The article “Internet Technology Use across the Food Industry Supply Chain” by Dresner, Yao, and Palmer (2001) investigates the use of the internet in the food supply chain to identify if suppliers are utilizing or expected to utilize the internet as manufacturers and retailers. From this study, it is revealed that the internet has tremendously transformed the way business is done. According to Dresner, Yao, and Palmer (2001), internet technology has necessitated new and direct business development through consumer channels that have made products and services advertising from the manufacturers to consumers possible. Secondly, the use of the internet has also promoted new interactions channels between businesses by disseminating product information through electronic and online catalogs.
The findings of this study conducted by the three authors reveal no potential differences in internet utilization between distributors and retailers or between manufacturers as well as distributors. Additionally, this study also revealed that there were no differences found in the anticipated internet utilization between retailers and manufacturers or between manufacturers and distributors. As much as there are no differences in the actual and expected internet utilization, significant differences in internet utilization according to firm size has been found. Regardless of the size of distributors and manufacturers, both may still be at risk of falling behind the use of internet technology.
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Waste management is one of the paramount issues that is affecting various parts of the world. Notably, waste management involves the prevention, removal, collection, reuse, recycling, and safe disposal of both dangerous and toxic wastes. Food waste occurs at every stage of the global food value chain, either from manufacture or agriculture to final consumption. The collection of waste is a very dynamic process that requires a lot of resources to achieve it. In the US, city municipalities spend approximately 300 dollars per capital yearly to collect and manage waste (Ghosh, 2018). As much as numerous cities spend a lot of money to collect and manage waste, municipalities and waste management companies have scarcely utilized internet technology to enhance operational efficiency. Even with excellent optimization of routes, the waste collection vehicles have to check the trash level of dustbin physically. The manual process of checking waste causes time and money wastage, because trucks visit dumpsters that do not need to be emptied.
Currently, the growing use of internet technology, machine to machine connectivity as well as smart devices and sensors has greatly minimized unnecessary expenses that occur as a result of operational inefficiencies in the process of collecting trash. The use of the Internet of Things (IoT) powered smart waste management solutions that are currently utilized concentrates on enhancing the waste collection and recycling efficiency. As opined by Kakabadse (2015), the most typical example of IoT use in waste management is route optimizations that decrease fuel consumption while at the same time emptying dumpsters. The most common smart waste management solutions that are currently used include; IoT platforms, sensors, gateways, web, and mobile applications. The sensor is attached to the dustbins to measure its fill level while the gateways bridge the gap between the IoT platform and the sensor sending data from the sensor to the cloud.
Additionally, the IoT platform transforms raw materials into information. The IoT platforms are mostly hosted on clouds and sometimes as a result of high data security requirements; they can be hosted on-premises. By internet technology utilization in the management of wastes, many companies and cities have realized numerous benefits. Firstly, the internet technology utilization has reduced the costs of collecting food as well as beverage wastes. Smart dumpsters used in the collection of waste transmit real-time fill level information to waste collectors who utilize it in selecting optimum routes that do not consider empty bins for waste collection hence saving fuel and manpower. Apart from reducing the costs involved in collecting wastes. Internet technology in food and beverage wastes also help in analyzing waste generation patterns that assist waste management companies to forecast future waste generation. Internet technology usage in the management of food as well as beverage waste eliminates issues of overflowing trash bins because authorities are quickly notified about the fill level of dumpsters which enable them to schedule collection trucks to collect the waste.
According to the ‘Internet Technology Use across the Food Industry Supply Chain’ article, it is evident that during the time of Dresner et al. research, the internet technology was used in the food chain supply to directly market products and services. Internet technology permitted plenty of room to share product details between manufacturers, distributors, and consumers. As indicated by Dresner et al. (2001), internet technology changed the way businesses used to operate. This implies that the internet technology as stated in Dresner et al article promoted new means of interactions between businesses by disseminating product information through electronic and online catalogs.
However, this is quite different from the way the internet technology is currently utilized in the supply chain of the food industry. Apart from internet technology being used as a marketing platform, it is used to promote sustainability through green technology, product returns, product recalls, and waste management. In waste management in the supply chain of food industry, internet technology is used to enhance the operational efficiency of collection. Internet utilization has necessitated a timely collection of wastes. From this study, the main difference between Dresner’s internet technology research and the current use is that Dresner et al. study concentrated on marketing aspects of internet technology while the current internet technology utilization majorly focuses on promoting sustainability through waste management as well as marketing.
References
Dresner, M., Yao, Y., & Palmer, J. (2001). Internet technology use across the food industry supply chain. Transportation Journal , 14-26.
Ghosh, S. K. (Ed.). (2018). Waste Management and Resource Efficiency: Proceedings of 6th IconSWM 2016. Springer.
Kakabadse, A. (2015). The success formula: How smart leaders deliver outstanding value. Bloomsbury Publishing.
