Agri‐Food producers have a responsibility to provide safe, secure and sustainable food in a world characterized by disruption and increasing intolerance of waste along supply chains. As such, it is critical that they adopt new technologies to ensure efficient and effective management of their responsibility. While Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies can underpin process innovation opportunities, there is a gap in research‐based understanding of how they influence innovation practice and outcomes in Agri‐Food. In this paper, we investigate how I4.0, as a set of enabling technologies, influences core process innovation practice and product innovation outcomes in Agri‐Food firms. We present case studies of two Spanish firms processing fresh food products, competing in two important subsectors of the industry, meat and fruit and vegetables. We used secondary material and semi‐structured interviews as data sources. The findings describe how, in the two cases, I4.0 has enabled responses to new customers requirements through process innovations resulting in enhanced functionality, aesthetics and meaning of the delivered products. Our paper contributes a framework identifying for researchers and managers how I4.0 technologies act as enablers of the core innovation processes and competitive outcomes.

中文翻译：

---

农业食品领域的创新：为工业4.0开拓机遇

农业食品生产者有责任在世界上以供应链中的废物破坏和不容忍为特征的世界中，提供安全，有保障和可持续的粮食。因此，至关重要的是，他们必须采用新技术来确保对职责的有效管理。尽管工业4.0（I4.0）技术可以为流程创新机会提供支持，但基于研究的理解如何影响农业食品的创新实践和成果仍存在差距。在本文中，我们研究了I4.0作为一套支持技术如何影响农业食品公司的核心流程创新实践和产品创新成果。我们以两家处理新鲜食品的西班牙公司为例，研究肉类，水果和蔬菜在该行业的两个重要子领域中的竞争。我们使用辅助材料和半结构化访谈作为数据源。调查结果描述了在这两种情况下，I4.0如何通过流程创新实现对新客户需求的响应，从而增强了交付产品的功能，美观性和含义。我们的论文提供了一个框架，为研究人员和管理人员确定了I4.0技术如何充当核心创新过程和竞争成果的推动者。