F&B: PACKAGING, WEIGHT MANAGEMENT, AND LABELING

The food and beverage industry is surely unique and comes with its own unique set of challenges. Whether a facility bottles beverages, processes fruits and vegetables, cans frozen goods, bakes pies, or even cuts cheese – the investment of a modern software to help manage and control various challenges is worth the cost.

Software solutions such as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system can help optimize daily business processes and unique challenges such as packaging, catch weight management and labeling. Here’s how…

Packaging

While packaging plays a hugs role in various industries, it’s exceptionally crucial for food and beverage suppliers. Not only does proper packaging, protect products from outside influences and damages, it provides consumers with nutritional information and ingredients. Additionally, packaging is often used for lot tracking and traceability. So, how can a business ensure success when there are so many concerns such as product characteristic, waste management issues, marketing concepts, environmental considerations, and cost concerns? With an ERP software, end-users can control and monitor packaging-related issues as well as:

• Managing the properties of the packaging material.
• Controlling the preferred shelf-life and end use.
• Maintaining the proper environmental conditions during storage and distribution.
• Controlling the disposal of the packaging.
• Managing the costs associated to the package during the production and distribution process.

Catch Weight Management

There are some food and beverage suppliers who have the added challenge of managing catch weights for specific products – this can range from meats and seafood to fruits and vegetables. The measurement of weights is a tedious task as variations must remain consistent. Deviations can disrupt operations, increase costs, and muddle efforts to follow with government requirements. ERP systems designed for food and beverage manufacturers support catch weight and other special unit of measure conversion requirements such as:

• Accurate invoice details with catch weight and unit of measure details for products sold.
• Unit of measure conversion for different proportions (liters, pounds, gallons, etc.).
• Landed cost distribution for catch weight products.
• Actual catch weight visibility by product in financial and inventory transactions.
• Supports multiple packaging variations for each product.
• Recorded weight captured at the time of purchase or shipment.
• Flexible and scalable pricing by catch weight.
• Product lot tracking with integrated quality control processes from receipt through production and shipping.

Labeling

Since food and beverage suppliers are responsible for creating their own nutrition and ingredient labels, they must continuously watch for updates to the ever-changing food labeling requirements. The FDA’s policy assigns the supplier with the responsibility for assuring the authenticity of a product label’s stated nutrient values. Suppliers can choose whether or not to disclose the source of the data used to calculate nutrition label values; however, the FDA’s policy recommends labels for nutritional values to be created on product composition, which are determined through laboratory examination of each nutrient. Additionally, the label is necessary for shipping and tracking. Incomplete or inaccurate labeling can be costly.

Avoid mislabeling fines, errors, inefficient recalls, and negative publicity by implementing a modern ERP software. Some of the major labeling features common in many ERP systems include:

• Generate labels for specific customers with individualized bar codes.
• Manage over multiple label types such as containers, products, shipping and mix-load labels.
• Print different colors and sizes for easy identification.
• Reduce the repacking of pallets due to mismatched items.
• Arrange label sequencing and assembly line control for accurate and automatic labeling for products being produced.
• Accomplish full compliance with lot tracking from the initial setup to the completed product.
• Print the correct label automatically for each work order.
• Increase control for serialized and non-serialized inventory.
• Increase efficiency and accuracy.
• Improve supply chain visibility.
• Enhance recall capabilities.
• Expedite regulatory changes.

Your Next Steps

Contact the ACC Software Solutions as we understand the unique challenges within the food and beverage industry. This knowledge, combined with top technology solutions, delivers a feature-rich, fully integrated manufacturing, distribution, customer management, project management, and accounting solution.

ACC Software Solutions is the leading ERP cloud provider for the South Jersey and Philadelphia area. At ACC, we offer a full range of business management technology services, including consulting, ERP implementation, targeted training, and ongoing support. We aim to build long-lasting relationships based on trust by committing to support your business goals today, and tomorrow. With over 25 years of software and industry experience, you’re guaranteed to find success with our team.

Contact ACC Software Solutions for FREE consultation.