F&B: TRACEABILITY, RECIPE & QUALITY MANAGEMENT

In previous blogs, we began discussing some of the main safety pain points which food and beverage facilities face – packaging, catch weight management, labeling, allergens, ingredients, and expiration dates. We then went into detail about how all of these concerns can be simplified with a modern ERP solution, all while ensuring the taste and quality of products and overall profitability of a company.

A modern ERP system, such as Acumatica and/or Sage 100, provides the framework needed to effectively manage every aspect of the food and beverage process. When chosen and implemented correctly, the right ERP system can address some of the biggest industry and operational concerns.

So in continuing with the theme of focusing on safety pain points, we’re going to address three more… traceability, recipe management, and quality management.

Traceability

More than ever, the FDA is inspecting and monitoring the processes of food and beverage facilities in hopes of preventing contamination, disease, and spoilage. When working in the food and beverage industry, time is of the essence. When the FDA or U.S. Department of Health and Human Services comes for inspection, you better be prepared – take too long and you can guarantee a lengthy and costly audit but, if you can produce accurate and timely information your compliance costs are sure to go down. Further, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services requires you to pull all necessary information within a narrow four-hour window. You do not want to be the organization still operating manually and scrambling to get the information they need –especially if you’re busy or working otherwise unavailable.

A modern ERP with superior traceability features allows end-users to track products from ‘farm to table’, maintain detailed lot-related information, and automate processes throughout the supply chain. The role of traceability in a modern ERP is to reduce the probability and effects of contamination, disease, and spoilage.

Recipe Management

Recipe management is a huge concern for food and beverage facilities. In addition to cost savings, recipe management helps ensure the consistency, quality, and traceability of a product. It’s also important to note that it’s important to manage multiple versions of a recipe to allow for improvements or consumer-specific requirements.

Luckily, with the help of a modern ERP solution, facilities can cut costs, increase productivity, and decrease time spent manually managing recipes and formulas through external systems or spreadsheets. Version control features can provide a historical view of the specific recipe or formula used to produce each finished good lot so you have a complete audit trail to the original ingredient lots used at a specific date and time by batch in case of an unforeseen recall or quality issue. Further, data can be stored or archived for decades with built-in alerts and notifications concerning allergen issues and recalls. All in all, the amount of data is extensive, which is why ERP for recipe management is extremely effective, useful, and vital for food and beverage manufacturers.

Quality Management

Food and beverage companies, by law, are required to comply with all food safety policies to ensure all appropriate actions are taking place. As a result, ERP systems have become one of the most powerful tools for quality control.

Once again, with the assistance of a modern ERP solution, facilities can maintain complete quality control by creating and capturing test results for incoming receipts from suppliers (based on the quantity received or pre-defined sample sizes). Quality control can also be initiated and managed for stock inventory to ensure that product characteristics haven’t changed, or perishable inventory has spoiled. Quality control continues throughout the production process with quality tests available (and optionally enforced) at each phase of the production process so end-users can adjust as needed to ensure the highest quality finished goods possible. Test results are documented and organized within the production history so end-users can use this information for reports and analysis, and alerts.

An integrated ERP system guarantees the management of the four main aspects of quality:

1. Quality Control
   2. Quality Assurance
   3. Quality Planning
   4. Quality Improvement

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.