Importance and effectiveness of digitalization for performance improvement in the food industry

Abstract

This research examines the importance and effectiveness of digitalization for performance improvement in the food industry. Following an exploratory-empirical approach, we surveyed 208 practitioners from different food organizations in Australia to assess their level of digital technology adoption and performance variation. We utilized multivariate data techniques to analyze the collected dataset controlling for the effects of production system (i.e. levels of production volume and variety) of these organizations. The identification of commonalities among different types of food production systems allowed to identify the importance and effectiveness of digitalization in the food industry. Some digital technologies’ importance such as ERP, RFID, and artificial intelligence stood out as they were associated with the improvement of 3 performance metrics (delivery service level was common to all of them). Regarding effectiveness, the relationship between digital twin and quality was deemed as highly effective, as it was evidenced in three types of production systems. We provided evidence on how the pairwise relationship between digital technologies and performance indicators occurs in different food production settings. The identification of which digital technologies are more likely to support each performance metric helps practitioners prioritize and tailor their digitalization efforts according to the organizational needs.