Speaking at the ProFood Tech Innovation Zone yesterday, Sasha Ilyukhin from Tetra Pak said that the food and beverage industry needs to embrace a customer-centric environment by driving digital through an organizational transformation. “Digital transformation equals human transformation,” said Ilyukhin.
Productivity solutions are more effective with digital technologies, said Ilyukhin, and by combining current productivity solutions with Industry 4.0 digital technology solutions there can be up to a 40% cost reduction to the manufacturer.
Current technologies that are disrupting businesses:
Big Data, Industrial IoT and Cyber security
Some examples include using IoT to predict failures before they happen, and using the advanced analytics of Big Data. Ilyukhin said that currently for IoT, the cost of entry is low.
With cyber security, there is a need to protect infrastructure, and if your company doesn’t already have a CDO (Chief Defense Operation), it definitely should.
Augmented Reality
With Augmented/Mixed reality, Ilyukhin asks “how can AI augment without you noticing it?” Using augmented reality to bridge the knowledge gap with visually guided remote support or holographic layout visualization, Ilyukhin cited an example of an engineer laying out an entire manufacturing floor using a “HoloLens” holographic layout visualization.
Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Robotics
Robots recognizing and working alongside humans (Cobots).
Additive Manufacturing
3D printing. Instead of holding an inventory of spare parts, manufacturers will print parts when they need them.
Simulation
Digital twins – digital and physical assets working together to have more accurate data.
System Integration
For most operations, this means integrating new systems with existing systems.
Value chains are becoming circular. Key is to put customer in center.