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Three key technology areas are advancing industry 4.0’s acceleration: sensor technology innovations, measuring from resistivity to temperature; advanced manufacturing processes utilising next-generation robotics and 3D printing; and enhanced ability to interrogate larger, more complex data sets in real time production due to greater media storage combined with IT processing power.

And it’s all brought together by the development of open connectivity platforms and the merging gap between specialised industrial PLC programming with traditional software programming.

The best place to start is by identifying every machine or process (from raw materials to packaged goods) not “connected” to understand what information is immediately accessible. It’s not uncommon to have orphaned equipment, particularly in the packaging side, and integration can often be a simple upgrade.

In this video, Matthews Australasia’s product manager for coding technologies, Trent Munro speaks about the new technologies advancing Industry 4.0, what brings it all together, how companies can adopt these new technologies in their existing manufacturing facilities and the specific benefits Industry 4.0 delivers in terms of driving productivity and efficiency.

Learn more about what technologies are driving Industry 4.0 by reading the full story.

 

Food & Drink Business

Our Top 100 2025 edition of Food & Drink Business magazine is more than the annual flagship Top 100 Report. Industry leaders reflect on the year past and the one ahead, we provide our annual news review, M&A wrap-up, and all the executive moves, and a Roman-inspired sports drink, Posca, is our final Rising Star for 2025.

A blend of salt, red wine vinegar, and water – known as Posca – was the ‘original sports drink’, helping to keep the soldiers of the Roman Empire marching up to 30 kilometres per day. Keira Joyce spoke with Posca Hydrate co-founders, Merrick Watts and Ed Stening, about reviving a 2000-year-old functional beverage for the modern healthy lifestyle.

From the big deals to the quiet divestments, Food & Drink Business editor, Kim Berry, recounts the mergers and acquisitions of 2025.