Raimund Klein’s Post

Canadian Food Innovation Network and International Centre for Industrial Transformation (INCIT) Sign Agreement on 30 September 2026 to Bring Global Industry 4.0 Benchmarking Tools to Canada. Partnership will give Canadian food and beverage SMEs access to INCIT's Industry 4.0 tools, supporting modernization. GUELPH, ON / SINGAPORE — The Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) and the International Centre for Industrial Transformation (INCIT) today announced a Strategic Cooperation bringing INCIT's Industry 4.0 tools anchored by the Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) to Canada's food and beverage manufacturing sector. The agreement is a milestone under CFIN's Food 4.0 vision to equip small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the tech needed to stay competitive. As supply chains grow complex, this partnership gives SMEs an independent way to assess digital readiness and prioritize investments. SIRI is the world's first independent digital-maturity assessment toolkit for manufacturers. It evaluates a facility across Process, Technology, and Organisation to produce a prioritized roadmap. Delivered by independent Certified SIRI Assessors, SIRI provides an objective view of digital readiness, grounding decisions in evidence. Under the agreement, CFIN and INCIT will: ● Establish a joint task force for food and beverage professionals engaged in digital transformation. ● Promote and catalyze adoption of INCIT’s assessments among Canadian manufacturers. ● Build a Canadian network of Certified INCIT Assessors. ● Collaborate on projects applying INCIT tools to support modernization efforts. "Canadian food and beverage manufacturers know they need to modernize what they often lack is an objective, credible direction on where to start," said Dana McCauley, CEO of CFIN. "Bringing INCIT's tools to Canadian businesses is part of CFIN's larger goal of accelerating plant-level adoption of Canadian automation, robotics, and digital technologies. This partnership gives our manufacturers a globally trusted benchmark to guide investments with confidence." "The Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) supports Canada’s food and beverage industry in moving past expensive trial phases and into real manufacturing productivity," said Raimund Klein, Chairman of INCIT. "By grounding modernization decisions in evidence, the SIRI approach uses anonymous micro-data to help small and medium manufacturers reduce investment risks. Applied on a larger scale, these insights allow policymakers to target funding precisely, keeping Canada’s productivity competitive worldwide." A special thanks to Ryan Kershaw, INCIT’s Regional Ambassador for Canada, for helping bring this partnership together. His efforts have been instrumental in connecting the right people and creating this opportunity for collaboration. The partnership takes effect immediately, with joint activities — including assessor training — planned over the coming month. #Industry4.0 #Transformation #Productivity