Industry 4.0 and food safety guide

In 2015 the World Economic Forum defined the Fourth Industrial Revolution as being “characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres”.

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Industry 4.0, initially applied to the manufacturing industry, relies on a group of disruptive technologies including but not limited to:

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• Connectivity, data, and computational power
  (e.g. loud-based systems, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, blockchain)
• Analytics and intelligence
  (e.g. advanced analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, simulation)‍
• Human–machine interaction
  (e.g. virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), advanced robotics and automation)‍
• Advanced engineering
  (e.g. additive manufacturing)

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However, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is about more than just technology- driven change. It is an opportunity to help everyone, including leaders, policymakers and people from all income groups and nations, to harness converging technologies in order to create an inclusive, human-centered future.

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Where Industry 4.0 has been studied and applied across the Quality function quite extensively, not much has been done to date to outline the benefits (and potential challenges) of applying Industry 4.0 to Food Safety.

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This guide, developed by SSAFE with input from key partners, aims to do so by demonstrating how Industry 4.0 can be implemented across the food supply chain (from farm to fork), what some of the potential benefits and risks are, and how we can move forward together as an industry to maximize the potential of Industry 4.0 in the coming years, including (but not limited to):

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• Strengthening traceability and transparency capabilities.
• Providing process assurance
• Allowing parametric release of food products
• Bolstering predictive capabilities of food safety issues and enhancing the resilience of food products/processes
• Supporting continuous improvement of quality and food safety