Food is better with chips
In the coming decades the food manufacturers who are most
successful and most sustainable will be those driven by data.
Talk to Wiley today about a better tomorrow.
0800 945 391 www.wiley.nz
DUNEDIN BASED - GLOBAL EXPERTISE
the project delivery company
FT722
“The implementation of
ubiquitous sensors and big
data analytics connecting
cyber-physical systems.”
Once the food
industry reaches
I4.0 what awaits?
Interconnectedness and abundant
information will be used to
empower enhanced decisionmaking.
I4.0 will empower
industry to monitor, synchronise
and correlate different elements
of business highlighting how
separate process units impact
one another and the overall
operation. Increased data flow will
empower accelerated decisionmaking
and response times.
This is much more than cutting
down on unplanned maintenance
time, it’s an industry-wide shift in
mindset. A shift away from “you
can have any colour you want as
long as it’s black” towards mass
customisation, shorter supply
chains and more effective and
efficient activity on the factory
floor. The core outcome will not
only be an increase in efficiency
but an increase in agility.
As a concept conceived in
2013, I4.0 has a level of maturity
commensurate with the time it’s
been evolving. As sensors and
business practices develop, the
full value proposition of I4.0 will
continually crystallise.
For the food executives of
Australia, there are two key
takeaways: I4.0 is not here yet
but it is coming, and perhaps
more importantly, there are very
real benefits to adopting this
technology. Faster adoption
means greater actionable insights
and paired with a culture of
striving to do better will lead to a
true competitive advantage over
the laggard in industry.
“While the transition to I4.0 will
not be easy, the companies
with clear leadership and strong
implementation will be the ones
to come out on top of the 4th
Industrial Revolution,” Wiskar
concludes.
improvement. In what could be
characterised as Industry 3.0
behaviour, the vast majority of
process flow improvements
come from human observations.
Only 29% of manufacturers
have access to instant, real-time
information on every product they
are producing. In a Deloitte survey,
94% of executives stated digital
transformation was among their top
priorities but only 37% of Australian
executives said they feel ready for
I4.0, with many fewer successfully
implementing the technology.
These statistics point to an industry
taking the first steps in transitioning
to I4.0 as opposed to the “here and
now” message we often hear in the
press.
While it is very likely I4.0 will
empower businesses like never
before, there are steps processors
must take before we can say
we’ve reached the aspired position
of being a business empowered
by I4.0.
The implementation of ubiquitous
sensors as a first step is already
underway and will continue until we
find ourselves discussing what’s
beyond 4.0. The next half-dozen
years in the food I4.0 space will
be characterised by the question
“what data should be collected?”
As answers become more
advanced, there will be a gradual
increase in focus on analysing the
data to ever greater precision and
insight. Finding a balance between
what we can track and what we
will act on if we track it is the
difference between overinvesting or
not investing enough to empower
outcomes.
Finally, as with any business
management challenge, the
change will come down to people
and implementation. A culture
of implementing I4.0, finding the
insights and having the team and
the resources who are willing to act
on them is going to be as large as
the technical challenge.
inventory, energy and water
consumption, waste management
and interoperability between
process units. I4.0 affects every
aspect of the food processing
industry and its operations and
hard assets.
This is distinctly different to
Industry 3.0, which is characterised
by the implementation of
microprocessors for the
automation of production. For
example, consider the transition
between Henry Ford’s factories
and those of Toyota in the ’80s
and ’90s. Toyota implemented
microprocessors to automate their
machines but did not implement
prolific sensors and data analysis
tasked with enhancing operations
through real-time insights. It is
these characteristics that are the
hallmarks of I4.0.
With those two ends of the
spectrum understood, it’s possible
to appreciate industry’s progression
from Industry 3.0 towards 4.0.
Currently, a disappointing 16%
of industry members use hard
data to underpin process flow
www.foodtechnology.co.nz 13
/www.wiley.nz
/www.foodtechnology.co.nz
