Midleton Distillery wins safety award for use of AI-assisted robot

A custom-designed autonomous mobile robot equipped with an AI vision system handles the unloading of 60kg whiskey casks from large shipping containers

Health and Safety Authority interim CEO Mark Cullen and Midleton Distillery general manager Jaime Jordan with the robotic solution that has delivered a 100% reduction in manual handling incidents related to barrel unloading. 

An AI-assisted robot that unloads 60kg whiskey casks has won a European workplace safety award.

Irish Distillers’ Midleton Distillery has been awarded the Healthy Workplaces Good Practice Award from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA).

The award-winning project centres on a custom-designed autonomous mobile robot (AMR) equipped with an AI vision system. 

It now handles the unloading of 60kg whiskey casks from large shipping containers, a task that previously posed substantial injury risks to operators due to heavy lifting, awkward postures and the confined working environment.

Developed with automation experts at Pilz Ireland and with involvement of the distillery’s health and safety, engineering, and operations teams — including the operators — the robotic solution was conceived, built, tested, and deployed over a three-year period and has delivered a 100% reduction in manual handling incidents related to barrel unloading.

“We’re proud to have developed a pioneering robotic solution that puts the safety of our people first, while respecting the craft and tradition at the heart of what we do,” Midleton Distillery general manager Jaime Jordan said.

"This project was a true team effort, both across Irish Distillers and in partnership with Pilz Ireland, and shows the positive impact purposeful innovation can have.”