LNS Research: Industrial Transformation Challenges – Consumer Product and Food & Beverage Manufacturers

The Consumer-Packaged Goods/Food & Beverage (CPG/F&B) Industry is changing. Demand is fluctuating wildly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lifestyle changes. Local and microbrands are becoming ever more important. New channels, such as Amazon, must be assimilated. And, long-term trends, such as the increasing role of private labeling, co-packers, and contract manufacturing, continue to reshape the industry.

In the face of this turbulence, CPG/F&B companies are – like so many other industrial enterprises – looking at Industrial Transformation (IX) as a means to drive change. One-half of industrial enterprises report they have embarked on an Industrial Transformation (IX) journey. Companies are going beyond standard practices to seek out step-change improvement in industrial operations with several companies already reporting “dramatic results.” The Leaders in IX have found very real benefits in the form of increased revenues, lowered Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), and increased operating margins. Yet, the CPG/F&B Industry is falling behind. So, what are the CPG/F&B companies doing differently? Why, exactly, are they falling behind? What are the “big” things they are trying to accomplish? And what, if anything, is delivering significant improvement even in CPG/F&B?