A single recall can lead to food waste, financial losses, and reputational harm. Digitalisation and smart process monitoring can ease the burden for manufacturers.
Food and beverage production has always carried strict requirements around hygiene and safety, yet the risks and costs of failures remain high. In 2023, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) coordinated 87 product recalls, many caused by contamination or undeclared allergens. Take for example a berry recall that happened in 2015. This publicised recall saw $3.8 million worth of product destroyed and an additional $9.4 million lost in recall costs and revenue.
One of the issues lies in outdated systems. Manual checks, paper records and unreliable sensors continue to be common across facilities. National product sales manager at ifm, Akmal Yang, provided an example with faulty temperature sensors. A faulty temperature sensor in a freezer or storage unit leaves uncertainty over product integrity. Without accurate records or alternative monitoring, manufacturers may have no choice but to discard large volumes of food.
“This means a lot of wastage and possibly delaying your production schedules, which can itself risk reputational damage,” said Yang. “There are environmental concerns, as well as you’re throwing food literally down the drain.”
At the same time, regulatory requirements are becoming stricter. Calibration of thermometers must now be accurate to within one degree Celsius, with checks every six months. Since February 2024, allergen labelling had to follow a defined “Plain English” criterion. These rules reflect consumer expectations for transparency, placing more responsibility on producers to adopt technologies that maintain compliance.
The limits of manual controls
According to Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, many facilities still rely on manual observations and paper-based checks despite growing complexity in compliance. For example, paper chart recorders with pens remain in use, creating gaps in data caused by human error. Temperature readings may be noted once or twice daily, making real-time correction difficult. Such tools offer only delayed insights, leaving manufacturers unable to act quickly when conditions drift out of range.
The limitations of traditional approaches that depend on human judgement lacks precision. Although there is a factor of reluctance to adopt new technology and tools, another problem lies in expensive costs of replacing old equipment to the modern equivalent. However, these minor errors can lead to contamination, especially in stages such as mixing and filling.
While modern conductivity sensors can differentiate between product and cleaning fluids more effectively than manual checks, Yang highlighted that manual processes still dominate in the industry. Undetected equipment wear runs the risk of jeopardising food safety and can be combatted with predictive maintenance.
Digitalisation and predictive maintenance
One of the foundations for food safety and compliance is digitalisation. Smart sensors provide constant monitoring of pressure, temperature, flow and vibration, generating accurate, real-time data. This allows abnormal trends to be identified at an early stage before they lead to spoilage or contamination.
While worn seals or bearings that shed particles into the product stream do not immediately cause operational shutdown, they affect product quality by introducing potential contamination. Predictive maintenance, enabled by digital systems like modern sensors, addresses these risks by providing alerts before failure occurs.
Artificial intelligence (AI) strengthens this approach by analysing historical performance of a sensor or system. Through this, it can understand normal patterns and detects irregularity, predicting future failures. AI can identify when a component is likely to wear out, giving maintenance teams time to plan interventions without disrupting production. By helping preserve equipment and product consistency, predictive maintenance also helps manufacturers reduce waste and meet sustainability goals.
Sustainability and safety
Safety and sustainability go hand-in-hand. Research by the World Economic Forum showed that smart process monitoring not only improves safety but aids in reducing food loss and resource consumption. IoT-based temperature control can cut food waste by up to 40 per cent while smart clean-in-progress (CIP) monitoring minimises excessive cleaning practices that use additional water and energy.
In the past, producers would overcompensate by cleaning longer or at higher temperatures to ensure compliance. With accurate monitoring, cleaning cycles can be optimised, reducing power and water use.
“A well-functioning digitalised sensor system means you don’t have to do more than necessary,” said Yang.
Overcoming barriers
Despite these advantages, many businesses hesitate to adopt digital solutions due to perceived cost or complexity. However, Yang explained that unlocking value often comes down to integrating systems into already existing hardware in facilities. By making better use of available data, off-the-shelf solutions can simplify this transition and reduce the need for custom-built systems.
To support food and beverage manufacturers in food safety, ifm’s range of tools such as LW Radar, a non-contact level measurement, or IO-Link, a digital communication standard that enable detailed diagnostics, are designed to simplify safety and reduce downtime. Offering training to educate customers through its ‘lunch-and-learn’ programs and hands-on sessions, ifm aims to help customers adopt manual habits and modern digital practices.
Food manufacturing often faces high staff turnover, making it essential that systems are easy to learn. Modern platforms are designed to be intuitive, and with proper training and support, adoption can be smooth. Manufacturers that provide education alongside technology can bridge the gap between long-standing manual habits and modern digital practices.
With regulators, consumers and international markets demanding higher levels of assurance, the pressures on Australian food and beverage businesses will continue to grow. Outdated manual systems that are prone to errors cannot provide the visibility or responsiveness required.
Food safety, sustainability and operational efficiency are part of a single approach. To tie these priorities into one, digitalisation, smart sensors, and predictive maintenance are becoming essential tools. By embracing smarter systems, manufacturers can reduce waste, protect consumers, and safeguard brand reputation.