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IN A recently released white paper, Frost & Sullivan mentions that the Middle East is a region of high potential for the Internet of Things (IoT) applications. A few years ago, IoT was a concept that elicited blank responses from food manufacturers and operators, but it is no longer a bleak notion. With applications becoming clearer to the industry, IoT – the network of technologies that monitors objects, captures data and communicates it over a network to a computer for analysis and future action steps – is the way forward.
Stakeholders in the food and beverage market are synergizing to reduce maintenance and production costs, to enhance productivity, find opportunities and ultimately to create value down the entire supply chain. Today, IoT is adding value to the food industry from production to transportation to sales. It will help the sector improve its overall operations by improvising how resources are used in quantities and locations. Data analytics can offer actionable insights on real-time basis whereas IoT can also help livestock farming to be highly productive in its usage of resources. In a nutshell, IoT will aim to prevent malfunctions, improve efficiency and, as a result, perfect processes, according to Rich Chavie, Chief Solutions Officer, Hybris.
For instance, significant issues such as a food item’s temperature, integral to its safety, can be monitored throughout the supply chain until it reaches the consumer. IoT devices can help plan better transportation routes, inventory management and predictive procedures to reduce or hopefully eliminate malfunctions in the entire food industry supplying chain, curbing cost and waste.
Global equipment manufacturers like Certuss are deploying data-driven predictive maintenance, having access to data from over 14,000 steam generators globally. Certuss collects daily data including temperature, flame signal and pressure, which makes it easier to identify issues before they happen, hence it offers predictive maintenance. The data allows the maintenance team to identify trends that suggest problem resolution before it causes unnecessary downtime.
Remote equipment monitoring and maintenance not only reduces the time to solve problems as well as servicing costs, it also gives end-users the space to focus more on their operations.
Cloud Connection helps global manufacturing businesses to stay connected and identify opportunities using IoT. Through its FactoryTalk software, global supplier Rockwell Automation is enabling manufacturers to connect their processes and make it easier for them to bring products to market, improve asset usage, lower ownership costs, increase efficiency, and reduce expenditure.
IoT is also aiding food processors in monitoring production and food safety via sensors and cameras to identify pathogens before a potential outbreak. Fortunately, the cost of sensors has dropped remarkably, making it much more cost-efficient to deploy the technology now compared to several years ago. Cisco estimates that 500 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2030.
New technologies help reduce food waste, which inevitably occurs due to product deterioration somewhere in the supply chain. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, one-third of food production is lost or wasted globally, amounting to an estimated figure of 1.3 billion tons per year. But now companies can control what occurs during transit and distribution with a central cloud database tracking food safety points. These food safety mechanisms can be synergized with companies’ businesses to offer better decisions and optimize costs and safety.
According to the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), food companies crossing US$1 million in annual revenues are mandated to keep a minimum of two years of food safety records on file, with shippers and carriers expected to keep 12 months of transportation and training records. A cloud based portal holding sensors helps maintain coherent records by streaming in data automatically into the online database which not only streamlines the process but also cuts down resource costs.
With FSMA getting into the act, food transport is being given primary importance. Emerson, an international refrigeration and food safety technology operator, is using IoT to help customers maintain food safety via real-time monitoring throughout the food cold chain. The cold chain is an interlinked system of facilities, containers and vehicles that work at the backend to maintain food safety and quality.
In a report, Bob Sharp, executive president of Emerson Commercial & Residential Solutions said: “Only a few decades ago, food transporters would put a thermometer in the food once it reached its destination, whether the trip was five or 500 miles. Now, we have the technology to give us constant insight into food temperature from the farm to the warehouse to the store, helping to protect food safety and quality for the customers we serve.”
According to Sean Riley, global industry director for manufacturing and supply chain at Software AG, food stakeholders and employees must view IoT as a route to empowerment, rather than replacement.
“This will require a deeper, more satisfying level of thought. I see this as one of the most important reasons to implement an IoT solution as it will drive associate satisfaction as companies move away from the constant firefighting that is so prevalent in the industry today,” he said.
Sajith Wimalaratne, head of food and beverage development at Cambridge Consultants says that in the manufacturing sector, humans would be a vanishing breed. “Machine-to-machine communications will therefore grow in importance as food manufacturers seek to leverage the IoT.” Wimalaratne suggested that the following opportunities exist: real-time tracking of inventory using bins that automatically inform of their replenishment need; predictive maintenance that give alerts of expectant equipment malfunctions and can also empower machines to automatically fix glitches pre-emptively; and remote monitoring of conditions to ensure the safety and quality of the final product.
Environmental Monitoring will benefit from the use of IoT, as it is helping businesses meet significant import requirements across countries, according to a research study from Inmarsat. It was the second most important reason for developing IoT solutions. The study reveals that agritech businesses are helping producers by monitoring production, hygiene and sustainability and will galvanize food production globalization as developing countries will start exporting to developed countries.
Developed countries such as United States and the European Union (EU) have high import standards due to concerns about food safety such as imposing new traceability standards on fish imports. IoT sensors are helping operators track their produce throughout the supply chain, which is helping open new markets, especially in developed EU and US markets for agribusinesses operating out of the developing countries.
Smart farming is one of the areas which has benefitted the most from IoT applications given its ability to innovate current farming techniques. Sensors are now able to offer critical information to farmers about their crop yield, rainfall, pests, and other data that can help improve farming methods.
IoT also helps offer transparency in the food supply chain and gives consumers the peace of mind that they trust the company they are buying their produce from. Supply chain applications have helped improve overall operations. In fact, some experts suggest that by 2018, IoT will offer a 15% increase in manufacturing productivity vis-à-vis innovation and supply chain performance.
Barilla, a pasta producer, uses smart labels to offer its consumers a sneak-peek into their supply chain. Using their mobiles, consumers can scan the product’s QR code to see the ingredients list and its entire transport chain from the farm all the way to the store shelf. The company’s Safety for Food Initiative entails that IoT is supporting it fight food counterfeiting while enhancing food safety and the company’s brand.
In short, IoT technology achieves maximum resource usage, cost-effectively. Besides the food processing industry, IoT has revolutionized how restaurants function - from ordering food to improving restaurant service and operations. It has enabled direct payment, convenient take-away, and so on. Smart Menus and restaurant mobile applications just prove that IoT is the way forward.
IoT devices offer many benefits. But it’s fair to ask about limitations, perhaps a faulty device or erroneous data at the hands of analytics software. Notwithstanding its glitches, IoT aims to provide insights to transform the food industry’s entire business process from design to distribution.
References
Food Industry Using the Internet of Things to Make Processing Smarter
FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/fsma/
The Internet of Things in the food industry. http://rroyselaw.com/the-internet-of-things-in-the-food-industry/
Can the Internet of Things eliminate machinery failure for food manufacturers?
The Internet of Things and the Future of Food
http://foodindustryexecutive.com/2016/04/the-internet-of-things-and-the-future-of-food/
IoT is accelerating the globalization of food production and processing
5 ways the Internet of Things impacts the food supply chain
www.loaddelivered.com/blog/5-ways-the-internet-of-things-iot-impacts-the-food-supply-chain/
How the Internet of Things could transform the food supply chain
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