Farmer Kensuke Takahashi, who has been using the app for three years, agrees that AI is one of the tools that will help modernise the sector. "The number of farmers is falling sharply like a rollercoaster," he says, "but Japan's total amount of produce is increasing."

The secret behind the hi-tech future of sushi lies in an unremarkable building in the backstreets of Osaka. Inside, empty plastic cups and plates adorned with scrunched-up wet paper – to replicate the weight and texture of scallops – make their way along a conveyer belt. To one side, concealed behind a plastic screen, technicians monitor data on computer screens, the specifics of their work deemed off-limits to the Observer and a small group of journalists granted rare access to the development "studio" belonging to Sushiro, the leading force in Japan's multimillion dollar sushi train industry. This is where developers make incremental improvements to the restaurant chain's ability to deliver plates of freshly-made sushi to diners' tables with lightning speed, and stay one step ahead of the competition in a sector estimated to be worth 740bn yen (about £4bn). "In the past, diners used to take what they fancied from a free-for-all conveyer belt, but these days most people want to order their favourite sushi," said Masato Sugihara, deputy manager in the IT department at Sushiro's parent company, Food and Life.

A survey of 181 mid-sized manufacturing businesses, commissioned by MYOB, found 39 per cent were worried about a shortage of skilled workers as a challenge for their business. The report found that 33 per cent were planning more automation of manual processes and 44 per cent planned to invest in innovation to improve production lines. For Mr Vickery, a $1 million investment in an offcoil machine from Austria which automates parts of his production line has already paid off, allowing staff to knock over a day's work in just three hours. "We just experienced staff shortage after staff shortage and by having that [the machine] I think it not only kept the business going ... but we're also able to profit from it because we could produce a lot more without any extra labour input." Next month, Mr Vickery plans to head to a construction expo in Munich to buy more robots for the business to "remove more hands off the factory floor".

One of the great benefits of Industry 5.0 is that it provides the means for robots to help humans work better and faster than ever before. The introduction of collaborative robots (or "cobots" for short) dramatically lowered the bar for automating manual processes by making robotic technology much more accessible and easier to implement alongside existing workers and processes. With the return on investment being easier to justify, manufacturers are looking for ways to automate more tasks. The inherent capabilities of cobots allow them to be assigned to multiple applications and be moved around the facility for different jobs at various times of the day. What's more, the cobots themselves are further galvanizing the transition to Industry 5.0.

Agricultural drones, self-driving tractors and seed-planting robots are among the innovations that could be key to future food supplies, as autonomous farming promises to produce more crops with less effort and less impact on the environment. Global farming shortages are affecting food chains globally. Last year the National Farmers' Union (NFU) in the UK wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking for the implementation of a'Covid Recovery Visa' to alleviate labour shortages across the supply chain. Seasonal worker visa scheme has been extended until end of 2024. The extension of the scheme was a key lobbying ask by the NFU There will be 30,000 visas available this year with potential to increase by 10,000 if necessary Find out more https://t.co/gsBU8Nca6W

Founded in 2015, 6 River Systems is based in Massachusetts, USA, and is owned by Shopify. Simon Jones, Head of UK and Ireland at 6 River Systems, speaks to Warehouse & Logistics News. What are your best-known products/solutions/services? Our best-known product is our collaborative picking robot Chuck. Chuck uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to help warehouse associates work faster while making their jobs less physically demanding.

As the coronavirus pandemic enveloped the world last year, businesses increasingly turned to automation in order to address rapidly changing conditions. Floor-cleaning and microbe-zapping disinfecting robots were introduced in hospitals, supermarkets and other environments. Some enterprises found that, given the new emphasis on hygiene and social distancing, robotic operations offered a marketing advantage. The American fast food chain White Castle began using hamburger-cooking robots in an effort to create "an avenue for reduced human contact with food during the cooking process". With the worst days of the pandemic hopefully now behind us, the jobs story has turned out to be unexpectedly complicated. While overall unemployment rates remain elevated, both the US and the UK are experiencing widespread worker shortages, focused especially in those occupations that tend to offer gruelling work conditions and relatively low pay.

A few weeks ago, Elon Musk announced that his company, Tesla, plans to have a humanoid robot prototype ready next year. The intention is to create a 56kg machine that isn't "super expensive" to retail. Oh, yes: the commercial application of the planned robot is absolutely to replace human jobs – the ones that Musk himself finds "boring". Some argued the announcement was a troll. It wasn't just that Musk's speech was preceded by a dancer grooving to dubstep in costume as the robot, or that robotics companies with more skin in the long game than Tesla say the technology is nowhere near what Musk's proposing.

Brisbane-based robotics company Lyro Robotics has successfully deployed its robots and world-leading picking and packing technology in commercial trials held at the avocado facility, Sunnyspot Packhouse, in Ravensbourne, Queensland. Summer harvest looms, and so does a widespread labour shortage for much of Australia's horticulture industry. The Australian Fresh Produce Alliance (AFPA) indicated in September the country's fruit and vegetable industry was facing a workforce shortage of up to 26,000 people throughout the peak summer season. This figure was reached by Ernst & Young. This is where robotics technology, such as Lyro Robotics, could provide solutions assisting farmers with seasonal and short-term farm work.

By Sam Nussey2 Min ReadTOKYO (Reuters) – SoftBank's robotics arm said on Monday it will bring a food service robot developed by California-based Bear Robotics to Japan as restaurants grapple with labour shortages and seek to ensure social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.Slideshow ( 3 images)The robot named Servi, which has layers of trays and is equipped with 3D cameras and Lidar sensors for navigation, will launch in January, SoftBank Group Corp said.Servi will cost 99,800 yen ($950) per month excluding tax on a three year plan.The launch leverages SoftBank's long experience in bringing overseas technology to Japan but reflects the shift away from CEO Masayoshi Son's earlier focus on humanoid robots.Servi has been tested by Japanese restaurant operators, including Seven & i Holdings at its Denny's chain, as the sector grapples with an aging workforce and deepening labour shortages.SoftBank's humanoid Pepper robot became the face of the company following its 2014 unveiling but failed to find a global customer base.The firm in 2018 announced cleaning robot Whiz, which employs technology from group portfolio company Brain Corp and has sold more than 10,000 units worldwide.SoftBank is touting the use of Whiz as a coronavirus countermeasure, …