Technological innovations, such as industrial robots or blockchain technologies, AI and IoT, are increasingly decisive in production processes, so much so as to induce many analysts to hypothesize that we are facing a real "new industrial revolution" underway. The opportunities offered by new digital technologies are changing not only the subjects involved and the object of commercial transactions, but also the way in which the goods thus produced are traded. Among the technological innovations that have the greatest impact on production processes, reported byInternational Federation of Robotics, there is the use of industrial robots in companies, whose number of units installed worldwide increased from 178 to 290 thousand between 2013 and 2018. The countries that, already in the last decade, have experienced a greater use of robots in manufacturing are Japan and South Korea. According to Eurostat data, in 2018, 7% of companies in the EU used industrial robots: the share rises to 25% for companies with over 250 employees, while it does not go beyond 5% in SMEs. The EU countries with the highest prevalence of industrial robots are Spain (11% of companies), Denmark and Finland (10%). Italy is among the top ten countries by degree of penetration, i.e. by the number of robots per thousand employed: 8,7% of companies with more than 10 employees use robots, a level that more than tripled between 2009 and 2014. If for SMEs the share is 7,4%, for those with over 250 employees the share rises to 26,2%.
Recent OECD and WTO studies they have analyzed some of its effects, in particular on the ways in which economic actors enter trade flows, or on the management of logistics and transaction costs. In particular for the agri-food sector, they have been identified great potential for cost reductions associated with demonstrating adherence to industry standards, or the ability to deliver quickly and efficiently across borders. A first tangible effect of the digital transformation is, therefore, a reduction of the information asymmetry in favor of an increase in trust among the actors involved in the agri-food chain, both public and private. The benefits also affect some nodes of the production network itself, such as food processing industries and final retailers, which are able to improve logistics planning and prove compliance with sustainability requirements.
If we analyze i data on Italian exports updated to last November, exports of goods contracted by 4,2% compared to the previous month due to generally weak demand, where the negative data of the shipbuilding industry weighs above all, while only the trend decline of instrumental mechanics, metals and electronics negatively influences the result by two percentage points. Demand from EU countries remains timid, with the only exceptions coming from France (+2,3% between January and November) and the United Kingdom (+5%) where pharmaceuticals are growing strongly. Slight contraction in Germany and Spain (first and fourth destination market for Italian exports). In the non-EU area, positive demand from Japan, Switzerland and the USA was confirmed; good signals also from ASEAN countries (+6,1%) and Russia (+4,5%). Exports to China and Mercosur are down. Sales to Moscow are growing at a good pace supported above all by pharmaceuticals (+138% yoy in the first eleven months of 2019), mechanical engineering and metal products. Exports to the USA continue to expand thanks to positive performances in almost all sectors, except for the automotive sector: the latter, together with trains and rolling stock, are instead the only investment goods sectors in which Italian exports towards Mercosur it is growing, while food products (-6,1%) and chemicals (-2,4%) weigh negatively.
In terms of main groupings of industries, consumer goods are confirmed as the most dynamic (+8,4% in the first eleven months), thanks above all to non-durable goods (+9,9%); the growth of exports of durable consumer goods remains moderate and declining (+1,6%). After the good performance in October, exports of capital goods are back in decline (-1,5%), which continues to be affected by the uncertainty of the global situation. Once again, cross-border sales in the pharmaceutical sector were very positive with excellent performances both in advanced markets (in particular Germany, USA and Japan) and in emerging ones (China and India above all). Metal products also performed well, down on the European markets but driven by the non-EU area (Switzerland, Turkey, Japan and India). On the other hand, Italian motor vehicle exports were down, with particularly negative performances in China, Germany, Spain and the USA.
In this scenario, theSmart AgriFood Observatory del Polimi and Nomisma's Agrifood Monitor carried out surveys on the application of 4.0 solutions in over a thousand Italian agricultural enterprises: about half of the respondents declared that they are increasingly using digital technologies to control costs and increase production. The most frequent digital tools translate into online platforms, thanks to which operators can: trace the production process and compliance with quality and phytosanitary standards, receive updated information on methodologies and certifications required by regulations, get in touch with other potential partners. Furthermore, the blockchain is spreading more and more as a digital tool to increase food safety and traceability along the supply chain. The immediate availability of large quantities of data relating to products and advanced IT technologies to process them in a short time, then, streamline customs procedures by facilitating exchanges: according to UNESCAP data, times and costs of Asian exports have thus been reduced by 44% and 33% respectively: this aspect appears rather relevant in the specific case of the agri-food sector, which on the one hand is subject to stringent standards and on the other is particularly sensitive to times, due to the perishability of the products traded. However, most of the Italian farmers interviewed do not invest in innovative tools due to lack of resources and the still widespread skepticism about the actual advantages and potential deriving from the acquisition and interpretation of data.
