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The food and beverage sector is having to deal with constant disruption. Dependent on raw ingredients and crop yields, impacts of global conflict and climate change can have devastating effects on supply chains. This means that the world’s food and drink manufacturers not only need to have agility built in to their operations, it is also vital that they have high levels of visibility up and down their supply chains in order to mitigate against disruptions and plan for future upheaval.

IoT, automation, AI and data analytics are playing an integral role in improving efficiency, quality, and traceability of ingredients. Smart sensors monitor production in real time, reducing waste and downtime, while predictive maintenance and demand forecasting optimise operations and responsiveness to consumer trends.

Here’s what the sector is saying:

“We’re definitely moving from insight to implementation. We know the opportunities that exist and we know the barriers in terms of the commercial environment, skills and technology integration. It’s now all about practical action through collaboration, to raise awareness of what’s out there, and to help SMEs in particular. 

 “We’ve developed a programme with Wigan and Leigh College and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to multi-skill our engineers from mechanical to electrical and vice-versa, and then also taking our technical operators and upskilling them with some engineering capabilities, which all helps with accelerating tech adoption.” 

– Caroline Keohane, Head of Industry Growth, The Food and Drink Federation (FDF)

“Data imperfections shouldn’t get in the way of progress, especially when grabbing the low-hanging fruit which typically get presented when you’re first measuring your carbon footprint. However, it should be remembered that improving data quality year-on-year is a key consideration for us, as it will allow us to make more targeted decisions on our sustainability journey once those quick wins have been achieved. And we’ve just started incorporating new measures to improve our data quality.”  we transform our facilities, we’re rethinking every part of our factories, including how we maintain and operate them.

Trials at our site in Wolverhampton have shown that advanced drone technology can help us improve employee safety, reduce maintenance downtime and operate more efficiently. Just as importantly, they’re helping upskill our people in the latest digital technologies, ensuring our teams are part of our factories of the future.”

– Charlie Kingsley, Corporate Sustainability Manager, Suntory Beverage and Food GB&I 

“Our confectionery is made using tried and tested family recipes that have been passed down through several generations and, while our focus is still on our products being handmade, there are great opportunities to use technology to change the way we work.  

“In recent years our output volumes and revenue have grown, but we are always keen to explore new systems and processes that can aid further expansion. By combining small improvements and targeting our investments, we can significantly increase our manufacturing capacity, which may lead to new commercial contracts and wholesale orders. “We partnered with the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) to develop a simulation of our fudge production line. As well as seeing the measurable benefits of the model, it highlighted the potential impact of collaborating with researchers to take Aldomak and our products to the next level.”  

– Dario Riccomini, Managing Director, Aldomak

“Stoppage on production with the scale of output we work to on our bottling line can cost around £1,000 per hour. If unplanned downtime lasts for days, which can be the case when there are long lead times for spare parts, it can be very costly.  

“For this reason, we needed to get the right insight on the machine and its components to use the data to develop a robust maintenance strategy. Not only does this save us the aforementioned downtime cost, but measures to prevent failures also saves us the component and labour costs.  

“We installed condition monitoring on the asset’s main drive and vibration sensors on its gearboxes, before connecting these to a local hub. We can monitor these machines in real-time, alerting engineers to potential small issues before they escalate. This real-time data is fed into a cloud-based analytics system that can spot indicators of potential failure to improve asset reliability through preventative and predictive maintenance.”

– Michael Unsworth, Director of Brewing, Shepherd Neame

“Without automation we would never have been able to keep up with demand. Production time has dropped by more than 80%, changeover downtime has fallen by 90% and overall output has tripled. Crucially, the business now runs two fully optimised production lines, giving us the resilience to meet peak-season demand without sacrificing quality. 

“With manual bottlenecks removed, we have been able to advance new product ideas and partnerships that has driven a successful limited-edition range and boosted sales. Meanwhile, automation has allowed staff to move into quality control, data analysis and process optimisation roles. Waste has fallen and sustainability performance has improved.” 

– Scott Harasyn, Founder, Bubble Panda

The Manufacturer

The Manufacturer