Packaging giant Tetra Pak (Lausanne / Switzerland; www.tetrapak.com) has unveiled a series of Industry 4.0 initiatives it says will benefit manufacturers, retailers and consumers. The group announced the launch of a new connected packaging platform, which will transform milk and juice cartons into interactive information channels, data carriers and digital tools. Tetra Pak also announced the development of a “factory for the future” for the purpose of transforming the way food manufacturing plants operate.

The new connected packaging platform will offer producers end-to-end traceability to improve the manufacturing process, quality control and supply chain transparency. The ability to trace the history or location of any product makes it possible to monitor for market performance and potential post-production issues.​ For retailers, Tetra Pak says the new system will offer greater supply chain visibility and real-time insights, enabling distributors to track stock movements, be alerted when issues occur and monitor for delivery performance.​ Shoppers will also be able to access information, including where the product was made, the farm the ingredients came from and where the packaging could be recycled.​

Tetra Pak has completed what it said were successful trials with the new connected package and its performance in retail in China, the Dominican Republic, India, Russia and Spain, working with beverage, juice and milk producers.

The food packaging group has also taken a step towards an integrated automated food manufacturing facility, where machines will communicate with each other and the digital systems of the entire operation. The automated facility will be able to diagnose problems, order and deliver parts and locate an engineer suitable for the service required. However, Johan Nilsson, VP Industry 4.0 and Digitalisation at Tetra Pak, said the group believed “humans should continue to be at the centre of the management of food manufacturing, with digital solutions as their support.”

The Swiss company has been collaborating on the digitalisation of food manufacturing with companies such as Microsoft, ABB, SAP and automated logistics solutions provider Elettric80.