One of the biggest barriers to Industry 4.0 doesn’t lie in the software, but in the legacy hardware already on the plant floor.
As Tom Annett of Conagra Brands explains, scaling digital tools requires a systematic approach to plant infrastructure, from following an obsolescence plan to ensuring buy-in from leadership.
Learn more insights from Annett on the realities of Industry 4.0 in processing by watching the full interview at ProFood World.
Bryan Griffen: So right now, what's holding back companies such as ConAgra or other food and beverage manufacturers from scaling these tools and really taking full advantage of the technology that's available?
Tom Annett: Yeah. Well, I think first and foremost is the quantity and quality of legacy hardware that we have on our plant floors.
Internally, we have an obsolescence program where we actively seek out and replace equipment that either doesn't have the capability connect to the ethernet network, or is obsolete, or it doesn't function to the level that we need the communication to, right? So updating PLC hardware can be very challenging from both a financial and a time perspective.
Finding the downtime to be able to do this is crucial and really replacing the equipment, there's not a lot of ROI that's involved in that, right? And so for this piece alone, it's executive leadership support is crucial. You do not have that support with the goal in mind of we're going to connect our shop floor, our production, our plant floor, it doesn't work, right? You can't do it halfway. You can't do it sporadically. It needs to be upgraded. It is a major investment by any business to bring that up to snuff to be able to have the communication that you want.
