Exploration of the Drivers, Enablers, and Barriers to I4.0-Ce Adoption in the Palm Oil Industry: the Case of Malaysia

Research Grant, 2022

Abstract

Indonesia and Malaysia are gigantic duos in the palm oil industry, with almost 20 million hectares of palm oil plantations. But this industry is also responsible for the generation of about 178.68 to 268.01 million tons of palm oil mill effluent (POME) waste in a year without proper treatment – it is either burned in the open or disposed of in a waste pond; as no additional costs require (Ratnasari et al. 2022). Compared with other edible vegetable oil, palm oil is much more favoured due to its high efficiency, versatility and low price. Due to this fact, irresponsible people start to spread false propaganda and downgrade palm oil usage, as they feel threatened with palm oil ability. Because of this, a feasible solution is crucially needed as soon as possible to moderate the impact and alleviate society's pressure-demand, such as banning palm oil production and usage. Although much effort is underway, advanced innovation technology is a new concept in the palm oil sector compared to other industries. Therefore, large-scale improvements are possible required (Lim et al., 2021). To solemnize a new world sustainable development aspiration, it is worth highlighting the potential of application industry 4.0 (I4.0) technology and circular economy (CE) practices. Beyond this, the industry may take advantage to conquer and defeat other opponents like sunflower oil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil etc. and overthrow their sovereignty.

Project Leader

Mohd Helmi Ali (Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), )