21st Century Meat Inspector
Lead Research Organisation:
Loughborough University
Department Name: Business and Economics
Abstract
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Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Crispin Coombs (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
| Description | Poultry is the most widely consumed meat in the UK, and its effective inspection within processing facilities is essential to ensure regulatory compliance. Poultry inspection is performed manually and is extremely challenging due to the short time available to inspect each bird and the sustained level of concentration required. This feasibility project investigated how existing and new inspection technologies can be combined with advanced data analytics and incorporated into current meat inspection practices to deliver the 21st Century Meat Inspector. The feasibility project focused specifically on post-mortem inspection of poultry, adopting a benefits realisation approach to determine the requirements for any new technologies and ensure that business benefits are delivered to all stakeholders within the poultry chain. The findings indicate that the application of AI, sensor and data analytic technologies for meat inspection provide the opportunity for the realisation of a considerable range of business benefits that would be valuable for the Food Standards Agency (e.g., increased safety standards for food production improving consumer safety), Meat Inspectors (e.g., enriched work activities maximising best use of specialist knowledge), Food Business Organisation (FBO) (e.g., real-time data-informed decision making), and Farms (e.g., earlier information on animal welfare issues). To realise these benefits it is likely there would need to be programmes of organisational change in terms of process and job redesign combined with investments in the design and development of AI, sensor and data analytic technologies. These technologies would need to be thoroughly tested prior to implementation to minimise disruption to the FBO. Designing replication of the FBO production line for testing is a significant challenge. The multiple stakeholders involved in the food production process provides a complex environment and may present challenges for achieving agreed standards for aspects such as data access, data governance, responsibility and liability for automated decisions, and committing financial resources. |
| Exploitation Route | Future work should focus on utilizing a larger number of samples, exploring the potential of multi-sensor fusion activities and addressing the technical and economic barriers in developing systems that can operate effectively in production environments. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Description | The feasibility study findings have been used to inform a new Food Standards Agency report as part of a wider digital transformation initiative undertaken by the FSA. The report is due to be published in summer 2022. The feasibility study findings have guided the participating Food Business Organisation regarding their future digital transformation strategy regarding analytic decision making and potential investments in new sensor technology. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink |
| Impact Types | Economic,Policy & public services |
| Description | ICIS 2020 PDW Presentation - Creating the 21st Century Meat Inspector |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 15-20 academics and doctoral researchers participated in a presentation on the adoption of AI technology in the UK Meat Industry |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |