When looking for software for the food and beverage industry, it’s difficult to know where to start. There are so many tools out there, each specialising in their own areas, that working out what you need can be a chore.
That’s why we want to give you a hand. First, we’ll talk about some of the main challenges facing the industry, and second, we’ll recommend some software tools to help you deal with them. Simple!
In this article, discover:
Challenges for the food and beverage industry
For every specific challenge you come across, there’s the ‘business as usual’ difficulties that just come with the territory. And for food and beverage manufacturers, there are plenty of those.
Let’s take a look at some of the issues affecting the industry right now alongside logistical considerations you’ll always need to manage.
Global trade
We’re in an uncertain period for global trade. If you sell your products between jurisdictions and territories, you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about.
We’ve discussed this for the manufacturing sector as a whole in a previous article. For food and beverage companies specifically, some of these sticking points could become full-blown obstacles to selling into certain regions.
With a perishable product, you need to be sure it can get in front of your customer in a good, predictable time.
But you also need to think about where your raw materials are coming from and how their delivery might be impacted.
Basically, the challenge is to tighten and shorten supply chains, making them more observable, and doing what you can to at least prepare for any obstacles along the way.
Changing consumer habits
Let’s start this section with a story.
Guinness had been manufactured in the same, time-tested way for generations. 256 years, in fact. Along the way it had become an Irish and international icon, sold in hundreds of countries and to millions of customers. So if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?
Not quite. In 2015 the brewer announced a key change to its manufacturing process. They would no longer use isenglass, an ingredient made from fish bladder used for filtration, in the production of any Guinness beer.
Why? Because they were making their beer vegan.
Consumer demand had changed, and they were shutting out a portion of the market. A portion significant enough to make them change a 256-year old process.
Times change. Processes need to change with them.
The popularity of vegan products should be noted by any food and beverage manufacturer not just as an opportunity to gain more sales, but as a way of avoiding shutting out a group of customers.
The industry is awake to this. But ensuring your product, or a line of products, is vegan takes care and attention to your production line. And that’s a challenge that requires some technical help.
This is just one example of how changing consumer habits can affect your production processes, but there are plenty more. Think: sugar levels, plastic packaging, preservatives, and other ingredients that have come under public scrutiny recently.
Your process is a formula
Switching to ‘business as usual’ challenges, it’s important to emphasise a point specific to food and beverage manufacturing.
Whatever you produce needs to follow a formula to ensure quality, consistency, and repeatability.
Your production processes are similar, in that you need to find the right balance in all its ingredients to match competing needs.
It’s no secret that food and beverage manufacturing is highly regulated, and for good reason. Above all other considerations, your product needs to be safe and compliant. Ensuring this alone is a huge task.
But balancing this with quality, cost, and time makes it a particularly difficult operation to run right.
Manufacturing a high volume and low cost product to strict regulation?
That’s multiple challenges rolled into one.
Making gains, reducing costs
Your production line has a lot of moving parts. We’ve referenced this already.
However, a belief you need to instill in yourself, and everyone around you, is that every part of this process can be improved.
Like everyone in manufacturing, food and beverage producers need to keep a close eye on their margins and KPIs.
As we’ve said, your process is a formula. But it’s one you can continuously improve.
To stay competitive, you need to ensure everything within your control is under your control. And there’s a range of software tools out there to help you.
Types of software for the food and beverage industry
Given the challenges we listed above, it should be no surprise that manufacturers are increasingly turning to technology to help them solve the challenges of the day.
Here are some types of software to think about for your next upgrade.
ERP
The most common type of software for the food and beverage industry is ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). In fact, 58% of companies already use one, and a further 31% want to.
So what is an ERP?
An ERP is a software that helps businesses plan resources and outputs. For food and beverage manufacturers, it can become the spine of a wider digital transformation.
This is because it’s designed to help you across many areas. From supply chain management to accounting and production, a good ERP slots neatly into your existing set up and enhances it.
There might be different applications for an ERP in your factory, and there are plenty of options on the market to choose from.
That’s why it’s important to have a crystal-clear picture of what areas you want to focus on in your planning and development.
Pre-production processes
How can you ensure you won’t run into problems during production? What happens before is just as important.
For food and beverage manufacturers, and perhaps more than any other manufacturing sector, what happens pre-production is critical.
Water treatment, recipe formulation, logistics, systems architecture; there’s a lot of ground to cover.
Tools that zero-in on this stage of your work will give you confidence that your product will flow across your line predictably.
Quality management
Quality control is extremely important in food and beverage. Without an adequate process, the work is harder than it should be.
Establishing and maintaining standards, work instructions, and skill management is critical to ensuring everyone on the line knows their role and what quality looks like.
Managing this with a paper-based system is difficult, especially when you need to change something.
Software tools will allow you to ensure everything is up to date, accessible to the right people, and contain all the right information and safeguards for quality control.
Auditing and compliance
Amidst all the standard work you’ll perform on the shop floor on a daily basis, auditing is one of the most important.
Any food and beverage manufacturer will have dozens of regular audits to perform. Throw in some more specialised or irregular auditing workflows and you have a system that can get complex quickly.
Maintaining your auditing flows, including having your completed audits readily available when needed or requested, is how you’ll nail down your compliance efforts.
But here’s something we don’t need to remind you of: mountains of paperwork.
Like with standard work, auditing can create a labyrinth of documentation, and can quickly become chaotic if something is misplaced or incorrectly completed.
Software to tackle this will ensure you never have to worry about it.
Supply chain management
Of particular interest to food and beverage producers is anything that can make your supply chain shorter and more efficient.
There are a few options to choose from.
Many ERP solutions offer supply chain management tools, particularly those that advertise themselves as ‘all-in-one’.
Also, manufacturers are increasingly turning to AI to help them plan, organise, and simplify their supply chain.
Tools that can integrate with your existing set up are a big help, as supply chain planning can have effects throughout the line.
Connecting plants
For any multi-plant manufacturer, you’re missing a trick if you don’t share information and resources between your factories.
We’ve seen firsthand how these gaps in communication and planning can affect the health of a corporate group, and how putting it right can mean better results, more reliable data, and more consistent standards.
Finding a software that helps you link up your factories so they can learn from each other is a great step.
This will become your single source of truth, and a driver of continuous improvement.
Soon, your corporate-wide solution will be an essential part of everyday operations.
Introducing the mPS
The mlean Production System is a powerful, comprehensive package for continuous improvement.
From pre-production to auditing, maintenance, and more, it’s designed to fit the specific needs of your organisation.
So whether you’re working as a single plant or part of a group of multiple factories, the mPS will guide you to reduced costs and more efficient processes.
Come and take a look!
