Production and logistics 4.0 in the food industry in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The food industry is the most important sector of the national economy of the Czech Republic, which significantly contributes to the fulfillment of fundamental macroeconomic aggregates such as gross domestic product, employment, exports and others. The food industry is currently facing pressure from customers for higher quality and safety while maintaining low prices. At the same time, however, they must ensure high safety and productivity of their production and logistics flows when there is a shortage of manpower. Another aspect is the sustainability of logistics and supply chains, i.e. the requirement for new materials, packaging and technologies enabling maximum processing and use of inputs. From this point of view, the application of Industry 4.0 elements to the food industry appears to be a necessary step for the company's competitiveness. The article summarizes the results of a questionnaire survey that took place in the period April-May 2023 through the Internet tool Survio. A structured questionnaire was sent to 206 food businesses in the Czech Republic. The enterprises were selected according to the database of the Ministry of Agriculture. 69 enterprises returned correctly completed questionnaires, which makes the return rate 33%. Questions were directed to the area of process stability as a result of two crises, the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. Further to the field of automation, digitization and robotization to evaluate the current state of involvement of food production in Industry 4.0.