By Andy Graham, Solutions Manager, SolutionsPT
The food and beverage industry was a little slower than some sectors when it came to digital transformation and this is down to multiple factors. Harsh production environments, stubborn stakeholders and strict regulatory requirements don’t make for an agile sector. But those barriers to digitalisation are the very challenges that deploying new technology in a strategic and connected way can help overcome. Advancing in digital transformation means that engineers and managers in the food and beverage sector would see improved efficiency, an easier time complying with food safety regulations and the ability to address the constantly changing and unique concerns of well-informed customers. So, where should they start?
Our top tip at SolutionsPT will always be to see digital transformation as an organisation-wide culture change. New technology investments often come from a single decision made in the boardroom that trickles down to the plant floor, this actually works against a successful digital transformation programme. Those decisions made in the boardroom must be driven by the needs of the plant floor with business-wide strategic thinking to be most effective. The best tip we can offer is to get sponsorship from the entire enterprise, and not just in a monetary sense. Each role in the factory has different requirements, onsite operators can be concerned that new technology would complicate a process that has been working adequately for a long time. They may be concerned about the impact on jobs or having the required skills available to implement it. Those at a C-suite level may also be concerned about the skills issue and can be worried about the cost of investment for new equipment and the disruption caused by implementation.
In fact, all of these concerns can be alleviated by a strong, business-wide digital transformation strategy and the leverage of data from the machine level to the business level. Process operations operators would actually gain time by the removal of repetitive tasks, enabling them to focus on the uniquely human functions that drive improvement. Management can also see real-time productivity and efficiency improvement, making it easier than ever to build a business case for continued digital transformation programmes.
Further, with new models for procurement, even the upfront cost of implementing new technologies can be offset. We’re increasingly seeing software as a service models offering lower capital expenditure and greater lifecycle security, while OEMs are also offering new ways of ‘owning’ machines or being responsible for their performance throughout the equipment lifetime. Such changes not only enable the level of flexibility that is the hallmark of digital transformation, they embody it.
Digital Transformation is an enterprise-wide undertaking. It encompasses every part of a business, from raw materials to end-product, and on to the consumer. It involves using technology to release human potential at every level of the company, from the reduction of repetitive tasks on the factory floor, to the availability of information to improve mid and longer-term decision making in the C-suite. If you are just taking the first steps into digitalisation build a strategy that factors in the needs of everyone in the company, and seek to assemble a crack-team of vendors and service providers with the skills and experience to help you implement a gradual shift to a whole new world of flexibility, productivity and efficiency that will secure your company’s future for generations to come.
