If you’re a protein processor that has yet to take a significant step into the world of Industry 4.0, you're not alone. Globally, 90 percent of manufacturing companies are Digital Novices, Followers, or Innovators, and less than one-third are well-advanced on their digital journey. If you are just starting out, here are five practical steps to help meat and poultry processors improve manufacturing performance by digitizing their plant floor operations with Industry 4.0 technology.

The CAT Squared User Summit is designed to add value to food production operations by sharing best practices in the industry for adopting new technology in manufacturing processes. This year's Summit will be hosted at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute atop Petit Jean Mountain. The Institute provides an inspiring, secluded, historic setting to learn, connect, and innovate. This year's theme is Accelerating Continuous Improvement by Applying Industry 4.0 to Protein Production. Here are the top five reasons meat and poultry processors should attend the User Summit:

CAT Squared has partnered with UniSoma to disrupt the food-processing software industry with the launch of TacticalOps, our planning & optimization tool designed for food manufacturers. This exciting planning & optimization tool empowers food manufacturers with the ability to capture and manage real-time data from the plant floor and, using prescriptive analytics, peer into the future to make better decisions. UniSoma’s previous successes implementing planning and optimization tools based on predictive and prescriptive analytics yielded increased production efficiencies and improvements in planning accuracy. JBS reported an increase in the contribution margin of over 20% due to the use of UniSoma’s Meat Chain Optimizer. In another example, BRF reported $50 million in savings over a three-year period.