A Conceptual Framework towards Continuous Transformation of Sustainable Food Manufacturing and Logistics

The applicability of trends in industries' production, logistics and supply chain management has increased productivity, efficiency and less adverse environmental impact. Sustainability is one of the trends identified and percept by various researches as what every industry could consider ensuring a better future for the environment and prosperity in most sectors. Meanwhile, the application of different new technologies and the current digitalization is helping in achieving the said sustainability trends within the manufacturing industry. This study, therefore, aims to investigate through literatures and a case study how well integration of advanced technology has impacted sustainability and growth within food manufacturing environment. Integration of advanced technology to aid sustainability within food manufacturing and supply chain environment will be investigated through a case study in an agricultural-livestock cooperative company in Andalusia, Spain. Meanwhile, with the combination of the literature review carried out and the explorative research through case study where specialists and experts in sustainability, food manufacturing and supply chain management were interviewed. The research was able to highlight the impacts of the innovations and integration of advanced technology within food manufacturing and supply chain environment with a brief sustainability evaluation using the analysis of the company’s KPI.

EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Food

Technology offers sustainable nutrition solutions

Digitalising food manufacturing

The U.S. food manufacturing sector faces unprecedented challenges in maintaining operational reliability while meeting growing demand and stringent regulatory requirements. This study examines how strategic capital projects enhance engineering reliability, prevent costly downtime, and safeguard food supply chain continuity. Through comprehensive analysis of industry data, case studies, and reliability engineering frameworks, this research demonstrates that well-planned capital investments in equipment modernization, predictive maintenance systems, and process automation significantly reduce unplanned downtime by 35-60%. The study reveals that food manufacturers implementing systematic reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) programs alongside capital improvement projects achieve 23% higher overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) compared to industry averages. Key findings indicate that integrating advanced monitoring technologies, redundant systems, and preventive maintenance protocols through capital projects not only minimizes production interruptions but also ensures food safety compliance and supply chain resilience. This research provides empirical evidence supporting the critical role of engineering reliability investments in protecting national food security and offers practical frameworks for capital project prioritization in food manufacturing environments.

<scp>IFST</scp> vision for a <scp>UK</scp>‐wide national food strategy

with environmental and social performance. Therefore, in 2012, we started a collaborative project on this topic named SCALE (Step Change in Agri-food Logistics Ecosystems). SCALE aims to improve the sustainability of food and drink supply chain logistics in the context of rising food demands, increasing energy prices and the need to reduce environmentally damaging emissions. More in particular, SCALE aims to deliver a number of tools and frameworks valuable for the agri-food sector to secure a step change in operational practices, which will improve the efficiency and sustainability of supply chain logistics. In the paper we will present first results of this project. Aim of this paper is (1) to present a sustainability research framework for food supply chains logistics including drivers, strategies, performance indicators, metrics and improvement opportunities to measure and potentially enhance sustainability performances; and (2) to analyse and diagnose the current status of Dutch food & drinks companies and logistics service providers using this framework. Results are found via a literature review, web-based research and structured interviews with Dutch food industry and logistics service industry.

Food supply chains are highly distributed, collaborative, heterogeneous, diverse, and varied by product, process, and destination. The global food supply chain (FSC) objective is to maintain a good balance between supply and demand and move products from producer to market. However, sustainability of the FSC has become a major concern as limited resources and increasing population pressure threaten its existence. Supply chain management is an important issue for FSC due to information flow throughout the supply chain. Industry-specific characteristics and extensive integration among multiple actors in an entire supply chain exacerbate this situation. The agri-food sector has one of the lowest rates of information technology penetration for innovation. Over the past thirty years, information and communication technology (ICT) has been introduced into the agricultural and food sectors, helping to improve food production and transportation. However, there are various challenges, such as transparency, accountability, food scandal, trust, and inefficient information flow, that the food supply chain is still facing in reaching sustainable goals. The complexity of food supply systems and the opportunities and challenges faced regarding desired sustainability performance need to be examined to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Blockchain is an emerging and disruptive digital technology that can transform governance and sustainability in integrated food supply chains. It provides a transparent, immutable, and traceable ledger that minimizes anomalies and information fraud, making it a potential solution for designing a transparent, traceable food system. Blockchain can potentially improve the sustainability of the food supply chain by providing a transparent traceability system. Food traceability is important for managing the food supply chain and protecting public health. It allows quick and accurate traceability of contaminated food that causes foodborne illness outbreaks, leading to the withdrawal of contaminated food from markets. Blockchain can achieve traceability, provenance tracking, transparency, and reduce environmental impact in the food supply chain. It also helps in achieving sustainable development goals set by the UN. However, there is no scientific research on blockchain’s contribution to achieving these goals in the food supply chain. Therefore, this article presents a systematic literature review and thematic analysis to study the relationship between FSC sustainability, blockchain, and sustainable development goals.

Food security is a cross-cutting issue which has become a national issue as the impact of food insecurity in several regions in Indonesia. Food Logistics Systems focuses on determining the location of the farm, to delivery points and distribution centers of commodities that can improve system performance food logistics. In this case some of the factors considered, commodities, the offender and logistics service provider, Transportation, policies and regulations and food logistics. The integration of SD and GIS (SDS) involved in producing the model output as input for policy formulation in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of logistics in the food supply chain. The results of the dynamic system model scenario will be visualized using GIS as a basis for decision-making related to increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of logistics in the food supply chain, so as to enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of food logistics in the future.

Integration of sustainability and sustainable practices have been of paramount importance within most manufacturers' supply chain environment globally. Apart from the fact that every organisation now use this to improve on their corporate social responsibility (CSR), this is also used as an opportunity to manage production and services within most firms efficiently. This sustainability is now a strategy adopted by most businesses to meet their customers' expectation considering the sustainable society awareness of which food manufacturing is not an exception. The use of several innovative strategies and incorporation of Industry 4.0 has been employed by some food manufacturers to meet up with this sustainability. This paper, through a qualitative research study, seeks to bridge the interconnection between Industry 4.0 and sustainable practices within food manufacturing supply chain.

Integration of sustainability and sustainable practices have been of paramount importance within most manufacturers' supply chain environment globally. Apart from the fact that every organisation now use this to improve on their corporate social responsibility (CSR), this is also used as an opportunity to manage production and services within most firms efficiently. This sustainability is now a strategy adopted by most businesses to meet their customers' expectation considering the sustainable society awareness of which food manufacturing is not an exception. The use of several innovative strategies and incorporation of Industry 4.0 has been employed by some food manufacturers to meet up with this sustainability. This paper, through a qualitative research study, seeks to bridge the interconnection between Industry 4.0 and sustainable practices within food manufacturing supply chain.

Severe injuries from product movement in the U.S. food supply chain

PurposeThis paper aims to analyze the influence of institutional pressures on Indian Food Supply Chain (FSC) actors’ intention to adopt strategies for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By focusing on an agrarian state, this paper explores the prioritizations of SDGs by FSC actors and analyzes the relative impact of institutional pressures in adopting strategies for SDGs.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative data was collected using questionnaires from 303 respondents engaged in the food industry in an agrarian state in India.FindingsThe SDG prioritizations of FSC actors are evidenced using SDG models, thereby suggesting the presence of tradeoffs and synergies within SDGs in FSCs. By using institutional theory, this study defines the impact of sustainability drivers on Indian FSCs, and contrary to previous studies, normative institutional pressures are found not significant – this paper explicates the reasons for this.Originality/valueDiffering stakeholder groups and their prioritizations can result in ranking one SDG over another, thereby resulting in SDG tradeoffs. Such tradeoffs imply that the achievement of one SDG could negate the achievement of another SDG, and therefore, this study explicates the need for a holistic managerial approach to adopting SDGs.

The rapid evolution of industrial systems demands a careful reconciliation of sustainability goals, beyond organizational success and financial profitability. While Industry 4.0 (I4.0) has driven significant advances in automation and process efficiency, its impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remains limited and primarily focused on economic outcomes. Responding to the need for deeper integration between digital transformation and sustainability, this study aims to map the existing literature on Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in the contexts of I4.0 and Industry 5.0 (I5.0), but also, to clarify how sustainability dimensions can be embedded into LSS practices. To achieve this, a scoping review was conducted, including all scientific research published up to submission date and sourced from reliable databases (Scopus and others). Through this comprehensive review, a notable gap in how LSS addresses the various dimensions of SDGs was identified. To address this, the present work introduces a novel conceptual framework —Lean Six Sigma 5.0 (LSS 5.0)— which repositions traditional process improvement tools within a human-centric, resilient, and sustainability-oriented manufacturing paradigm. This innovative model advances Sustainable Manufacturing (SM) by embedding sustainability at the core of quality and continuous improvement strategies, enabling organizations to respond to the evolving expectations of I5.0. Beyond its theoretical contribution, this work offers practical insights for industries seeking to align LSS initiatives with the broader goals of sustainable development. Given its theoretical nature, future research should validate this model through empirical case studies and industrial applications, supporting innovation in SM. The findings directly address the review’s objectives by mapping existing knowledge and proposing actionable pathways for integrating sustainability within LSS practices in the I5.0 era.

This paper reviews the opportunities available for food businesses to encourage consumers to eat healthier and more nutritious diets, to invest in more sustainable manufacturing and distribution systems and to develop procurement systems based on more sustainable forms of agriculture. The important factors in developing more sustainable supply chains are identified as the type of supply chain involved and the individual business attitude to extending responsibility for product quality into social and environmental performance within their own supply chains. Interpersonal trust and working to standards are both important to build more sustainable local and many conserved food supply chains, but inadequate to transform mainstream agriculture and raw material supplies to the manufactured and commodity food markets. Cooperation among food manufacturers, retailers, NGOs, governmental and farmers' organizations is vital in order to raise standards for some supply chains and to enable farmers to adopt more sustainable agricultural practices.