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Being aware of developments in other industries as they’re happening can help you anticipate new solutions to improve efficiencies and add value in your business. Aside from the Internet of Things (IoT), information-driven manufacturing (iDM), social robots and Internet 5.0, here are three trends manufacturers need to watch:

1. Rapid prototyping + crowdfunding: Together, these two trends allow almost anyone to bring solutions to market quicker than many organisations can develop counter measures. It is the very definition of “disruptive innovation”.

2. Cradle-to-grave traceability: Every recall hitting the headlines reminds manufacturers of the critical need for end-to-end traceability to mitigate the risks to consumers and businesses. Intensifying this need are the proliferating counterfeit markets, worth US$32 billion and causing one million deaths annually. Traceability can counteract this.

3. Beyond the IoT: Blockchain is an emerging technology beginning to play a major part in IoT, especially with its potential to overcome many manufacturers’ concerns around data security. Another IoT evolution is machine learning, which falls under the wider artificial-intelligence umbrella. While adding natural language processing to machine learning gives a whole new opportunity: cognitive learning systems.

Find out more about these trends by reading the full story here and watching this video:

 

Food & Drink Business

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder, Ben Cohen, is calling on Australian consumers to boycott Magnum ice cream, escalating a campaign for parent company The Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC) to sell the brand to investors aligned with its social mission.

More than US$23 billion in global CPG value share has shifted from mainstream-priced products to discount and premium tiers, and snacks and alcohol face the deepest cuts in spending intentions, according to NIQ’s Consumer Outlook 2027.

At its AGM on 24 November, SPC Global will ask shareholders to approve a new corporate name, Altiva Global, to separate the listed group from its SPC trading business.