Every industry faces specific challenges. The food and beverage industry is no different. Here, under pressure margins are the order of the day, from strict food safety and quality regulations, warehousing, distribution to constantly changing customer demands. Today, there's a demand for more and more individual products of the highest quality and at the most affordable prices.

That said, to stay competitive in such an overly crowded market, manufacturers must continuously innovate new ways to tailor production to customer demands.

Enter digitalization.

Imagine speaking to a nutrition monitor, like you would Siri or Alexa, and getting a product customized to meet your current needs in real-time.

That’s digitalization in a nutshell. Adopting a host of new digital technologies to create ultra-flexible and efficient production systems where all factory elements and utilities can seamlessly share information and respond autonomously.

Digital transformation is rapidly changing the way manufacturers approach challenges. This article takes a look at those challenges and how they are met by technology.

Actionable insights from organizational data

In a world where tailoring production to customer demands is of the essence, one cannot overstate the importance of utilizing business data. Unfortunately, most food and beverage companies sit on mountains of data, not knowing how to gain and leverage potentially actionable insight and thereby creating data silos, which are isolated organizational data that are inaccessible to different departments.

According to a survey by Garner, Inc., 87% of organizations have low Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics maturity.

What does this mean for food and beverages companies?

Simply put, they’re unable to leverage actionable insights to fulfill changes in real-time, using already available data.

That said, companies are gradually recognizing the value in the heaps of data they produce and are looking to position themselves to analyze data and simultaneously inform their decision-making.

To that end, companies are adopting software in conjunction with the internet of things (IoT) to create a transparent atmosphere between all elements of the product's life cycle. This way, manufacturers can quickly identify issues at any stage and take necessary measures in real-time. It doesn’t end there; with the continuous development in technology, enterprise companies are driving competition using prescriptive analytics and artificial intelligence.

Also, enterprise resource planning software (ERPs) accesses real-time data from different departments to combine into a single system, creating a platform where management can utilize data to inform business strategies in relation to inventory and logistics, amongst other things.

Keeping up with standards

In the food and beverage industry, strict food safety and quality regulations are the order of the day. This makes sense as regulatory bodies must ensure that products meet the criteria for customer consumption. However, the challenge for most companies arises due to frequently changing mandates. Companies must continuously update their method of operation to meet regulation requirements.

Fortunately, with ERPs, companies now have the wherewithal to digitally maintain databases, which in turn allows them to monitor the complete value chain, mitigate risks and ensure regulatory compliance. Not only does this technology enable food business owners to comply with current regulations, but it also sets them up for easy adaptation in the event of future rule changes.

Connecting organizational elements

Tracking and tracing have always been a challenge in the food and beverage industry.

Due to the increasing need for individual products, companies have to tailor production to customer demands. In that case, every production element must communicate with each other, share information and also act independently.

Sensors in conjunction with IoT technology enable companies to create a transparent atmosphere where every element interacts, from manufacturing to production to service. This technology helps the manufacturing process by storing valuable data, not least those related to processes within a plant.

For example, with information like temperature and water capacity, amongst others, decision-makers can inform their analysis. In other words, they would be aware of what variables should be altered to maximize efficiency, reducing operational costs and waste where possible.

In addition, sensors and IoT devices are Wi-Fi enabled and can store data in the cloud. This way, organizations can easily handle large data sets. What’s more, by integrating a software solution that will utilize data provided by the cloud, they can gain actionable insights.

Safety

Due to the effect of the coronavirus pandemic, the food and beverage industry is facing a new safety challenge that involves not only ensuring products are safe to consume but that workers are equally well protected. Not all industries can function remotely.

Robotics and machines have provided a way for companies to ensure safety compliance as well as the highest quality. Not to completely replace workers but to reduce manual labor, making for a safer working environment. In addition, the use of robotics and machines eliminates safety issues that are usually associated with seemingly dangerous jobs like butchery. For example, in 2016, a tech company launched a butchery software that programmed machines to cut difficult meat.

Automation

In addition to possible inefficiency, employees may cost a lot of money in the long run. Especially if you consider factors such as salary, benefits and human error. This gives birth to the need to automate operations.

With the development of more intelligent machines, companies can eliminate the human component from non-essential tasks and save unnecessary costs using automated software solutions. In predictive maintenance, for example, sensors send data to a software solution in the event of a problem, and the software automates the corresponding process.

Summary

The challenges plaguing the food and beverage industry are more than those discussed in this article. However, they all have one thing in common. They each require technological solutions.

That said, digitalization is rapidly changing the food and beverage industry for the better. And its role in the industry will only continue to increase with time. Whether it's the use of ERPs to optimize and automate processes or predictive analysis to gain insight into customer demands, digitalization in the food industry has yet to reach its full potential.

About the Author

Engineer and technology enthusiast. Derek Johnson is an avid reader and a research-loving technical writer with over seven years of experience creating technical blogs, training manuals, technical support, feature articles, SOPs and more.