Page 32 - FoodFocusThailand No.144_March 2018

SPECIAL FOCUS

Food Intelligence Center of the National Food Institute (NFI)
revealed the study “Preparing Food Industry towards Industry
4.0” to acknowledge the level of Thai food industry development
and assess its readiness to approach towards Industry 4.0. The
study focuses on particular industries; canned tuna, canned
sardine, canned pineapple, and canned sweet corn.

Industry 4.0 and Thai Food Industry

Learn, Cope, and Push in the Right Direction

From the study of components indicating manufacturing characteristics • Technology - old and outdated machinery, inadequate access
such as machinery/manufacturing system, control and command system, to technology/machinery
energy consumption, control pattern, number of workers, waste, and • Personnel - manufacturing staff lacks knowledge/technical
product characteristics such as product type, quantity, diversity, quality, expertise, the lack of personnel and expert in developing and applying
and consumers -- the research found that the industry remains in 2.5 era. manufacturing technology
Due to the several reasons that the food industry is different from others, • Knowledge - the factory management team lacks knowledge
uncontrollable agricultural raw materials, and that automation system regarding the system, which triggers to difficulty of technology
cannot be applied to the entire supply chain. Moreover, it is labour-intensive application
industry which depends on workers’ skill. In order to enter into Industry • Capital - the factory lacks sufficient capital to improve its
4.0, academia suggests that the food industry must study the cost-efficient efficiency
way in accessing machinery and technology. Then, the industry gradually • Management - the management does not consider the value
develops little by little and integrates into Smart Factory. Not only that, and the need to develop into Industry 4.0, and machineries cannot
governmental policies supporting the industry such as tax incentives, fund be utilized in some processes
resources, interest rates, and investment promotion, should be closely Nonetheless, enterprises must accelerate their readiness for
monitored. Industry 4.0 by ensuring their comprehension about connecting real-
The concept of Industry 4.0 is to link manufacturing process into digital time technology into manufacturing system, personnel development,
technology, as well as to link the product to the technology in a form of as well as prioritizing data storage system. The government should
Internet of Things (IoT). It is expected that in 2025, the global value of IoT also promote infrastructure developments such as electricity and ICT
applied into every industry will worth up to USD 1.2-3.7 trillion, with 60% to be stable and effective.
congested in developed countries and another 40% in developing ones.
Only in ASEAN, the implementation of IoT and new technologies could In 4.0 era, the objective to become Smart Factory is to
bring roughly USD 25-45 billion profit to the industry as data on consumer
demands are assessed and used in real-time processing planning. This implement automation manufacturing intelligence based
could save cost, reduce manufacturing waste, and conserve 10-20% of on data that are connected from upstream to downstream.
energy, and also trim workforce by 10-25%. The data must be assessed to evaluate the manufacturing
Industry 4.0 will also enhance the productivity of the Thai food industry goal. As of now, China announced it will build 30,000
to better compete in the global level. It is found that developing into Industry
4.0 will increase production efficiency by 3-5%, while machinery Smart Factories in 5 years in the hope to become the
maintenance could be reduced by 10-40%. Manufacturing predictability world’s cheapest and most diverse
accuracy surges more than 85% and the lead time reduces by 20-50%. manufacturers. South Korea, on
Inventory cost to be declined by 20-50%, while skilled labour productivity the other hand, is also planning to
rises by 45-55%. Machinery downtime shrinks by 30-50%, while quality
assurance cost decreases by 10-20%. establish 10,000 Smart Factories
Obstacles that found when entrepreneurs need to develop into Industry within 5 years.
4.0 can be divided into 5 area;
Need to Know
32 FOOD FOCUS THAILAND MAR 2018