You’re facing new food manufacturing technologies. How can you stay adaptable?

Stay adaptable to new food manufacturing technologies by fostering continuous learning, assessing technology viability through pilot programs, and promoting cross-functional collaboration. Cultivate vendor partnerships for ongoing support, prioritize scalability, and invest in people trainings for skill development. Prioritize data security, implement effective change management, and ensure regulatory compliance. Benchmark against industry peers, maintain flexibility in budgeting, and continuously monitor and optimize technology performance for enhanced productivity and competitiveness.

To remain in the race of development and technologies the BASICS of food manufacturing must be very clear, as the development is in the process not with the product. For example, cooking started in earthen on Chulha, and next came metals and stoves, gas (LPG), PNG, Stainless Steel utensils, cooking in an oven, microwave, etc. Being aware of the basics of food, it becomes easy to understand and level up with the advancements in technologies of food manufacturing and process.

Understanding how new technology fits into your business is crucial. Just because it's new doesn't necessarily mean you should dive right in. Early adopters of technology often identify and report various issues, providing valuable feedback to the manufacturer. Subsequent versions are typically much improved based on this feedback.

Adapting to new technologies requires continuous training/ learning in the field and investing in a cross-section of teams. Understanding the benefit of such technology for the growth of the company and ensuring partnerships with industries for pilot program training

Stay adaptable by fostering a culture of continuous learning, encouraging experimentation, and embracing emerging technologies. Regularly assess market trends, invest in employee training, and foster collaboration with industry peers. Flexibility and a proactive approach to change will ensure your ability to navigate and thrive in the dynamic landscape of new manufacturing technologies

With any new technology, following a due diligence process will lower the risks of it not meeting your requirements, objectives and expectations. Generally, the higher the investment and/or disruption to the business, the more important the due diligence process becomes. Due diligence processes vary, but, as well as taking a detailed audit of the business case and things like technical assessments, payback time, ROI calculations, cost of ownership, training and implementation costs, it’s also worth investigating reference sites or data. For example, even seemingly brand-new technologies will have been trialled and tested somewhere, usually ‘in the field’, so there should be reference data available to help evaluate the new technology.

In my opinion, if our business has vision and strategy to be successful and growing, this inevitable we need to shift our operations to agile and sustainable technologies toward having competitive advantage so when we are focusing in the Market share and the cost of manufacturing and also improve the final quality.

Researching will give you insights into new trends and technologies. The findings of your research should be adopted with extreme concern. Employing an R&D staff will help you develop better products based on recent consumer trends and as such give you a cutting-edge advantage.

If we need to increase production, we may be forced to change production sites. At that point, we may also have to buy new machines to meet demand. We can take advantage of the preparation time for the new site to test the new installations and adapt the various functions to our needs. It's also a good time to start training managers.

Test at least 3 softwares that have a free trial and easy setup. ✅ App notifies your team about upcoming tasks. Like this, they'll never forget to fill them ✅ Educative instructions will train your team to fill tasks correctly ✅ Verification of completed tasks to control staff activities ✅ Get a real-time overview of the completed tasks and issues.

There were so many times I've experienced new technology implementation issues. For example, multiple channel high pressure homogenization, or High Hydrostatic Pressure. Many producers bought the new equipments and found no market for their product. Finally the line was banned with no production soon. Therefore in my opinion, it's essential to test and do market survey or consumer test together with all relevant teams before launching the new technology. Then it's also critical to balance the new product launching speed and risk of high investment.

Basically for my kind of food processing, the new technology should cut processing time, improve or give exact product quality requirement and retain the texture and physical attributes of of the product

In my experience, innovation is often stifled out of fear. We have to build a culture of rewarding innovation. Either through innovation competitions where employees can submit ideas and are rewarded once they are implemented or something as simple as an idea box where people drop suggestions. Let employees know innovation is not only welcome but encouraged and required.

Cultivate a culture of learning and innovation in your food manufacturing business to adapt and thrive amid new technologies. Encourage staff to embrace change, acquire new skills, and reward creativity. Facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing among your team and partners. Involve customers and suppliers in the innovation process for valuable input. A culture of learning and innovation enables you to leverage new technologies for a competitive edge and heightened customer satisfaction.

It is important to know that a culture of learning drives away fear of the unknown and ignorance. This culture makes people curious and willing to embrace change.

flexibility in approach is necessary to consider newer options. One must believe and continuously look for competition to benchmark own products. Imagination also plays a key role in improving things.

The concept of innovation holds great significance when it comes to promoting continuous progress. However, it is vital to assess the compliance of these new products with existing laws. Therefore, it is crucial to analyse whether the advancements that bring forth new opportunities also bring along new risks. Nevertheless, the regulatory process concerning food-related matters is extremely complex and also is not immediate and involves various aspects of verification and multidisciplinary evaluations. The advancement of technologies has undeniably expedited the pace of innovation in creation processes. Keeping up with this rapid progress, especially in a intricate and delicate field like food, poses a formidable challenge.

The entrepreneur needs to understand that every day not further improved is a set back versus competition. Every day one step better, or half or even less, but never zero

There are a number of key things to consider. Firstly what is the reason for considering a new direction? It must be driven by a clear vision - efficiency, nutrition, etc. Secondly what are the alternatives? Can the same or similar outcome be achieved a different way - through the use of ingredients, for example, a comprehensive food technology scouting exercise can evaluate the wider landscape, and curated the options. Plan a roadmap, with technology options, of different maturity horizons, along the way. Foster a culture of 'fail fast, fail early, fail cheap': Find ways to trial any technology option in such a way that it can be evaluated and eliminated before too much time and money is spent chasing the wrong thing.

Embrace adaptability in the face of emerging food manufacturing technologies by fostering a culture of continuous learning. Stay informed about industry advancements, engage in training programs, and encourage cross-functional collaboration. Flexibility is the key to navigating the ever-evolving landscape of food production, ensuring your team remains at the forefront of innovation and efficiency.