Profiling the future demands of the UK food supply chain

Andrew Thomas*, Claire Haven-Tang, Diane Sedgley, Paul Byard

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

The UK food industry faces significant challenges to remain competitive. With Brexit on the horizon, companies can no longer rely on a low labour cost workforce to maintain low production costs. Industry 4.0 is seen as a technology driven paradigm that aims to significantly improve productivity and performance of a company whilst ensuring better demand/supply chain connectivity. However, there is evidence to suggest that the UK food industry has not yet embraced this new manufacturing paradigm. Through an exploratory survey of 36 food companies (8 large and 28 small) this paper discusses the key issues around whether these companies are prepared for the implementation of I.E 4.0. The discussion provided along with the primary survey data suggests that the larger food companies are starting to focus on I.E 4.0. However, greater awareness of the methods of implementation is needed if companies are able to embed such systems.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvances in Manufacturing Technology XXXI - Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Manufacturing Research, ICMR 2017, Incorporating the 32nd National Conference on Manufacturing Research
EditorsJames Gao, Mohammed El Souri, Simeon Keates
PublisherIOS Press BV
Pages339-344
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9781614997849
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017
Externally publishedYes
Event15th International Conference on Manufacturing Research, ICMR 2017 - London, United Kingdom
Duration: 5 Sept 20177 Sept 2017

Publication series

NameAdvances in Transdisciplinary Engineering
Volume6
ISSN (Print)2352-751X
ISSN (Electronic)2352-7528

Conference

Conference15th International Conference on Manufacturing Research, ICMR 2017
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityLondon
Period5/09/177/09/17

Keywords

  • Food manufacturing
  • Innovation
  • Supply chain
  • Survey

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