Opportunities in the Foods Industry

Introduction

Every entrepreneur and business owner is aware of the new global economy — of the information age upon us — of the need to become better competitors at home as well as around the world — and is searching to find the new opportunities in this new era.

As Michigan and the rest of the Midwest adjusts to the restructuring fallout and the move to more automation and agile workers, there are enormous opportunities still to be uncovered. We can no longer depend solely on the automobile industry and allied trades to create the jobs of tomorrow in the numbers needed for the existing adult workforce, not to mention the upcoming new generation.

Continual lifelong learning, sequential technical training replacing higher education as we know it, and technology advances at lightning speed have changed our world forever. Technology manufacturers and entrepreneurs are well positioned to exploit these new opportunities and create the jobs of tomorrow, through creativity and flexibility. Large corporations may be the dinosaurs of the future, replaced by small business alliances, or at least leaner, more efficient companies.

One business sector often overlooked for jobs and new business opportunities is the foods industry The foods industry ranks high in the nation in terms of employment. Yet this industry is often over-looked when we talk about the New Economy 2000. The industry works quietly behind the scenes creating new foods and processes to feed the domestic as well as the world population. This industry, too, is in rapid transition. It still strives to combine the best of art and science to produce healthy, safe and good tasting foods.

As technology advances in other industries, a void is developing in understanding and applying these technologies to this industry. While some segments of the industry are very advanced in applying these new technologies — high-speed can and bottle lines, frozen foods, etc. — other segments still embrace the older ways. It is in these segments that we will explore opportunities for technology businesses to find new customers. We will use the baking industry as our example — but most of what we discuss applies equally to many other segments of the industry.

There is currently a concept on the drawing board to build a high-technology, computer-integrated bakery pilot plant in the U.S. This test site can serve several purposes. It can be a model plant of the future for baking industry executives to assess for application and capital investment purposes. It can serve as a real-world laboratory for technology based businesses to design and tailor systems for future sales. It can provide training and re-training of both adults and high school students for the factories of tomorrow. And, the food produced daily might be donated to local shelters and the homeless. The plant will integrate systems across several manufacturers — much as a commercial bakery might do in designing a Plant of the Future. It will be state-of-the-art, automated, and updated as new technologies become available.

In this series, we will describe specific technology needs of the foods industry that might exist in part or could be developed by local high-tech firms who may not currently be serving this industry. A few of the technologies and needs we will cover include:

• Automated ingredient handling systems
• Advanced technology ovens and heat transfer devices
• Sensors and control systems - biological, chemical and physical
• Packaging advancements
• Flexible manufacturing - make-to-order
• Distribution driven scheduling
• New process technologies
• Systems integration
• High speed, automated mixing
• Computerization
• Vision systems
• Robotics
• Training simulation models