Despite its societal importance, red meat processing is a low-margin sector. Drivers toward digitalization include efficiencies, labor availability, and the sustainability of raw materials. Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies offer new opportunities to the red meat sector in the areas of increasing automation and benefit from available information in the supply chain and overall sustainability. A range of different industrial sectors have embraced digitalization and I4.0 solutions to greater or lesser extents and thus are characterized by a continuum of digital maturity levels. Semiconductors and pharmaceuticals are generally considered the most digitally mature sectors, while the food processing sector would be characterized by a lower digital maturity. For individual companies, tools such as the Smart Industry Readiness Index offer a means to conduct a self-assessment of the digital maturity of the company in relation to their own and other industry groups and ensure smart and strategic adoption of I4.0 technologies for maximum impact. Technologies of special relevance to meat processing include data analytics and digital twin, sensorization, Industrial Internet of Things, and automation, and their relevance to offering a path forward toward Meat Industry 4.0 is discussed.