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Artificial Intelligence, F&B Quality, Safety and COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic initiated a drastic change in consumer confidence and purchasing habits while redefining the approach to how select businesses approach their supply and demand for goods & services. The food and beverage, manufacturing and industrial processing industries continue to experience, respond to and rebound from these unexpected changes all while navigating a yet to be defined new normal. Now, more than ever, consumers are heavily invested in food safety as well as supply chain traceability.

The pandemic has exposed weaknesses across the value chain and many players in F&B that were not looking to invest in technology are now facing the reality that digitizing their operations is the only way to remain competitive in a post-COVID-19 landscape.

How COVID-19 affected buiness and operations... 45% Demand increase 40% Supply chain shortage 37% Demand decrease 33% Negative impact, but managing 16% Has had little impact 13% Having issues meeting higher demand 10% Cashflow is a problem 7% Business as usual •5th state of 2020

In a survey of food and beverage industry leaders conducted by PLEX systems, we can see that COVID-19 had a significant, and largely negative, impact on demand and the supply chain. These volatile changes in supply and demand were likely the worst at beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020, where uncertainty regarding lockdowns and safety were at their peak. Without the proper technology deployed and the reliance on traditional operating methods having to be redefined, these volatile swings are extremely difficult to rebound from and in effect cause ripples in the supply chain for extended periods of time.

Investing in technology, such as Artificial Intelligence, and more specifically Maestro, to address and stabilize this volatility is pivotal in the future for F&B manufacturers. The PLEX survey also showed that 10% of respondents had a cash flow problem as a result of COVID-19, which is a result of being unable to respond quickly to the unpredictable swings in demand and supply chain shortages. With Artificial Intelligence, corporations are able to be agile and nimble, responding quickly to changes in variable inputs and outputs to optimize operations and remain competitive. It’s clear that the F&B industry understands the necessity of investing in technology for the future.

Most food and beverage manufacturers say they still plan to invest in enabling technologies. Still planning to invest. Did not plan to invest, but are now. No longer planning to invest. •qt. An Stat. of of 7020

The PLEX systems survey also shows that 75% of respondents are going to invest in digital technologies as a response to changes driven by COVID-19. The top areas of investment for F&B manufacturers have shifted focused towards e-commerce as the drive for online purchasing has increased as well as supply chain upgrades, due to an increased importance on food safety. Supply chain upgrades, in particular, have been the key to their survival during this time when keeping up with extremely high food safety standards as well as trying to remain profitable has been critical.

Food safety has been a hot button issue, with many corporations like Perdue and other meat processors falling short to meet proper safety for employees, negatively impacting their production. Artificial Intelligence can address many of the safety issues for employees working within the factories as well as the quality of the actual products being produced. An example of this occurred within a poultry processing plant in Georgia, when a liquid nitrogen tank leaked and resulted in the death of six people in the plant. Investigators are having difficulties identifying which part of the operational process lead to the leak, something an end-to-end Artificial Intelligence Platform, such as Maestro, would address by taking into account the entire estate and being able to predict and prevent this events such as this from occurring.

Many F&B manufacturers and processors have been overwhelmed in their response to correct their course as a result of COVID-19. There has never been a more critical time for Artificial Intelligence to address this overwhelming condition as that is the true nature of what AI is capable of. The objective of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is to continuously ensure optimized outcomes with certainty, when so many dynamic variables impact operations that point-in-time analysis is irrelevant and the required speed, scale and depth of analysis is beyond human and standard algorithmic capabilities. This is the world we are living in as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maestro AI is proven to deliver transformational benefit for the F&B manufacturing industry allowing clients to realize significant savings, while achieving safety and quality standards with unmatched speed to value. To learn more about Maestro AI and Elutions, contact us.

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Artificial Intelligence to Achieve Net-Zero in Food and Beverage

The facts of life are such that everyone has to eat and drink in order to survive. However, in a time where consumers are much more aware and selective of the Food & Beverage providers that they purchase from, the strain is being felt by suppliers of those products. The Pandemic also has made the industry even more volatile and it has become critical to ensure the supply chain remains uninterrupted.

Now, more than ever, consumers are requiring transparency regarding ingredients and health and safety considerations of all their food and beverage purchases. Many consumers don’t care solely for what their food and drinks are made of, but also about the Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) objectives of the providers and how these corporations are executing against these objectives.

Consumer interest in sustainable food choices increased by 23% in 2020 with less concerns regarding health and an increase in concerns around climate change, waste and recycling. Source: Tastewise

With consumers and suppliers demanding higher standards from the Food & Beverage industry, it is a daunting task to remain competitive in today’s market. However, with the implementation of Artificial Intelligence solutions to address the everyday business challenges, all of these seemingly difficult to achieve goals become significantly easier. This shift in the industry to becoming more transparent applies not only to ingredients and sourcing but also through publishing implementation of measures to achieve Net-Zero objectives, while also increasing quality and safety standards. A simple search for some of the world’s largest Food & Beverage corporations will provide a view into this increased transparency, with many having entire pages or websites worth of information on their Net-Zero objectives.

“Net-Zero refers to the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere.”

National Grid

These initiatives have become increasingly important in the battle against climate change, though often highly politicized, with corporations in the United Kingdom and Europe currently leading the charge through their participation in setting national goals with the regards to the Paris Agreement. However, they aren’t the only ones as large multinational, U.S. based F&B corporations such as PepsiCo and Coca-Cola have been setting the Gold Standard for the industry in their race towards Net-Zero.

In January of 2021 PepsiCo announced plans to “more than double its science-based climate goal, targeting a reduction of absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions  across its value chain by more than 40% by 2030. In addition, the company has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, one decade earlier than called for in the Paris Agreement.”

Within their announcement, they detailed how they would achieve this goal, and the answer lies partially in technology, with an emphasis on “implementation and upgrading of environmentally sustainable manufacturing, warehousing, transportation and distribution sites,” and a corporate goal to “maximize efficiency in supply chain, while also adopting zero- and near-zero-emission technologies.”

PepsiCo is a behemoth in the industry with a holistic view and detailed strategy for achieving their ambitious international Net-Zero goals.

While the large players like PepsiCo and Coca-Cola may be leading the way, due to their significant global stage and highly publicized plans, other Food and Beverage manufacturers have certainly been and can continue to meaningfully contribute to international net-zero goals.

The UK has been making significant progress as they have a national goal of bringing all greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050. According to the Food and Drink Federation, the UK food supply chain is responsible for around 20% of UK greenhouse gas emissions. Inenco reports that, “a rate of around 3% annual reductions by the manufacturing sector is needed to meet the ambitious 2050 net-zero targets,” further illustrating that the food and beverage sector, which is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, accounting for 15.6% of total manufacturing GVA, needs to lead the way.

As discussed in our previous article, the food and beverage industry face unique challenges in that margins are already razor thin, recovery from negative supply chain impacts from Covid-19 and the competition of a $6111.1 billion industry is staggering. All of these mounting pressures represent an opportunity for innovation and the implementation of innovative Artificial Intelligence technologies to the value chain. Artificial Intelligence, such as Maestro, presents a ready solution to tackle all of these industry pressures swiftly through process innovation that will result in value chain optimization with a host of benefits including increased resource efficiency, reduced waste and a whole lot more.

Focused entirely on maximizing clients’ profitability and sustainable growth, Elutions’ proprietary Enterprise AI platform, Maestro, delivers unprecedented benefits with certainty and at scale through autonomous and automated AI. Maestro’s neural network self-generates algorithms and implements directives without the need for human intervention, optimizing the entire value chain, and delivering benefits that continue to grow through a virtuous circle that sustains margin growth.

Maestro AI is proven to deliver transformational benefit for the F&B manufacturing industry allowing clients to achieve Net-Zero goals with increased speed to value. To learn more about Maestro AI and Elutions, contact us.

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Artificial Intelligence & The Competitive Edge in Food and Beverage

The Food and Beverage Industry has been at the forefront of the technology adoption curve for many years, from more advanced robotics on the manufacturing line to 3D printed alternatives to meat, innovation is embedded in the industry. With the growth of consumer interest around nutrition, environmental, social and corporate governance and overall food safety has growing significantly in the past 15 years, companies have been focused on delivering products to increasingly demanding consumers with transparency into their products as well as their operations.

The answer for corporations has often resulted in increased in implementation of technology but with new technology comes new food and beverage options, changes in how products are manufactured and produced, increased competition and even more questions…

Innova Identifies Top 10 Food and Beverage Trends to Accelerate Innovation in 2021

While the food and beverage industry’s top concern has been and continues to be pleasing the consumer and their ever-changing needs, the questions remain:

‘how can they remain competitive in this saturated fast paced industry?’

‘will consumers be willing to try products that are produced with the assistance of technology?’

‘how can we achieve the high industry standards and remain profitable?’

‘how can we make high quality food and beverages accessible to all communities?’

As illustrated by the graphic below, implementation and application of digital infrastructure is “extremely important” to food and beverage executives. Over 40% of respondents reported that Artificial Intelligence and IOT are extremely important, a bit less than ERP or mobile technologies but this could be due to perceived complications in AI adoption. The executives also shared that their top concerns were inventory management, food safety and manufacturing process/ assembly, each of which can be addressed through the application of Artificial Intelligence.

TOP tech with food and beverage Type and process According to the RSM Digital Transfcymation Survey for the food and beverage industry. middle market executives indicated a focus on digital has become an even higher priority than cuer befcye. What's hnpcvtant to them in terms Of digital type and how do these technologies help their business processes? The top five digital applications or technologies ranked "extremely important" include: _4é_Å_, I top? Artificial intelligence (43%) Mobile technologies (48%) 5 Internet Of Supply chain tracking and monitoring (40%) Executives also ranked "to a great extent" the ways digital addressed these business processes: 40% Inventory management 40% Food safety Manufacturing process/assembly Customer service center 33% 32% Supply chain/production control Warehouse management Harnessing the power of deitalcan be cornplex and requies cyganizatimal change mulagernent and expertise to create a vision and process custcm to the needs Of the enterprise. An outskie perspective may be need ed to help evaluate and consideratims. Engage cmsultants who have deep industry experience to ensure you're getting the best digital strategy gudance. Conta us to the the nvaCt Of dist* truwfcxrnatk:n Learn map with st growth effcrts THE POWER OF BEING UNDERSTOOD AUDIT TAX CONSULTING RSM
Source: RSM

“Complications of AI adoption aside, one fact is clear: F&B companies must invest in new innovations to cut costs, grow revenue, and stay current with consumer trends.”

CIO Pride

The mainstream media has focused its coverage on the most innovative science and technology in the industry but the real benefit is derived from the operational application of Artificial Intelligence. Maestro Artificial Intelligence allows corporations to focus on internal innovation while optimizing the value chain and providing significant benefit with unmatched speed to value. In one example, Maestro AI allows plants the opportunity to reduce waste, thus furthering Net-Zero goals, while also increasing production uptime and yield to get products on the shelves.

This level of digital technology has never been more important to F&B as they are constantly tackling razor thin margins and cost as leading decision makers. Many manufacturers and producers have to question, should we build or should we buy? Many times it may seem more practical to build, especially without centralized control centers and disparate systems, but the team at Elutions has found time and again, from clients who have learned the hard way, that partnering with an industry expert is the more cost effective way forward. The way forward lies in gaining a competitive advantage by partnering with a provider like Elutions, with years of experience working with and connecting to existing systems in order to provide speed to value for clients and a true Artificial Intelligence Platform in Maestro, rather than the big tech players, who merely offer tools.

Maestro AI is proven to optimize the value chain and allow clients more flexibility to innovate while maintaining operational excellence and a competitive edge. To learn more about Maestro AI and Elutions, contact us.

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