Australian food manufacturers flag productivity drag

Argon & Co has published research showing that 58.4% of Australian food and beverage manufacturing workers believe their organisation is becoming less productive. The findings are based on a survey of 500 workers and managers in the sector.

The results highlight a gap between technology spending and day-to-day factory and operational processes. According to the survey, 81.8% of respondents spend more than a quarter of their working week on repetitive or manual tasks, while 40.8% said those tasks take up more than half of their week.

Work duplication also emerged as a widespread issue. Almost all respondents, 95.8%, said work is duplicated across systems, teams or processes, and 75.8% said this happens to a moderate or significant degree.

That includes entering the same data into multiple systems, maintaining spreadsheets alongside broader business platforms, and manually reconciling production information. The findings suggest operational friction remains common even where businesses have invested in digital tools.

Paul Eastwood, Managing Partner at Argon & Co, said businesses were not seeing the full benefit of technology when old processes remained in place.

"Food and beverage manufacturers are investing in technology to improve productivity, but many employees are still spending too much time on manual admin, repeating checks or moving between different systems. Technology alone won't fix an inefficient process. If you introduce a new system without changing how the work gets done, you risk adding another layer of complexity rather than making people's jobs easier," Eastwood said.

Process gaps

The survey found that 76.4% of respondents said new technology is typically introduced without changes to related processes, responsibilities or broader ways of working. That points to a broader implementation problem rather than simple resistance to change.

Six in ten respondents said outdated processes or poor integration with existing systems were the biggest barrier to getting more from technology. Within that group, 34% said underlying business processes are never updated.

By contrast, only 14% identified a lack of leadership support as the biggest obstacle. This suggests many businesses are willing to adopt new systems but struggle to align them with everyday workflows.

Artificial intelligence remains at an early stage across much of the sector. Some 82.4% of respondents said their organisation had introduced AI only to a limited extent or not at all.

The reported effect on productivity was mixed. More than two in five respondents, 41.8%, said AI had delivered no noticeable productivity improvement or had made their work more difficult, while 14.4% reported a significant productivity boost.

Eastwood said manufacturers should focus on operational bottlenecks before expanding AI use.

"Manufacturers won't solve productivity challenges by adding another tool to an existing process. Before introducing AI, businesses need to look at where work is getting held up, what could be done differently and where technology can genuinely make the job easier. Otherwise, there's a risk of using AI to speed up processes that weren't working well in the first place," he said.

Operational focus

The areas with the greatest scope for improvement were core operational functions. Almost two-thirds of respondents, 63.2%, identified production, supply chain or inventory management as offering the biggest opportunity to improve productivity.

When asked about technology priorities, 52.2% said the main goal was reducing repetitive tasks or eliminating errors and rework. Another 30.4% chose better planning and scheduling.

These responses suggest manufacturers are more focused on practical operational improvements than on deploying AI for its own sake. The data also indicates that many workers continue to encounter inefficiencies in routine work despite broader interest in automation and digital systems.

Argon & Co describes itself as a global management consultancy specialising in operations strategy and transformation, with work spanning supply chain planning, manufacturing, logistics, procurement, finance and shared services. The firm has 17 offices across Europe, Australasia, America, Asia and the Middle East.

"The greatest value from AI will come when manufacturers start with a clear business problem, rather than the technology itself. That could be reducing waste, improving throughput, producing more accurate forecasts or managing inventory more effectively. From there, manufacturers can look at where processes can be improved and where AI can genuinely help. AI is only one part of the solution, and its value depends on how effectively it supports the people, processes and decisions around it," Eastwood said.