Industrial Automation Magazine India

Many of the industrys manufacturing challenges are a result of shifting market demands

Published on : Thursday 08-08-2024

Janice Abel, Principal Consultant, ARC Advisory Group

What are the most significant trends driving digitalisation in the Food & Beverage industry?

Digital transformation and productivity improvements are the main drivers for the Food & Beverage industry’s digitalisation of operations, along with the many sub trends we are seeing in this industry. Population growth and consumer preferences for types of food are also strong drivers because digitalisation can enforce modifications and increase volume.

Digital transformation enables a host of technologies that can help F&B manufacturers enhance safety and quality, as well as reduce energy, carbon, waste and packaging material. Simulation technology and digital twins can be used to help design, control and operate complex processes. Companies can use simulation and digital twin technology to efficiently model complex processes, validate design performance, and train operators. The result is reduced product variability, improved performance, and reduced production risks and downtime, while increasing sustainability and operational resilience.

The F&B industry is typically a high-volume, low-cost industry and often makes a pittance on a product so technology costs can be a huge inhibitor depending upon the RoI for digitalisation. The PLI scheme may help with the digital transformation for the F&B sector in India. Another driver is the reconfiguration of supply chains, as the world isolates itself into clusters of trading partners, and as having access to fresh foods becomes more important.

What are the biggest challenges that Food & Beverage companies face when implementing digital transformation?

Biggest challenge that F&B companies face when deploying digital transformation technologies is cost and being able to predict the benefits in terms of RoI. The other challenges are corporate culture and acceptance of digital technologies including the fear of the replacement of some jobs. Advanced analytics, AI and robotics are often seen as human replacements when in most cases today they are assisting humans.

Besides, there are other key manufacturing operational challenges. These include ensuring consistent brand and product quality, taste, and safety from batch-to-batch day after day, year after year…while simultaneously lowering the costs of production and packaging to compensate for rising ingredient and regulatory costs, increasing their sustainability and operational resilience. F&B plants also operate in a complex regulatory environment relative to food safety, traceability, nutrition and health, and sustainability. Supply chain challenges can also be daunting, as well as inflation, which is both hurting profit margins and reducing sales with consumer push-back due to high prices. Sustainability objectives must be met to reduce energy, waste, packaging, and carbon.

Many of the industry’s manufacturing challenges are a result of shifting market demands. With a rapidly growing population in emerging economies that are both more affluent and urban, and environmentally conscious, new approaches, methods, and processes are needed. Plants must be ready to embrace a digital, traceable supply chain and enable a digital factory and smart manufacturing solutions infused with generative AI that provide real-time visibility of performance, the ability to predict future demand and equipment failures, and the ability to measure the impact of current decisions on future operation results.

In what ways is digitalisation contributing to waste reduction in the Food & Beverage industry?

Digitalisation, including automation, helps reduce product waste from raw material variations because technologies can make adjustments to the process that account for variations and improve quality and lead to zero waste. New technologies can also improve overall waste by enforcing product consistency and reducing human errors. Newer technologies can help account for temperature, volume, and other product modifications and changes to reduce waste. Additionally, newer technologies can help enforce energy efficiency in the process and ensure that manufacturing is done sustainably.

For key operations that are usually not well managed, such as clean in place, digital technologies enable effective monitoring and optimisation. Digital technologies enable plants to collect information needed to document sustainability as well as evidence of proper cleaning and detect causes of waste in water, chemical products or energy, as well as production lost opportunities. The result is increased plant productivity, reduced water, energy and chemical products waste as part of sustainability and operational resilience objectives; and the ability to document evidence of proper cleaning operations.

How is data analytics being used to optimise supply chain management and inventory control in the Food & Beverage sector?

Advanced analytics and AI are being implemented in the supply chain particularly to enable scheduling and planning changes or account for demand changes quickly. Smart manufacturing focuses on getting information from the supply chain, such as production forecast, as well as having full traceability of operations. As a result, plants must be able to attract a modern workforce capable of deploying the latest smart manufacturing technologies and provide these technologies to its new workers, lesser in experience and knowledge, and using AI to fill knowledge gaps and help workers to make the best decisions possible. These processes were once operated by an experienced workforce but have been replaced by a smaller workforce that may have never worked in the F&B industry in an operations role. To compensate for this, F&B manufacturers need to integrate generative AI to help disseminate and manage knowledge and incorporate new workflow processes. A new workforce, mostly consisting of millennials and gen Z, needs new tools and workflows to meet the challenges of flexible, agile production, which includes the use of augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) wearables, wireless handheld devices such as tablets and smartphones being provided with data and information from generative AI and analytics.

How has digitalisation impacted the operational efficiency and profitability of Food & Beverage businesses?

Digitalisation has significantly impacted the operational efficiency and profitability of F&B businesses. The adoption of digital technologies has enabled companies to optimise their processes for maximum efficiency, build resiliency into their supply chains, and respond rapidly to market trends. Key trends include the migration to the cloud, the use of AI and real-time analytics, omnichannel customer engagement, sustainability efforts. Digital investments have been shown to positively impact both revenue and profit performance of F&B manufacturers. Companies with a digital-native culture, tools, and processes are achieving closer customer connections and higher productivity. It has led to improved operational efficiency, profitability, and customer engagement, while also fostering innovation and sustainability.

What role does digitalisation play in enhancing food safety and quality assurance?

Digitalisation and the implementation of technologies play a huge role in food safety and quality assurance, not only because of their ability to enforce operations and reduce human error and improve quality, but because some newer technologies enable tracking and tracing products throughout the manufacturing process to the consumer. This helps ensure product efficacy and safety in manufacturing and in the supply chain.

Digital transformation in the food industry is enhancing food safety and quality by enabling informed decision-making and quantitative risk assessment. It facilitates improved traceability, audit readiness, and adaptation to regulatory changes, contributing to overall profitability and sustainability. Advances in digital technologies, such as smart sensors, cloud computing, and remote monitoring, are pivotal in ensuring food safety and quality. These technologies help collect real-time data to monitor processes and energy consumption, optimise production, and improve food safety controls. Automation, AI, and blockchain are particularly influential in enhancing safety and traceability in the food supply chain.

 (The views expressed in interviews are personal, not necessarily of the organisations represented)

Janice Abel is a consultant and lead analyst in the areas of enterprise manufacturing intelligence (MES)/manufacturing execution systems (MOM), operational historians/industrial data operational platforms and more.  She is also helping companies with digital transformation and digital changes. She has done extensive research and consulting on automation technologies spanning the entire spectrum of process and manufacturing industries. Her experience includes over 30 years of helping both suppliers and end user clients develop strategic plans to market, adopt, and use technologies. She has been doing research and consulting for the chemical, oil & gas, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical, consumer products, medical devices, and other industries throughout most of her professional career. At ARC her technology focus is on operational data, data platforms, manufacturing execution systems, AR/VR, digital twins, advanced operational analytics, and other technologies. 

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