By deploying Boston Dynamics’ Spot robots across UK production sites, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners is harnessing AI-powered inspection technology to enhance maintenance, improve efficiency, strengthen sustainability, and future-proof manufacturing operations.
SMARTER, DATA-DRIVEN MAINTENANCE
As manufacturers continue to embrace automation and AI, predictive maintenance is becoming an increasingly important differentiator. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) is the latest business to accelerate that shift, introducing Boston Dynamics’ Spot robotic inspection dog across its UK operations to deliver smarter, data-driven maintenance and improve production performance.
The deployment marks the first use of Spot technology across CCEP’s Great Britain operations, with robots now operating at the company’s Wakefield and East Kilbride manufacturing sites. Supporting maintenance teams across seven production lines, Spot monitors almost 600 inspection points, gathering real-time operational data without interrupting production.
By automating routine inspections and providing continuous monitoring, the technology enables engineers to identify emerging issues sooner, helping to improve reliability while reducing the likelihood of costly unplanned downtime.
SMARTER MAINTENANCE THROUGH AI
Spot has been designed to perform inspections autonomously, following preprogrammed routes through production facilities before returning to recharge and upload the data it has collected. Each operating cycle lasts around 90 minutes, allowing the robot to carry out regular inspections while production continues uninterrupted.
Equipped with advanced vibration, ultrasound, and thermography sensors, Spot captures a comprehensive picture of equipment health. Alongside visual monitoring of machinery and maintenance priorities, the robot also leverages the latest AI Visual Language Models to provide enhanced analysis of operational conditions.
Rather than relying solely on scheduled manual inspections, engineers receive continuous insight into the condition of production assets, allowing them to detect potential faults earlier and prioritise maintenance activity where it will have the greatest impact.
Chris Goodall, VP for Customer Service and Supply Chain at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners GB, explains: “Introducing Spot at our Wakefield and East Kilbride sites is helping us take a smarter, more proactive approach to maintenance. By giving our engineers real-time insight across routine inspection points, Spot frees them up to focus their expertise where it makes the biggest difference – identifying issues earlier, improving reliability, and keeping our production lines running efficiently.”
SUPPORTING MORE SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS
Beyond maintenance, Spot also plays an important role in helping CCEP meet its sustainability ambitions.
The robot’s sensors can detect compressed air and CO₂ leaks, alongside identifying equipment operating outside optimal conditions. These insights help maintenance teams address inefficiencies that might otherwise go unnoticed, reducing unnecessary energy consumption across production facilities.
By combining operational intelligence with energy monitoring, Spot enables CCEP to make more informed decisions that improve both manufacturing performance and environmental efficiency.
The technology therefore delivers value beyond equipment reliability, supporting broader operational goals while demonstrating how AI can contribute to more sustainable manufacturing practices.
BUILDING ON GLOBAL SUCCESS
The UK deployment forms part of CCEP’s wider robotics expansion programme, building on experience gained across its international manufacturing network.
Following a successful pilot at the company’s Barcelona site, Spot has since been introduced at nine manufacturing facilities across Spain, France, Germany, Australia, Indonesia, and The Netherlands. Lessons learned from those deployments have informed the rollout at Wakefield and East Kilbride, enabling the GB team to accelerate implementation across its own operations.
For Boston Dynamics, the continued expansion reflects the growing role of mobile robotics within industrial environments, where flexible, autonomous inspection can complement existing maintenance strategies.
Marco da Silva, Vice President and General Manager of Spot at Boston Dynamics, says: “We are thrilled to expand our partnership with CCEP to drive innovation across multiple manufacturing sites in Europe and expand into the UK. By utilizing the latest sensors and AI Visual Language Models from Boston Dynamics, Spot provides the real-time, actionable insights needed to optimize energy efficiency and reduce unplanned breakdowns. CCEP is at the forefront of modern manufacturing, and we are proud to support them in creating safer, smarter, and more efficient production lines.”
He adds that Spot has been specifically developed to overcome the limitations of conventional monitoring systems.
“Spot is designed to excel where traditional fixed sensors fall short, bringing physical AI directly into active industrial spaces. Our work with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners highlights the future of predictive maintenance. By capturing visual, thermal, and ultrasonic acoustic data directly into Orbit AIVI-learning software across 300 routine routes, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners is using Spot to deliver true site-wide intelligence to build a smarter, safer, and resilient 24/7 production ecosystem.”
DEVELOPING THE FACTORY OF THE FUTURE
The introduction of Spot is also creating opportunities for workforce development across CCEP’s UK sites.
Reliability engineers, automation specialists, and apprentices have all received training to programme and operate the robots, supporting the company’s broader ambition to develop future-ready manufacturing capabilities. Rather than replacing engineering expertise, the technology allows skilled teams to focus on higher-value activities while routine inspections take place autonomously in the background.
As manufacturers increasingly combine robotics, AI, and predictive analytics, deployments such as Spot demonstrate how intelligent automation is evolving beyond isolated tasks to become an integrated part of modern production environments.
For CCEP, the result is a more proactive approach to maintenance, enhanced operational visibility, and a production network better equipped to deliver reliable, efficient, and increasingly sustainable manufacturing for the future.
