Smart Systems Implementation in UK Food Manufacturing Companies: A Sustainability Perspective

Thomas, Andrew; Haven-Tang, Claire; Barton, Richard; Mason-Jones, Rachel; Francis, Mark; Byard, Paul

doi:10.3390/su10124693

Journal article 210 views 17 downloads

Smart Systems Implementation in UK Food Manufacturing Companies: A Sustainability Perspective

Andrew Thomas

, Claire Haven-Tang

, Richard Barton, Rachel Mason-Jones, Mark Francis, Paul Byard

Sustainability, Volume: 10, Issue: 12, Start page: 4693

Swansea University Author: Andrew Thomas

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DOI (Published version): 10.3390/su10124693

Abstract

The UK food industry faces significant challenges to remain sustainable. With major challenges, such as Brexit, on the horizon, companies can no longer rely on a low labour cost workforce to maintain low production costs and achieve economic sustainability. Smart Systems (SS) is being seen as an app...

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Published in:	Sustainability
ISSN:	2071-1050
Published:	MDPI AG 2018
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66951
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spelling	v2 66951 2024-07-04 Smart Systems Implementation in UK Food Manufacturing Companies: A Sustainability Perspective 13d5ed33bce79c052f678401128e4ca1 0000-0002-1942-7050 Andrew Thomas Andrew Thomas true false 2024-07-04 CBAE The UK food industry faces significant challenges to remain sustainable. With major challenges, such as Brexit, on the horizon, companies can no longer rely on a low labour cost workforce to maintain low production costs and achieve economic sustainability. Smart Systems (SS) is being seen as an approach towards achieving significant improvements in both economic and environmental sustainability. However, there is little evidence to indicate whether UK food companies are prepared for the implementation of such systems. The purpose of this research is to explore the applicability of Smart Systems in UK food manufacturing companies, and to identify the key priority areas and improvement levers for the implementation of such systems. A triangulated primary research approach is adopted that includes a questionnaire, follow-up interviews, and visits to 32 food manufacturing companies in the UK. The questionnaire and interviews are guided by a unique measuring instrument that the authors developed that focusses upon SS technologies and systems. This paper makes an original contribution in that it is one of the few academic studies to explore the implementation of SS in the industry, and provides a new perspective on the key drivers and inhibitors of its implementation. The findings suggest that the current turbulence in the industry could be bringing food companies closer to the adoption of such systems; hence, it is a good time to define and develop the optimum SS implementation strategy. Journal Article Sustainability 10 12 4693 MDPI AG 2071-1050 food manufacturing; digital hub; sustainability profile; smart systems; survey 10 12 2018 2018-12-10 10.3390/su10124693 COLLEGE NANME Management School COLLEGE CODE CBAE Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee 2024-09-12T15:12:06.8207923 2024-07-04T14:43:44.2422002 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Management - Business Management Andrew Thomas 0000-0002-1942-7050 1 Claire Haven-Tang 0000-0001-8197-9959 2 Richard Barton 3 Rachel Mason-Jones 4 Mark Francis 5 Paul Byard 6 66951__31305__eb7d1e8e43814a22964672a697520dce.pdf 66951.VoR.pdf 2024-09-12T15:10:48.7147804 Output 1788163 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2018 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title	Smart Systems Implementation in UK Food Manufacturing Companies: A Sustainability Perspective
spellingShingle	Smart Systems Implementation in UK Food Manufacturing Companies: A Sustainability Perspective Andrew Thomas
title_short	Smart Systems Implementation in UK Food Manufacturing Companies: A Sustainability Perspective
title_full	Smart Systems Implementation in UK Food Manufacturing Companies: A Sustainability Perspective
title_fullStr	Smart Systems Implementation in UK Food Manufacturing Companies: A Sustainability Perspective
title_full_unstemmed	Smart Systems Implementation in UK Food Manufacturing Companies: A Sustainability Perspective
title_sort	Smart Systems Implementation in UK Food Manufacturing Companies: A Sustainability Perspective
author_id_str_mv	13d5ed33bce79c052f678401128e4ca1
author_id_fullname_str_mv	13d5ed33bce79c052f678401128e4ca1_***_Andrew Thomas
author	Andrew Thomas
author2	Andrew Thomas Claire Haven-Tang Richard Barton Rachel Mason-Jones Mark Francis Paul Byard
format	Journal article
container_title	Sustainability
container_volume	10
container_issue	12
container_start_page	4693
publishDate	2018
institution	Swansea University
issn	2071-1050
doi_str_mv	10.3390/su10124693
publisher	MDPI AG
college_str	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id	facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id	facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str	School of Management - Business Management{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Management - Business Management
document_store_str	1
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description	The UK food industry faces significant challenges to remain sustainable. With major challenges, such as Brexit, on the horizon, companies can no longer rely on a low labour cost workforce to maintain low production costs and achieve economic sustainability. Smart Systems (SS) is being seen as an approach towards achieving significant improvements in both economic and environmental sustainability. However, there is little evidence to indicate whether UK food companies are prepared for the implementation of such systems. The purpose of this research is to explore the applicability of Smart Systems in UK food manufacturing companies, and to identify the key priority areas and improvement levers for the implementation of such systems. A triangulated primary research approach is adopted that includes a questionnaire, follow-up interviews, and visits to 32 food manufacturing companies in the UK. The questionnaire and interviews are guided by a unique measuring instrument that the authors developed that focusses upon SS technologies and systems. This paper makes an original contribution in that it is one of the few academic studies to explore the implementation of SS in the industry, and provides a new perspective on the key drivers and inhibitors of its implementation. The findings suggest that the current turbulence in the industry could be bringing food companies closer to the adoption of such systems; hence, it is a good time to define and develop the optimum SS implementation strategy.
published_date	2018-12-10T15:12:06Z
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score	11.037603

Smart Systems Implementation in UK Food Manufacturing Companies: A Sustainability Perspective

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