According to Global Market Insights (GMI), one of the hardest hit industries since the COVID-19 outbreak is the food and beverage industry. GMI noted eight industry challenges in the wake of the pandemic, two of which are Product Traceability and Inventory Management. Food manufacturers already trying to improve inefficient production and inventory management processes prior to the pandemic—and now faced with additional challenges brought by the health crisis—are quickly figuring out that they need help.
This help comes in the form of food manufacturing software.
Overcoming Challenges with Food Manufacturing Software
For food manufacturing companies, the challenges often center around lack of inventory control, quality consistency and production inefficiencies. ARA Food Corp, a 40-year-old, family-owned company that manufactures plantain chips—the only one in the U.S.—overcame similar issues and transformed their operations with FoodBusiness ERP, a complete food and beverage manufacturing business solution built in Sage X3 and configured by NexTec Group industry experts.
In addition to capturing manufacturing data in real time (resulting in immediate visibility), they also improved their quality and compliance, production and cost-tracking capabilities. VP Finance and Administration, Marta De Varona, says in the company’s case study, “We’re out in front of operations now. We can spend our time analyzing and improving plant functioning, not simply collecting and entering the data.”
Complying with food safety requirements is part and parcel of operating successfully in food manufacturing. GMI notes, “With public trust in food supply chains reducing drastically and awareness pertaining to glitches in the F&B supply chain since the last decade or so, end-to-end traceability has emerged as one of the latest trends in food and beverage industry.”
ARA needed to implement a Quality Management System including traceability and preventative and reactive control measures. The headache of tracking all materials and finished goods throughout the inventory process—not to mention being fully recall ready—was eased by ARA Food Corp’s decision to invest in food business software.
Unlike many food manufacturers, the ARA Food Corp is a make-to-order enterprise. De Varona says, “We maintain very little stock, as our ingredients come in fresh every day. Our lead time from order to shipment is just a few days. We claim that we have the least number of days from production to store delivery in the market. The capabilities of FoodBusiness ERP help us achieve that speed and level of agility.”
With FoodBusiness ERP’s Distribution and Inventory and Production Management software, ARA Food Corp, as well as other food and beverage manufacturers, enjoy:
- Support for food safety and quality system certifications
- Enhanced quality management
- Full bi-directional traceability for ingredients, packaging and finished goods
- Product recall management
- Batch processing
- Formula and recipe management
- Allergen management
- Shelf-life and expiry date management
- Production costing
- Inventory visibility and accuracy
- Robust reporting and business analysis capabilities
Now, FoodBusiness ERP has added even more functionality to our already comprehensive solution, allowing users to go from order to fully packaged delivery in a single function and more! This reduces data entry and time while maintaining our full lot traceability throughout. Additionally, FoodBusiness ERP provides scanning capability, inventory management and production floor optimization, giving food and beverage manufacturers everything they need to run a more efficient food manufacturing production business.
Says De Varona, “With NexTec’s help, we’re continuing to expand our use of the software, adding additional capabilities…and discovering new efficiencies.”
Make Food Better with FoodBusiness ERP
Food and beverage manufacturers will continue to encounter challenges in 2022 and beyond. GMI says that the “demand for enhanced inventory management software in food processing…and packaging products forms a vital part of the challenges of the food and beverage market, and numerous companies are making efforts to help the F&B sector deal with the crisis.”
GMI is right, and FoodBusiness ERP is one of those companies.
We’ve been serving the food and beverage industry for over 25 years, advising food and beverage companies on distribution, accounting, business intelligence and customer relationship management. Our goal is to help you lower costs and grow your business. To attain this business-growing and cost-lowering goal, we hire consultants and professionals that hail from the food and beverage manufacturing industry. They know the industry inside and out and understand software and customer challenges.
We value teamwork, and we’re passionate about doing great work, which means we’re passionate about investing in continuous improvement. Our development of new features and functionality matching the unique needs of food and beverage manufacturers is ongoing.
For ARA Food Corp, the key results of implementing FoodBusiness ERP’s food manufacturing inventory management solution include improved accuracy with real-time manufacturing data linked directly to accounting; optimized scheduling and resource allocation with reports and detailed cost tracking; improved traceability, quality control and recall management; and more. De Varona says, “The Team at FoodBusiness ERP does an amazing job for us. We have nothing but good things to say about their skills, professionalism, responsiveness and level of support.”
As a single business management solution built in Sage X3 and delivering value to thousands of customers across 80 countries, FoodBusiness ERP offers seamless implementation and a unified platform that can meet the demands of an uncertain future. To learn more, contact our team. We’d love to chat.