive technical understanding and proven operational leadership to his role. He first joined Ornua over 11 years ago, building extensive experience in operations, people leadership and continuous improvement. After progressing through several key roles, he moved to GXO Logistics, further developing his expertise in large-scale operational management, service delivery and people leadership.
His return to Ornua as operations controller brought together rich internal knowledge with valuable external perspective, significantly strengthening the site’s operational capability.
Over the last two years, he has focused on ensuring safe, efficient and high-quality production while advancing the site’s ambition to become a recognised Cheese Centre of Excellence. He has been instrumental in driving the site’s automation journey and has delivered notable improvements in OEE%, labour variances and plan attainment by combining highly skilled teams with smart, targeted automation.
Amanda Johnston is director of innovation at Sheffield Hallam University’s Advanced Food Innovation Centre (AFIC), where she provides strategic leadership for the Centre’s innovation portfolio. Her work drives sustainable income growth, high‑performing external partnerships, impactful regional and national engagement, and strengthened knowledge exchange and commercial outcomes.
She began her career in the food industry, holding management roles at Northern Foods and Cadbury Trebor Bassett. Over more than eight years, she gained extensive hands‑on experience in blue‑chip food manufacturing before moving into academia. She has spent nearly two decades at Sheffield Hallam University, leading research, innovation, project delivery and external engagement activities, and has been part of AFIC since its launch in 2014.
Her work centres on delivering healthy and sustainable innovation for the food and drink sector by bringing together industry, academia and wider stakeholders. Amanda’s expertise spans deep sector knowledge, partnership brokering at regional, national and international levels, securing funding to accelerate research and innovation, and identifying practical applications for emerging technologies across the food and drink industry.
In addition to her role at AFIC, Johnston is part of the Food and Federation’s Technology Task Force and serves on the board of Made Smarter Yorkshire & Humber, supporting the strategic development and delivery of the region’s manufacturing digital adoption programme.
Liz Salter is an automation expert and industrial associate at Cambridge University’s IfM Engage with a Masters Degree in Manufacturing Engineering.
In her role at IfM, she specialises in robotics and digital manufacturing projects, helping companies identify best-fit automation solutions.
Before working with IfM Engage, Salter had more than 15 years’ experience in manufacturing, with senior roles in operations management and manufacturing engineering. She initially built her career in the electronics industry, in an environment of highly configurable, build-to-order, complex electronic products on short lead times. She also worked extensively as a management consultant and project manager for a range of manufacturing companies.
With particular interest and experience in automation and the broader world of digital manufacturing, she also supports the IfM’s largest Research Centre, the Digital Information and Automation Laboratory (DIAL). In addition, she is a member of the Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring research team, working to support the uptake of digital manufacturing throughout the SME community.
Her industrial clients range from small, family-owned SMEs, through privately and publicly owned mid-size manufacturers, to multinationals across all sectors such as Foxconn, Nestle, Mitsubishi Electric and Rolls-Royce.
