Industry 4.0, Smart Factory and Supply Chain in Food Industry

The use of smart technologies is part of the digital transformation that is taking place in many sectors; food industry is no exception. The fourth industrial revolution brings a wide range of benefits for food companies, including productivity increase, cost reductions, more quickly responds to client demands, control over food safety and global supply chains management, as well as embracement of new ways of networking.

In this perspective, the conference on Digitization: Driving the Ultimate Goal and Capacity Building on the Development of Industry 4.0, Smart Factory and Supply Chain in Food Industry was organized by WAITRO, National Food Institute (Thailand) and Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute (China).

This training program featured the importance of digital transformation and the mechanisms to achieve the transition from traditional business. The event took place from 20-25 August 2018 at the Thai Food Heritage, National Food Institute (NFI), Bangkok, Thailand.

Experienced speakers from Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Germany), JITRI (China), SIRIM Berhard (Malaysia), as well as form UNIDO, ITU, and FAO were invited.

The training program focused on three main goals:

• Providing a forum for exchanging knowledge and experiences as well as gaining ideas on Digital Transformation, Industry 4.0 and smart factory, particularly in food industry sector among the experienced speakers, technicians, investors, and business owners.
• Expanding digital technology business among JITRI, NFI and other WAITRO members.
• Initiating projects to implement the knowledge on Industry 4.0 and smart factory development, particularly in food manufacturing and food supply chain.

This workshop and discussion were extremely productive for the participants, who could use it as a guideline for improvement in the digital world of business. For instance, delegates learnt about the evolution of Industry 1.0 to Industry 4.0, as well as the way Digital Technology had become part of the business not only in the production line, but also in the whole value chain. Likewise, it was established that digital transformation involving technology such as IoT, Cloud, big data, CPS, sensor, robots, AI, block chain, etc. is a must in business since it could increase productivity and effectiveness. As result of the workshop, all delegates agreed that the digital transformation could succeed only if the government puts its efforts in this policy, including research institutes, personal development agencies and finances