• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Ultra Consultants

OUR INDEPENDENT ERP CONSULTANTS DELIVER 100% CLIENT SATISFACTION

  • Services
    • Back
      • Business Process Improvement
        • Business Process Reengineering
        • Business Process Analysis
        • Business Process Documentation
        • Business Process Mapping
        • Business Process Review
      • Enterprise Software Selection
        • ERP Selection
        • ERP RFP (Request for Proposal)
        • ERP RFP Preparation
        • ERP Readiness Assessment
        • ERP Selection Criteria
        • ERP Requirements Definition
      • Enterprise Software Implementation
        • ERP Implementation Plan Creation
        • ERP Data Conversion
        • ERP Reports
        • ERP Implementation
      • Industry Compliance Services
      • Business Process Transformation
      • Organizational Change Management
      • Enterprise Project Management
      • Get your roadmap for business process improvement
  • Industries & Clients
    • Back
      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Automotive
      • Chemical
      • Consumer Goods
      • Distribution
      • Electronic & Equipment
      • Food & Beverage
      • Industrial Equipment
      • Medical Devices & Products
      • Metal Fabrication
      • Pharmaceutical
      • Plastics
      • Read about driving ROI in your ERP project
  • Software & Vendors
    • Back
      • ERP
        • Discrete Manufacturing ERP Software
        • Process Manufacturing ERP Software
        • Distribution ERP Software
      • ERP Software for Sales and Marketing
        • CRM Software
        • Marketing Automation Software
        • eCommerce Solutions
      • Supply Chain Management Software
        • Demand Management Software
        • Transportation Management Software
        • Advanced Planning & DRP Software
        • Finite Scheduling Software
      • Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
      • Warehouse Management Software
      • Manufacturing Execution System Software Vendors
      • Field Service Management Software Vendors
      • Learn about software selection decision drivers
  • Education
    • Back
      • Resources
        • Events & Webinars
        • White Papers
        • ERP Case Studies
      • Media
        • On-Demand Webinars
        • ERP Podcast
        • ERP Videos
      • Take Your Free ERP Health Check
  • Company
    • Back
      • About Ultra
        • Our Team
        • History
        • Awards
        • Careers
        • Independent ERP Consultants
      • News
        • ERP Media Coverage
        • Press Releases
        • ERP Newsletter
      • Read about choosing an independent consultant.
  • ERP Blog
  • Contact Us
    • Back
Home / ERP Blog 02.27.18 / ERP Best Practices / 5 Takeaways from Food Processing Magazine Industry Trends Event
02.27.18

5 Takeaways from Food Processing Magazine Industry Trends Event

Food and Beverage Industry TrendsFood and beverage processors are facing enormous industry disruptions. New products and markets, new and innovative distribution channels, segmented consumers and a changing regulatory environment all work to disrupt today’s processor.

Companies trying to respond to these disruptions with outdated technology, manual work-arounds, and siloed solutions will be hard pressed to compete and succeed.

Ultra Consultants recently co-hosted a Food and Beverage Industry Outlook webinar on these very issues, joined by Food Processing Magazine editor Dave Fusaro, and Infor’s F&B technical expert Mike Edgett.

5 Webinar Takeaways

Five key takeaways emerged from the webinar:

  • The effects of disruptive external trends and market forces
  • The Amazon effect
  • Process challenges
  • Technology best practices
  • Required ERP functions

1- Disruptive External Trends and Market Forces

Food and beverage processors are facing significant market forces and external trends including:

  • Trust and transparency
  • Big Food in search of growth
  • Rise of entrepreneurial companies
  • Restructuring
  • New ways of selling, new retailers
  • GMO labeling

Product development issues and trends also have an impact on food and beverage processors. They are challenged to promote health and wellness via transparency of ingredients, while working with the new nutrition facts labelling. As the marketplace looks for non-GMO products, more plant-based proteins and fewer added sugars, for example, the industry must respond to these challenges.

Regulatory and compliance issues further impact food processors including new FSMA deadlines, intensified FDA investigations of manufacturing facilities or “swab-a-thons” and the impact of the Safe Food for Canadians Act.

Food and Beverage Safety Compliance

2- The Amazon Effect  

 Amazon continues to shake up the world of commerce and food.  In August 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods and it recently opened its first Amazon Go store in Seattle with its unique lack of cashiers. As they state on their website “We created the world’s most advanced shopping technology so you never have to wait in line.”

Amazon is evolving its on-line vision into one that embraces any technology that improves the ease, speed and enjoyment of commerce. How will this affect processors?

3- Process Challenges  

Today’s food and beverage processor must operate cost effectively when it comes to production, compliance, food safety, product development and more. When existing technology is outdated –– with multiple standalone systems, siloed solutions with no integration, duplicate data entry processes (often manual) and obsolete reporting – processors find it hard to compete. Food and beverage industry teams need to streamline lot trace management, recipe management, document control and other mission-critical functions.

4- Technology best practices

Ultra's Best practices for food and beverage industry

Food and beverage companies must operate with an integrated toolset which streamlines recipe management, quality, lot track-and-trace, document control and other key functions.

We’ve found that the most successful approach is to go beyond technology selection to focus on business process improvement. Purpose-built solutions address industry-specific processes and business requirements.

5- Required ERP Functions

A few of the main functional areas that ERP solutions for food and beverage processors need to address are compliance, planning and scheduling, and forecasting.

Compliance  

The regulatory environment is always changing. Food and beverage companies must implement the appropriate processes and systems to not only manage recalls, but also offer the flexibility to adjust to and accommodate changing regulations and reporting requirements.

To meet strict food safety mandates, the ERP system must enable lot control and traceability, both forwards and backwards, all the way down to a container level. Food safety mandates also require advanced First Expiration, First Out (FEFO) inventory management.

Planning and Scheduling

Food and beverage manufacturers must consider multiple tasks when planning and scheduling manufacturing runs. They need to manage runs based on such constraints as allergens and coordinate production change-overs that have unique requirements (e.g., sanitizing equipment). An enterprise solution must be nimble enough to accommodate these requirements.

Food and Beverage Manufacturing Forecasting

Food and beverage manufacturers need to integrate and automate forecasting for accurate production planning, budgeting, and the ability to meet customer demand.

Food and beverage ERP solutions must take these food/beverage related issues into consideration:

  • Seasonality – The demand for certain products changes with the seasons.
  • Customer forecasts – Manufacturers need to be aware of the forecast cycles of their customers to know how much of their product to produce.

Food Processing Magazine’s 17th Annual Manufacturing Outlook Survey

According to Food Processing Magazine’s 17th annual Manufacturing Outlook Survey, food processors are optimistic. The survey found 84 percent of respondents have increased production and 63 percent expect to increase capital spending.

At Ultra Consultants, our goal, for every project, is to help organizations not just select technology, but to truly transform, through optimal business performance and process improvements resulting from today’s digital technologies and platforms.

Looking for more information? Access the webinar recording.

 

 

Tweet
Share
Share

Categories: ERP Best Practices Tags: ERP Webinars, Food and Beverage ERP

Related Articles

  • 02.15.16ocm change management graphic

    Organizational Change Management for ERP: A Webinar Review

    Posted in: ERP Best Practices
  • 02.19.16Jean Cunningham Consulting logo

    Transforming Your Organization to Lean Business Operations: A Review of Our Webinar with Jean Cunningham

    Posted in: ERP Best Practices
  • 01.26.18

    Starting a Cloud ERP Plan? Get Educated

    Posted in: ERP Best Practices

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel

sidebar

Blog Sidebar

Let's talk about
improving your
processes >>

Read an ERP success story >>

View white
paper library >>

Subscribe to the Ultra ERP Blog

Insight right into your in-box! Enter your email address for email notifications of new posts and be "in the know."

By filling out this form, I acknowledge that I have read, consent to, and agree to be bound by, the terms of Ultra's Privacy Policy, and that I am subscribing to Ultra's ERP Newsletter.

As an independent consultancy, Ultra does not endorse vendors participating in educational content.

Categories

  • Careers
  • Continuous Improvement
  • ERP Best Practices
  • ERP Software Vendors
  • ERP Success Stories
  • News and Events
  • Project Management
  • Stories from the Field
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Technology Evaluation
  • The ERP Industry
  • Uncategorized

Stay Connected

Stay informed about ERP evaluation, selection and
implementation. Subscribe to Ultra's eNewsletter.

Social Media

FacebookTwitterYoutubeLinkedin

312-319-1411 | Copyright © 2020 Ultra Corporation | All Rights Reserved | Sitemap |

Website by Web Savvy Marketing