According to U.S. health officials, between September 12 and October 21, 2024, at least 104 people became sick and 34 were hospitalized in an outbreak of E. coli food poisoning tied to onions served on McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers. While this outbreak has once again thrust food safety into the public spotlight, it’s an everyday fact of life for food and beverage manufacturers who bear the lion’s share of responsibility for keeping the food and beverages we consume safe. Manufacturers need tailored software to ease the burden of FSMA compliance.
Food quality and safety is a complex challenge, as the FDA’s exhaustive list of Food Product Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts attests. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), signed into law in 2011, represents the most comprehensive reform of US food safety laws in over 70 years. The legislation shifts the focus from responding to foodborne illnesses to preventing them. For food and beverage manufacturers, complying with FSMA requirements, some of which have yet to come into effect, can be complicated and costly – but the right technology can help simplify and streamline compliance.
If FSMA compliance is on your plate, you’ll want to take a close look at FoodBusiness ERP. Powered by Sage X3, FoodBusiness ERP supports the most stringent FSMA requirements with comprehensive quality and audit capabilities. Purpose-built for food and beverage manufacturers, FoodBusiness ERP provides a single system to manage your business including production and operations, finance, food safety, compliance, quality, traceability, and more.
Key FSMA Compliance Features in FoodBusiness ERP
Delivered by food manufacturing experts with deep industry knowledge, FoodBusiness ERP provides a broad range of features to help take the pain out of FSMA compliance. These advanced quality features go above and beyond what you would find in an ‘off the shelf’ ERP software system. Below is a high-level overview of the key compliance capabilities included in FoodBusiness ERP.
A Focus on People and Processes
Food safety is hands-on. Educating and training staff to adhere to food safety protocols and procedures is a key element of quality and compliance. Most quality programs focus on two things: people and processes. But most of us would be wary of sitting on a two-legged stool. FoodBusiness ERP provides an essential third leg for your quality program with purpose-built product features to support your quality program and provide additional stability.
The majority of ERP solutions are inventory-oriented, addressing and managing quality activities related to inventory – that is, after the product has been produced. FoodBusiness ERP quality goes far beyond inventory by proactively supporting a wide range of activities that are event-based, time-based, or even manually initiated. For example, you can use FoodBusiness ERP to keep track of important safety procedures and quality checks such as metal tests on a production line, broken glass inspections (that shattered clock face in the breakroom), and weekly facility walkthroughs. The system allows you to track certifications and standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure strict adherence to safety protocols and guidelines.
Enhanced Traceability for FSMA Compliance
FoodBusiness ERP offers food traceability and product/lot tracking features that follow products throughout their entire lifespan from receipt through production and delivery:
- Backward and forward tracing capabilities
- Mass balance reporting
- Quality hold status tracking
- Work center activity tracing
- Comprehensive recall functionality with multi-lot and work center tracking
When the lot tracking flag is set on the item in the item master, FoodBusiness ERP tracks that product/lot as it is received (be it purchased or manufactured into a WIP or final state). The trace function will report on the type of receipt of the product, the quantity received, if it was consumed into another product, mass balance report, and show the customer deliveries impacted.
An auditor can see if the product was held in a ‘Q’ (quarantine) hold status at receipt and see when and who released it. The solution can also identify the work center, time and date, allowing a process manufacturer to pull back all of the goods manufactured within those parameters.
The recall function within FoodBusiness ERP supports full end-to-end product traceability from the time the product enters the facility to the time it leaves in the same or a different form. The recall function can incorporate as many product/lot combinations and work centers as needed.
Supplier Verification and Management
Food quality and safety involves many different partners. Any weak link in the supply chain can lead to food safety and quality issues. FoodBusiness ERP enables you to maintain tight control over your entire supply chain with:
- Supplier activation controls pending quality verification
- Document management at supplier, facility, and item levels
- Automated expiration tracking for supplier certifications
- Receipt auditing against product specifications
- Certificate of Analysis (COA) tracking and audits
Core workflow approval can support the automation and control of supplier approval. A new supplier can remain inactive until Quality verifies the vendor is compliant and all the necessary forms/certifications are received. The solution also tracks all supplier documents, allowing you to define if you would like to block or warn transactions if forms are expired and communicate when suppliers’ forms are going to expire.
Preventive Controls
FoodBusiness ERP supports your preventive control program through:
- Detailed work center instructions in multiple languages
- In-process audits with critical limit monitoring
- Allergen management and segregation
- Sanitation control checklists
- Automated, time-based compliance audits
- Two-step verification processes for all audits
Management Oversight
The system provides robust management oversight capabilities including:
- Role-based audit permissions
- Two-step verification requirements
- Controlled product release processes
- Comprehensive audit trails
The Bottom Line
The best way to manage a product recall is to prevent one from happening in the first place. This requires an all-hands commitment to food safety and quality, and purpose-built tools to manage quality and compliance. For food and beverage manufacturers, FoodBusiness ERP offers a comprehensive solution to support FSMA guidelines while streamlining operations and reducing the burden of compliance. By automating key compliance processes and providing enhanced tracking and traceability, manufacturers can focus on what they do best – producing safe, high-quality food products.
Ready to Learn More?
Contact our food and beverage manufacturing experts with any questions or to schedule a personalized demo to see FoodBusiness ERP in action. We’d love to chat!