5 Things Your ERP is Currently Lacking

Food ERP or enterprise resource planning mainly at food processing, production, and manufacturing facilities is the need of the hour. With growing trends, increasing compliance requirements, safety regulations by government bodies as well as diversifying supply chains, food ERP is the solution. There are many ERP solution providers available on the market, but does your current software have what is required to keep up with the fast-paced industry?

To clear the air let us look at 5 features your ERP might be lacking and what each of them brings to the table:

1. Food Traceability

From ensuring consistent quality food products through the first in first out (FIFO) system to tracing the stage of the supply chain process to prevent food contamination, ERP for the food and beverage industry provides the most suited services to ensure food traceability across the supply chain. Food ERP must integrate:

• Establishing standard operating procedures and identifying critical control points to prevent food contamination and accidents
• Employing first in first out strategy and monitoring it in real-time to maintain freshness and prevent expiry
• Conducting regular food quality checks at important stages to ensure optimum quality

2. Optimized Process Integration

With constant growth, new trends, and the effects of changing environmental conditions, the food processing, and manufacturing industry is constantly disrupted. It has now become essential for food facilities to respond to the changes in the supply chain in a resilient manner. Food ERP must aid in:

• Responding to dynamic changes
• Flexibility in incorporating new processes in the supply chain
• Sending real-time alerts in case of malfunctioning/accidents at any stage 

3. Forecasting, Planning, and Expansion

Forecasting and planning for future expansion are integral for the success of any facility. ERP for the food and beverage industry needs to be able to incorporate and handle the scalability of the facility, which can make or break the establishment. Food ERP should:

• Track and increase capacity according to changes in supply and demand
• Adapt to expanded capacity without compromising quality
• Allow visibility across expanded operations

4. Compliance and Regulatory Requirements

Compliance is one of the most crucial aspects when dealing with the food industry. With stricter regulations and guidelines by regulatory bodies such as the Food Development Authorities. A non-compliance or error in not following the guidelines can predominantly result in a ceasing of operations. Thus, the food ERP software must ensure:

• A checklist for HACCP and ISO guidelines
• Standard operating procedure for dealing with accidents and preventing contamination
• Compliance requirements that are documented and monitored in real-time

5. Financial Management

Financial management is the backbone for any establishment It can be seamlessly integrated through ERP for the food and beverage industry, thus eliminating human errors through automated monitoring of transactions. Food ERP must:

• Monitor funds flow across the facility operations
• Manage resources and facilitate efficient financial capital allocation
• Oversee asset management

With operational efficiency being the name of the game Food ERP is now a necessity and not a luxury irrespective of the scale a food producer operates at. Need-based subscription plans by ERP solution providers like Inecta has allowed for all food producers operating at all scales of production to onboard Food ERP. Produce ERP has become the new normal in the food manufacturing domain and hence differentiation is only possible by adding on features that the industry is yet to incorporate. Opportunities do not come knocking at one’s door hence food producers must grab Food ERP with both hands and ensure all features can be leveraged to not only stay in the game but win it.