Top 8 most in-demand criteria in Food And Beverage ERP

Global leaders in the F&B industry are searching for methods to streamline supply chain operations. Food and beverage ERP can help them get there.

F&B necessitates end-to-end traceability perhaps more than any other industry. However, the market appears to be inundated with vendors claiming to offer best-of-breed solutions. How can industry leaders determine which food and beverage ERP system will best meet their needs?

Avoid a one-size-fits-all approach when searching for an ERP system in the F&B industry. There are numerous generalized food and beverage ERP solutions available that can be extremely beneficial to smaller organizations. Today, we’ll examine the industry-specific requirements that F&B leaders must prioritize when researching ERP vendors.

Why do F&B manufacturers need food and beverage ERP?

Any standard, out-of-the-box food, and beverage ERP system can assist business leaders in generating financial reports and tracking inventory quantities. Yet, so any accounting system can do the same thing.

Food and beverage ERP solutions are distinguished by their ability to provide data-driven insights that generate real business growth throughout the finance, operations, inventory, and sales departments of any F&B company. With this information, managers are better equipped to identify opportunities and obstacles and take immediate action.

Moreover, food and beverage software development enables F&B industry leaders to keep up with industry requirements, such as:

• Planning, management, and monitoring of inventory.
• Real-time supply chain tracking and monitoring.
• Identification, reporting, and resolution of issues.
• Compliance with food safety regulations.

Therefore, it is simple to understand why investing in this endeavor is worth the time, money, and effort. However, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for a quality food and beverage ERP system. To optimize their return on investment, industry leaders require a solution that caters to the F&B world, with features that address the needs unique to this industry.

8 must-have requirements for choosing food and beverage ERP system

1. Lot tracking and end-to-end traceability

Research indicates that only 33% of consumers have complete faith in the food system and the safety of the food they consume.

Consequently, F&B leaders are obligated to develop and maintain customer trust at every stage of their operations.

It is essential to seek out a food and beverage ERP system that provides automated end-to-end traceability at all supply chain interfaces. Thus, both industry executives and grocery shoppers can obtain as much information as possible about the journey of ingredients from farm to fork.

This entails monitoring the following product and ingredient data:

• Lots.
• Dates.
• Quantities. 
• Movements.

Traceability is an initiative that any public-facing F&B leader should prioritize as products transition from raw ingredients to finished commodities. This permits interested parties to trace the flow backward to examine ingredient sources or forward to learn more about product disposition. 

2. Ensure superior record-keeping capabilities

Recent studies indicate that 55% of consumers would temporarily transfer food brands following a recall. In addition, 15% said they would never purchase the product in question again, and 22% said they would never purchase from the affected manufacturer again.

Consequently, it is simple to comprehend why the average food manufacturer pays more than $10 million to cover recall-related costs. This funding supports activities such as:

• Communicating recall information throughout the supply chain.
• Identifying, recovering, and protecting the recalled item.
• Investigating the occurrence.
• Implementing corrective measures to mitigate damages and prevent their recurrence.

How can a food and beverage ERP system support these initiatives? One with superior record-keeping capabilities can make it much simpler to pinpoint exactly where in the supply chain the breach or contamination first occurred.

Look for a solution that, in addition to lot tracking and tracing, aids users in maintaining comprehensive documentation to aid recall preparation efforts. The list of essential documents includes:

• Purchase orders. 
• Labels.
• Invoices of landing.
• Shipping paperwork.

While a manufacturer of food and beverages should also implement systemic, in-house measures to facilitate recall response, an effective food and beverage ERP system can make the process much simpler. Ultimately, a prompt response can assist affected entities in recouping financial costs, restoring their brand image, and restoring consumer confidence.

3. Utilize food and beverage management system in recipe

Certain foods such as: Nestle Toll House chocolate chips, Bush’s baked beans, Coca-cola, have become almost synonymous with their brand due to their distinctive flavor.

Do the manufacturers of these fan favorites merely attempt to replicate the success with each new batch? Of course not! They adhere to a strict, specific protocol to ensure that each batch is consistent with the previous and subsequent batches.

Thankfully, food and beverage ERP systems make it simpler than ever for F&B businesses to maintain their time-honored practices while simultaneously innovating new products.

To achieve this, it is necessary to find a food and beverage ERP system with integrated recipe management resources. With these tools, users can document countless variations of any given recipe and keep track of any subsequent changes or updates. The same system can benefit manufacturers as well:

• Store and evaluate all recipes.
• Observe and oversee the recipe creation process.
• Document manufacturing processes and procedures.
• Manage all quality assurance initiatives.

Users must seek out a food and beverage ERP system with advanced security features, such as user-based role permissions, to ensure that only authorized users have access to these sensitive, proprietary details!

4. Apply accurate and consistent formulas

In addition to recipe administration, food, and beverage ERP systems should include tools to ensure that all food item formulas are accurate and consistent.

Recipes are collections of ingredients and instructions, whereas formulas are defined collections of certain ingredients, categorized by weight, with specific processing instructions. To produce a specific culinary item, all weights and procedures must be standardized throughout the entire supply chain.

Not only can a food and beverage ERP system help users store and update formulaic instructions, but it can also serve as a repository for essential nutritional data, such as:

• Detailed ingredient lists.
• Specific allergen details.

This information is essential for ensuring the accuracy of all labeling activities. It is also required for F&B regulatory reporting.

5. Ensure the essential inventory management

Effective inventory management is essential to the ongoing prosperity of any F&B manufacturer.

Not only is inventory tracking an essential instrument for preventing theft, but it is also indispensable for ensuring customer satisfaction. If there are too few items in stock, consumers become dissatisfied, and if there are too many, resources are wasted.

What's needed is a system that can find and cut down on waste, keep track of the flow of goods, use rotation methods, and avoid unnecessary overproduction.

Leaders can find this careful balance with the help of a food and beverage ERP system, especially if it has a warehouse management system (WMS) built in.

WMS systems help with daily tasks that have to do with planning, maintaining, organizing, staffing, and directing business resources. They can get quick information about the following points of data at any time and from anywhere:

• The stock numbers.
• Specific serial numbers.
• Lots.
• Product line details.

With this information, they can keep a close eye on their stock amounts and track their growth or decrease as it happens.

6. Develop automatic data management

Food and beverage ERP turns a process that used to be done by hand with spreadsheets and external databases into a tool that does everything automatically. This change makes keeping records a lot better and much faster.

Now, users can utilize food and beverage ERP systems to maintain, update, and access records on:

• Processes, equipment, and personnel.
• Inspection controls.
• Data changes.
• Examining procedures.

A food and beverage ERP can provide the visibility required to satisfy these stringent requirements and avoid future penalties.

7. Enhance material requirements planning

With an industry-specific ERP system, F&B leaders can advance their material requirement planning (MRP) efforts. Understanding which materials are required at any given time is essential for controlling costs, meeting consumer demand, and maintaining adequate inventory levels.

Consequently, the MRP step integrates inventory management functions with other resources, including:

• Production planning.
• Material procurement.
• Financial administration.

The outcome? A complete platform that enables customers to produce more accurate orders by utilizing forecasts, sales projections, inventory levels, and product availability information.

8. Guarantee advanced quality control

F&B industry leaders are subject to more stringent quality control measures than those in most other industries. This is because even the slightest error could result in direct and dire consequences that could endanger public health and destroy a brand within minutes.

An effective quality management system is required to meet both company standards and consumer expectations.

These enable users to monitor the movement of materials throughout the production process in real-time. They can then track, trace, monitor, and report on these particulars to the following interested parties:

• Auditors.
• Regulatory organizations.
• Consumers.

When combined with internal quality assurance and control processes, an ERP system's instant visibility can help makers keep a good reputation in their field.

Is Adamo Software right for your food and beverage erp software?

There are numerous options, organizations must maximize their investments by incorporating the most food and beverage ERP software solutions. Here is where Adamo Software - a top Vietnam software development company can serve as your differentiator. 

Contact us today to learn how our ERP for food industry services may assist you in surviving and thriving in the era of digital disruption.