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Beyond Equipment Automation: The Case for Digital Transformation

It’s important to think not only about how automation can improve productivity, but also how digital transformation can improve KPIs throughout the operations.

Fso Road Map

When thinking about automation projects, it seems natural for most consumer product goods (CPG) manufacturers to think first about how equipment can improve a process, increase productivity, and reduce labor costs. After all, it’s easy to visualize how a few cobots can speed up end-of-line product packing and eliminate the need for several people performing the same task. But there’s another side to the automation equation that can yield significant productivity improvements as well: digital transformation (DX). Some recent data shows just how significant these improvements can be.

In its 2022 Global Food and Beverage Industry Trends report, International Data Corp. (IDC) revealed that companies adopting digital transformation into their operations have seen a measurable increase in productivity and profits. About three-quarters of the survey respondents have seen KPI improvements across all areas of the business (production, quality, supply chain, logistics, sales, e-commerce) as a result of their digital transformation initiatives, and an additional 45 to 55% expect to see even more improvements over the next 12 months. Companies investing early in digital transformation are now reaping the benefits, IDC concludes, and those still sitting on the fence are at a potential disadvantage.


Read article   Read "Food and Beverage Trends Through the Lens of Digital Transformation" to learn more about the 2022 Global Food and Beverage Industry Trends report from International Data Corp.

Using the FSO Institute’s Automation Roadmap (see opposite)—especially the first two stops, Discovery (Where to Start?) and Feasibility Assessment (What to Do?)—we’ve asked FSO coaches and roadmap contributors John Giles (formerly Amway) and James Couch (formerly Smithfield Foods) to weigh in on the advantages of thinking beyond equipment to digital transformation in the early stages of automation projects.

FSO Institute: John, you’ve had some significant successes with collaborative robots (cobots). Did the “equipment first” or “beyond equipment” thinking reflect your own experiences with these automation projects? How do/did you convince others to move in the direction of digital transformation and do/did you see the benefits cited by IDC?

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