Using your ERP to ensure quality control in your food manufacturing process

Can your brand be trusted? In this age of increasing consumer label reading, governmental regulation, and headline-making food recalls, food manufacturers must have effective quality checks in place.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), there were 150 food recalls in 2015 for Listeria, Salmonella, undeclared allergens, extraneous material, processing defects, and failure to meet safety regulations. Ensuring you are following best practices and meeting compliance in your manufacturing processes is of paramount importance.

Progressive manufacturers are taking steps to provide better field-to-fork transparency regarding their ingredient and supply sources. Many use their process manufacturing ERP to help track, trace, and monitor manufacturing from a quality and supply chain standpoint and to ensure their products do not become another recall statistic.

Ensure product consistency

Consumers expect consistency, so your recipe and production process must be accurate and repeatable. Recipe recording, storing, and management functionality in ERP software allow managers to ensure consistency by creating batch tickets with quantities and instructions to be used by production personnel, and to alter the basic recipe for a customized product. ERP software can also help companies manage complex, multi-level recipes and formula structures.

Recommended reading: find process manufacturing ERP software with quality control functionality with our up-to-date ERP vendor directory.

Meet internal standards

Food manufacturers have developed standards for food quality and set up processes to ensure every product created follows these standards. Areas of focus may address freshness, artificial colors and sweeteners, hydrogenated fat, and organic raw ingredients, among others.

ERP’s quality control and assurance testing functionalities allows manufacturers to follow the food industry’s guidelines and the FDA's current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) concerning lot sizes, raw ingredients, finished product testing, allergen controls, environmental monitoring, warehousing and distribution, cleanliness and written sanitation practices.

Governing guidelines

Governing bodies, such as the USDA, FDA, and International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and private organizations issue guidelines and regulations to ensure the quality and safety of food products. The quality control functionality within the ERP software includes raw materials, in-process, and final product testing, as well as inspection reminders, scheduled audits, mock recalls, and regulatory reporting. Your ERP’s documentation capabilities, including batch scheduling, recipe recording and compliance reporting, and certificates of analysis (COA) creation.

Match the label with the actual product

Companies need to verify that nutritional content, ingredients, and allergens are properly disclosed for the product as required by law. An ERP software’s lot tracking capability integrated with nutrient analysis, allows for label creation and ingredient and allergen statements documentation to help manufacturers comply with these regulatory and compliance needs.

Prevent recalls

Food manufacturers cannot afford to deliver a tainted or inferior product to the marketplace. An adverse situation can be prevented by: reducing risk of the event, catching problems while in progress, and preventing recalls by having critical control points (CCP) in place. An ERP software solution provides backward and forward lot traceability in the event of contamination so products and raw materials can be recalled or removed from use. Traceability also helps companies quickly discover the sources of any problems.

According to the FDA, one in six US consumers suffers from foodborne illness, with more than 100,000 hospitalized. ERP software designed for process manufacturers in the food industry can help companies track, trace, and monitor themselves to ensure quality for consumers and regulators and to build trust in their brand.