Mikael Bengtsson of Infor shares how industry knowledge combined with technology has the power to deliver successful solutions
Like many other industries, food and beverage manufacturing is facing many challenges. The past few years of inflation have been putting pressure on margin and profitability. There is a labor shortage, which means that finding, and keeping, the right workforce is a challenge. Adding to this are constant supply chain challenges that can make it hard to meet customer demands.
That introduction is painting a pretty dark picture. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. And that is to leverage new technology, specifically enterprise automation and artificial intelligence (AI), to address these challenges. If done right, the result will bring a competitive advantage. A key term is efficiency. Technology can support organizations to do things better, faster, and cheaper. This means that with the same workforce, more can be done, and a company’s talent can instead be used to generate additional value. AI is also a great technology to leverage and analyze large amounts of data, resulting in insights and predictions across a company’s entire operation.
I believe the future winners will be the ones who embrace and explore this new technology, proactively tackling challenges and use it to create opportunities. The ones who are slow to respond are likely to fall behind.
There are different types of AI, such as machine learning (ML) and generative AI (GenAI). They all have their different use cases. ML is great to deploy for custom models tailored to specific manufacturing processes. It can be used to forecast trends, anticipating issues before they impact the business, generating actionable insights and predictions across the entire operation. GenAI can be used for content creation and analysis by harnessing the power of large language models.
Below are a few examples, but far from all, of use cases where AI can be applied successfully:
■ Analyze customer feedback, and automate document processing
■ Boost revenue by predicting demand, optimizing inventory levels, and reducing excess supply. This is even more important when working with products with short shelf life, where fresh is important, since it is a component of the overall quality
■ Dynamic best before date: leverage multiple data points to set the optimal best before date
■ Optimizing yield by collecting manufacturing parameters, such as temperature, humidity, protein and fat content, etc. When all this data is analyzed, the machines can identify trends that would take too long for humans to see, and then it would be too late to action on it
■ Pricing and product recommendations based on previous purchases, from the specific customer, but also from other customers with similar buying patterns
These are only a handful of examples. There are many more. Infor, we always sit down with our customers to discuss what their biggest challenges are, and if resolved, would generate the biggest business impact. The objectives differ. It can be to improve customer service, increase the yield, or reduce waste. Of course, AI can’t solve everything, but it is surprising to see how much it can address and the associated positive business impact it generates. If done right, it is also fascinating how quickly these projects can bring value, typically within 60-to-90 days. It almost sounds too good to be true, but it is not. The reason for that is that companies can leverage AI without having to rebuild their infrastructure. Infor’s platform connects directly to existing ERP, CRM, and supply chain systems.
At Infor we work with many leading food and beverage manufacturers to leverage this new and exciting technology to make them more competitive. Success typically comes when industry knowledge is coupled with technology. When we do this together, we manage to optimize the workforce for maximum efficiency, cut costs, and boost employee satisfaction.
For a list of the sources used in this article, please contact the editor.
Mikael Bengtsson
Mikael Bengtsson is Industry and Solution Strategy Director for Food & Beverage at Infor. Infor is a global leader in business cloud software products for companies in industry specific markets. It builds complete industry suites in the cloud and efficiently deploys technology that puts the user experience first, leverages data science, and integrates easily into existing systems. Over 65,000 organizations worldwide rely on Infor to help overcome market disruptions and achieve business-wide digital transformation.