7 Ways Food and Beverage Manufacturers Are Putting Data to Work to Build Profits

Transcription

1 7 Ways Food and Beverage Manufacturers Are Putting Data to Work to Build Profits

2 7 Ways Food and Beverage Manufacturers Are Putting Data to Work to Build Profits This is a time of both challenge and opportunity for food and beverage manufacturers. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) places new responsibilities on every producer and distributor. Yet there are many positive forces in the industry like new distribution channels, a global supply chain and consumers eager to try new products. To take full advantage of those opportunities and build profitability quickly, forward-thinking food and beverage manufacturers are tapping into the power of their data. While most organizations are collecting an increasing amount of data through their operational systems, it is disconnected and disarrayed. Now is the time to connect systems, centralize data and put that information to work building profits. The power of data to transform operations We ve written this ebook to help you envision how you can harness data to improve operations and grow your bottom line. We ll show you how companies like yours are building profits with: 1. Accurate demand forecasting 2. Flexible formula and recipe management 3. Integrated quality assurance and control 4. Forward and backward traceability for ingredients and finished goods 5. Better food safety through allergen tracking and expiration management 6. Deeper business insight 7. End-to-end transactional processing Page 1

3 1. Accurate Demand Forecasting Food and beverage manufacturers deal with more uncertainties than almost any industry. Anything from extreme weather to crop failures to changing consumer tastes can leave your company with an unexpected shortage or aging surplus. While you can t eliminate the more unpredictable elements of the industry, improved forecasting can help you prepare and respond to changes in the market. Complex interactions require help There are so many factors that impact forecasting from sales pipeline to consumer preferences, that spreadsheets can t be trusted. Forecasts are no better than an educated guess without software that can consolidate data across the organization, combining historic data and sales predictions into valuable outputs. Look forward with complete information A modern business management solution* designed for the food and beverage industry can give you the information that keeps inventory levels in check while fully meeting demand. Improve your demand forecast with connected data that allows you to: Monitor trends and changes in consumption at every step in the supply chain. Use rolling forecasts to manage stock and accurately project replenishment needs. Track demand and factor in sales forecasts to predict resource load and analyze distribution capacity. Connect your systems and your data to take advantage of the next big consumer trend or avoid overstocking on a product trending down. *Previously referred to as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), today s integrated financial and operational software provide an organization-wide business management solution. Page 2

4 2. Flexible formula and recipe management To respond to consumer demand and variability of ingredients, you need to support flexible recipe management while accurately capturing formulations. Maintaining consistency in nutritional values, costs and yields from each batch is critical to managing production effectively and meeting customer expectations. New levels of complexity for ingredient tracking The labeling process is simple for some producers they compose a formula and determine nutritional values according to the ingredients. Other producers, however, face the complicated task of developing recipes to fit the nutritional values demanded by consumers. With the variable nutritional potency and variations in reactivity of ingredients, tracking costs and staying on budget can quickly become a nightmare. Consistent products, accurate data It s critical for your business to monitor factors like potency, variable weight and volume when developing formulas, and you need to be able to dynamically adjust recipes to respond to changing demands or requirements. Only a business management system specifically designed for food and beverage manufacturers will allow you to: Define produced items by ingredient percentage, standard batch size or both. Scale batches up or down immediately in response to changes in ingredient availability or other resource constraints. Automatically calculate costs for intermediate and finished goods from formulas based on your own methods, overhead and other cost factors. With a food and beverage business management solution that supports comprehensive recipe management, you can maintain accurate costing and consistent production. Page 3

5 3. Integrated quality assurance and control For food and beverage manufacturers, quality control is more than a single step it s a process that never ends. Trying to support testing that starts with raw materials and continues to the warehouse with outdated software is a time-consuming and costly process. The challenges of continuous tracking and testing At its core, quality control is an issue of data management. Trying to use legacy applications or spreadsheets to track multiple formulas, maintain batch-related information and monitor lots across the production chain is challenging. Complex regulations add another layer of data to monitor, test and record in order to fulfill reporting and traceability requirements. Connected data to monitor quality at every step With software built for food and beverage manufacturers, you get the integrated tools that can monitor the data to keep products within tolerances. An integrated business system designed to support process manufacturing can meet today s QC requirements through: Built-in testing procedures with strict pass/fail specifications on inbound materials, lots in production and outgoing products. Production management tools to rigorously enforce inspections and confirm product compliance. Real-time test results combined with production history to spot problems in production and streamline operations. Your customers demand consistent quality, and your reputation depends on delivering just that. With a fully integrated business management solution built for your industry, you can drive the continuous QC processes that guarantee consistency. Page 4

6 4. Forward and backward traceability for ingredients and finished goods Today s food and beverage manufacturers must be able to track materials and finished goods up and down the supply chain, from procurement through production and into the customer s hands. Not only have regulatory agencies increased pressure on producers, but consumers expect greater transparency when it comes to the source and content of their food. The new age of transparency The food and beverage industry is increasingly in the media spotlight high-profile product recalls and increasing awareness of allergens and genetically modified organisms in food products have become widespread consumer issues, while the FSMA mandates increased transparency for all producers. Legacy ERP and spreadsheets simply can t support the layers of complexity needed to assure accurate ingredient tracking and labeling. Automated ingredient tracking simplifies transparency With modern software designed for food and beverage manufacturers, centralized data provides the detailed tracking that customers and regulators expect. Collecting and monitoring data throughout the production process allows you to: Automatically trace ingredients across all manufactured products, process stages and quality checks. Log each physical transaction for all lot-traceable items, and include additional sub-lot details such as assay results. Manage product genealogy for all goods, finished or in production, enabling an immediate, streamlined recall process if and when the need arises. With a full integrated business management solution, designed for the food and beverage industry, you can provide consumers with farm-to-fork transparency and meet FSMA requirements efficiently. Page 5

7 5. Better food safety through allergen tracking and expiration management Food safety is one of the most important and high-profile issues faced by modern food and beverage producers. Expired or contaminated products can be dangerous to consumers, while the cost and media fallout of a recall can be crippling to a manufacturer. It s critical to your business to have a business management system that can manage tracking and labeling of allergen and expiration data. The risk of disconnected systems When allergen and expiration data is managed through separate systems that handle formula management, purchasing, quality control, compliance and labeling mistakes are easy to make. Manual data input or spreadsheets are used to fill the gap, but can t provide a continuous, connected data flow to track allergens and expiration dates across production and delivery. Continuous tracking builds confidence A business management solution designed for food and beverage manufacturers can support data that flows with lots and batches throughout the production cycle and supply chain. Accurate, real-time data directly linked and traceable to the product ensures that you can: Support lot traceability from production through finished goods to ensure a quick and accurate recall process, if and when required. Track and safely segregate allergens at any point in your facility, preventing possible cross-contamination and ensuring accurate allergen labeling. Monitor expiration and best-before dates of raw materials, finished goods or goods in production. With continuous tracking of expiration and allergen data, you can improve safety while reducing waste and avoiding excess costs. Page 6

8 6. Deeper business insight Things move fast in today s world and your managers need current, accurate information to make the right decisions about purchasing, scheduling and production. Outdated, incomplete reports just won t cut it anymore you need complete information that reflects the current reality and analytics to help you predict the future. Outdated software is a barrier to success When data is housed in separate systems and hundreds of spreadsheets, you don t have analysis tools to find unexpected relationships, spot trends and dig into the exceptions. Delivering the information that customers and regulators demand is time consuming and slow. Make better, faster decisions to stay ahead of the competition A business management solution designed for food and beverage manufacturers allows you to combine, share and capitalize on the data that spans your entire business. Giving you a broader, more complete picture of operations, modern business intelligence tools will allow you to: Monitor performance and predict possible problems in real-time with customizable user dashboards and integrated reporting tools. Filter through and analyze data to support better decision processes. Accelerate issue resolution and increase employee responsiveness with faster and simpler access to the information they need. With fully integrated information from formulation and production through the supply chain, you can give your employees the information that will build competitive edge. Page 7

9 7. End-to-end transactional processing Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) used to only be available to major corporations with large IT departments and even larger budgets, but it has become more affordable and more widely available for smaller manufacturers. Working directly with major retailers and distributors can take your business to new heights, but requires fast and accurate transaction processing. The risk of duplicate entries and errors To support EDI, you need the seamless communication with trading partners supported by modern, connected software systems. Disconnected EDI and business management systems lead to mistakes and inefficiency as employees have to resort to manual entry and timeconsuming workarounds to get the job done. Integrated EDI opens new distribution channels With fully integrated business management and EDI systems, data only needs to be entered once, streamlining the accounting and inventory management process while expediting cash flow. EDI, integrated with business management systems allows you to: Exchange business data, including purchase orders and invoices, electronically with your trading partners. Accelerate sales order processing from purchase order acknowledgments to invoices to improve cash flow. Receive early notification of upcoming orders to adjust production and inventory accordingly. With automated transactional processing, you can collaborate and communicate with a whole new level of distributors, establishing reliable, long-term business relationship that will help you grow your business. Page 8

10 Fueling growth for food and beverage manufacturers Managing and growing your business while keeping pace with ever-changing regulatory and reporting requirements is challenging for food and beverage manufacturers. You need business management systems that fully engage your data to support manufacturing processes, automate compliance reporting and improve efficiency across the organization. Sage X3 is a powerhouse for the food and beverage manufacturing industry, reducing costs, streamlining processes and simplifying compliance with: Recipe management, quality control and lot traceability Ingredient, allergen and shelf-life tracking through all steps of production Robust tools for real-time, complex production process management. At RKL esolutions, we recognize that nobody knows your business better than you we simply unlock the knowledge you have, then apply technology to create efficient workflow processes and meaningful reports that guide your firm to better profitability. Is your business at risk? Take the Food and Beverage Manufacturer Quiz to see how you rank. rklesolutions.com sales@rklesolutions.com National Offices: Central Penn, Mid-Atlantic, New England, Southwest, Colorado California Locations: Sacramento San Francisco Bay Area Page 9