Key Features that an ERP for Food and Beverage Industry Must Have
A food and beverage industry software is designed to provide your company with the right framework to effectively manage every aspect of your business.
As a food and beverage company, you need to strictly adhere to rules set up by the local government, including labelling and packaging requirements, consistency in product quality, ingredients, shelf-life, and safety precautions.
This involves the management of multi-faceted information, in which standard ERP software may not be able to help you. You would need ERP solutions that are designed for the purpose to help your food and beverage business stay organized and competitive.
In other words, choosing the right food and beverage software would be crucial to address some of your biggest operational concerns. Here are the key features your ERP system must have:
Lot tracking and full traceability
Highly regulated business operations, effective lot tracking and traceability plays a key role in building and maintaining consumer trust. Therefore, it is imperative to have an ERP software that provides end-to-end visibility into stock and inventory movements so that you are able to locate products immediately in the event when it needs to be recalled.
Detailed record keeping
An ERP system has excellent record keeping functionality that helps you identify and pinpoint exactly which of the business processes are working fine and which are compromised. Quick response makes it easier to immediately mend the flaws and restore operational efficiency. This feature is equally important for food and beverage retailer as well as manufacturing companies.
Recipe and formulation management
As a food and beverage manufacturer, you need to maintain time-honored recipes and also develop new products to keep up with consumer demands. So, you would need a comprehensive ERP software with recipe and formulation management feature that allows you to keep records of multiple versions of recipes, observe their development, document their manufacturing instructions, and have complete control on quality tests.
Advanced quality control
Consistency in quality and real-time monitoring of this business practice allows you to meet your customers’ preferences and expectations. An ERP software for food and beverage manufacturer must include quality control features to track and maintain all the information related to testing done at every stage of the production process and ensure that they meet the industry standards.
Total inventory management
Achieving a balanced inventory is a key component of any food and beverage company’s ongoing success. Considering the fact the demand fluctuates more often in this industry, it would be vital to balance the stock so that you don’t end up overstocking or understocking products.
Therefore, an ERP software for food and beverage company must be integrated with an inventory management system to help businesses manage the warehouse and improve the daily operations.
Top Benefits of ERP Solutions in Food and Beverage Industry
A Gartner report says, “By 2022, cloud ERP should be the preferred option for more than 75% of midsize companies and for more than 40% of large enterprises aiming to transform their monolithic legacy ERP estate.” This means, your competitors may have already started their journey of deploying advanced business ERP applications or may be weighing their options right now.
A comprehensive ERP software streamlines and automates business processes and centralizes information to help you maximize your company’s productivity. Here are the major benefits of ERP software for food & beverage businesses:
Reduced operational costs
Traditional operation management methods lack in providing real-time data. This would make your business fall behind in meeting ever-changing customer expectations in the food and beverage industry. This, in turn, leads to resource wastage and increased operational costs.
When you have the right ERP system, it provides a holistic view of how your business operations are performing. Using this information, you can quickly identify cost centers and cut down on operating expenses significantly.
Optimized company-wide processes
As your company grows, the business processes that keep things running tend to get more complicated. An ERP software makes handling these easy and effective. It helps you analyze current processes, identifying potential inefficiencies, plan and implement strategies to bridge the gap and bring business-wide improvements. The system ensures that all operations are optimized, issues are identified before they occur or go out of control. Improved processes enhance workflows, cut down on costs, and increase profits.
Upgraded business reporting
As a food and beverage retailer or manufacturer, keeping track of consumers’ buying decisions is invariably important for business success. Competing in this challenging business environment demands instant access to accurate data whenever needed.
A cloud-based ERP solution helps you achieve this. It enables you to track real-time business data, automatically generate reports, and keep your employees updated with the latest information through a centralized platform that is accessible anytime and from any device.
Enhanced customer service
An ERP software keeps a record of all customer information. Because your client information is stored centrally in the system, it offers insights to your sales and service teams, enabling them to use the data to build and maintain long term relationships with the customers. This improves customer interaction and enhances customer acquisition and retention.
Choosing the ERP Software That Works for your Company
Since its inception, Focus Softnet has supported SMEs and enterprises achieve growth through optimized and automated business processes. If you are unsure how to choose the best food and beverage ERP system for your business, feel free to contact with us by filling the form! Our experts would connect with you to discuss your business challenges and their solutions.
