ABA panel explores how bakers can use AI in their operations

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. —To harness the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), commercial baking companies and their suppliers must be led by a business perspective with the involvement of everyone from maintenance, engineering and operations personnel to supply chain and their logistics departments.

That’s according to a panel of experts during the American Bakers Association (ABA) annual convention, held April 13-17 in Scottsdale.

“You don’t want to hand [AI] over to the IT folks, even though I’m part of that group,” said Marco Petruccelli, vice president, chief information officer and chief technology officer, Lallemand. “It definitely needs to be led by a business perspective as specifically looking at business challenges.”

The panel explored how the industry can begin to cost-effectively incorporate emerging AI and machine learning technologies to optimize their manufacturing operations.

Moderated by Eric Dell, ABA president and chief executive officer, the speakers outlined how AI can be used for a wide range of practical applications. Those include establishing predictive maintenance procedures, improving logistics and distribution, enhancing workforce training, and creating a versatile supply chain system that can quickly adapt when disruption occurs like during the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

The speakers at the business session also suggested possible ways in which AI can be used for employee recruiting and retention as well as for improving operating efficiencies through better workforce scheduling. 

“I just want to say that AI is going to change the world,” noted Greg Powers, vice president of cool stuff, Gray Solutions. “It’s not like this technology is in the future; it’s happening now.”

Other panelists included Murray Thom, vice president of quantum technology evangelism at D-Wave, and Natalia Connolly, senior vice president of AlixPartners.

In addition to explaining the basics of AI and its practical applications for the baking industry, the speakers stressed partnering with a third-party business or consulting firm that will evaluate how a commercial baking company or supplier can best employ AI technology, which can be extremely expensive for some applications.

For example, if developed properly, AI can be used to create customized training programs for future generations of employees that work in the commercial baking industry.

Supporting the panel discussion was the release of the results of a pulse survey of 80 commercial bakeries and industry suppliers conducted by ABA and NDP Analytics in March. That research showed that nearly 70% of survey respondents have adopted or plan to adopt AI in some capacity, including pilot programs, during the next 12 months.

Moreover, survey respondents also stated that maintenance and production operators would likely be most impacted by the initial adoption of AI, making those positions even more difficult to fill over the next three years.

ABA’s survey also revealed the biggest challenges to implementing AI into baking companies’ operations. Respondents listed a lack of workforce skillset, an unclear return on investment and maturity of current technology among the leading barriers. Cyber security followed by a resistance from management were listed as the top risks by survey participants.