Improving Food and Beverage Traceability with ERP Software

The food and beverage industry is always facing new challenges when it comes to supply, regulations, and consumer demand. Shifting dietary trends require fast product development, and a growing focus on environmental impact and sustainable practices is shifting the way processors think. Not least, there are the ongoing supply chain challenges contributing to an uncertain business environment. To help meet these challenges, leading food and beverage manufacturers are turning to ERP software that streamlines compliance, without sacrificing food quality or price.

The Importance of Product Traceability

Food contamination is one of the biggest nightmares for food and beverage manufacturers. However, contamination stemming from an unknown source with no way of knowing which products are affected is even worse. Traceability in manufacturing processes allows businesses to verify the history of a product and identify the affected batches with ease.

In addition to streamlined quality assurance, manufacturers with traceability processes are four times more likely to monitor for regulatory compliance. They are also more likely to have plans in place for how to handle a food recall. Food and beverage manufacturers who utilize ERP software can take advantage of improved decision-making, smarter logistics, better supplier terms, and optimal demand planning.

Below, we have outlined four ways a traceability system can improve manufacturing efficiency.

The Benefits of Traceability Software

By leveraging modern Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software that supports manufacturing traceability, food and beverage manufacturers can streamline complex business processes.

Labeling and Scanning

Through the Internet of Things (IoT), more devices and sensors can be connected to your monitoring system. Labeling technology like radio frequency identification (RFID) and QR codes allow for data collection throughout the product supply chain. This allows you to generate data on everything from storage temperature to shipping times and destinations.

Business Intelligence

With deep reporting and analytics insights, your food and beverage plant can identify and mitigate problems before they spread to the rest of your supply chain. When products are tracked and documented during every step of the manufacturing cycle, it becomes easier to identify potential contaminations and spoiled batches.

Cloud Deployment

Food and beverage manufacturers can now take advantage of cloud-based ERP software for managing parts of their business such as system infrastructure, operating system, database, and applications. This allows you to automate new areas of your business, spend less time and energy on repetitive administrative tasks, and focus on innovation.

Visibility

The right software allows you to easily trace items throughout the food processing supply chain. This includes logging of source materials, supplier management, quality control, production, fulfillment, EDI, and compliance. When your ERP is designed for your industry and configured correctly, you are offered real-time, full life-cycle visibility and reporting at every stage of your product.

Quality Assurance

Modern ERP solutions include role security, built-in regulatory compliance, recipe management, and advanced QA processes. This allows you to easily manage audit trails, catch QA issues quickly, generate pass/fail reports, and store all quality-related documents with ease. In the event of a sudden audit or recall, you can rely on the system as your source of truth.

Your Recipe for Success

Choosing an ERP software solution built for food processors and manufacturers will help overcome many of the challenges unique to the industry. Scalable solutions that allow for multi-language, multi-currency configurations allow companies to easily expand to multiple locations, including abroad. As your manufacturing operation grows and becomes more complex, the right solution will continue to support your changing requirements and adapt to regulatory changes.