TOP CHALLENGES THAT CAN BE OVERCOME USING BATCHMASTER FOOD ERP SOLUTIONS
BatchMaster Software solutions give food manufacturers better control over their product development, production, quality control, and regulatory compliance processes in order to overcome these challenges:
1. Health Concerns
As consumers demand more health-conscious choices, food manufacturers continue to develop more sugar-free, low-calorie, and low-fat options.
- Take advantage of formulation features that alert formulators to specs that exceed the finished good’s nutritional target values, then manually or automatically adjust the ingredient levels that contribute to the nutritional property value.
2. Formulation Costs:
Manufacturers sometimes need to balance consumer preferences with cost-effectiveness and production efficiency.
- Perform a side-by-side cost analysis of specifications by comparing ingredient, labor and consumable costs, as well as additional shipping and miscellaneous costs.
3. Fluctuating Prices Of Ingredients:
Certain commodity prices are subject to fluctuations in supply and demand. This can make it difficult for manufacturers to forecast costs and prices.
- When calculating estimated cost of finished products, ingredient costs are calculated using the item’s inventory valuation method, such as current and average methods.
4. Shelf Life:
Natural ingredients can deteriorate over time, which can affect the quality and flavor of the seasoning, which can lead to expired inventory in the warehouse or worse yet, soon to be expired products on the retailer’s shelves, which will be returned.
- Allocate the right inventory in batch jobs by considering the expiration dates and rotation methods of lot controlled raw materials
5. Product Consistency:
The goal is to achieve the same taste, texture, color, and quality results for a produced food product. Achieving this consistency is challenging as natural ingredients and variations in processing parameters affect the final product.
- Manage the variable characteristics of ingredients then adjust the equipment and environmental settings, based upon quality trend analysis.
6. Supply Chain Disruptions:
Vendor delivery issues can cause distributions in production scheduling and execution.
- With flexible batch job features, batch jobs can be sized based upon raw material availability, as well as batch job formula specifications revised should raw material alternative/substitutions be needed.
7. Seasonal Demand:
Food manufacturers must be prepared to adjust their procurement and production plans accordingly to meet fluctuations in demand during the year.
- With advanced planning & scheduling (MPS & MRP), sales forecasts and seasonal demand parameters contribute to the application’s automated forecasting of batch jobs and purchase orders.
8. Regulatory Compliance:
Food manufacturers must comply with a range of regulations, such as food safety standards, labeling requirements, and traceability & recall mandates. For example, achieving and maintain an advanced food safety certification can be a challenge.
- Take advantage of the software’s nutritional labeling feature and graphical bi-directional traceability tool that exceeds BRC / SQF product traceability & recall codes.
