Improving Manufacturing Processes to Reduce Food Waste

The food manufacturing industry is highly competitive. With low margins and fluctuating demand, food manufacturers need to use every means to maximize efficiency. That is why food waste is an important matter; small amounts can accumulate into big costs. Reducing food waste will lead to decreased costs and increased profitability.

Reduce Waste Using Process Automation

One way to eliminate food waste is to be focused on operational excellence on the manufacturing floor. (See last week’s blog to learn about reducing food waste in the warehouse.) Putting the following practices in place will improve manufacturing success and reduce waste.

• Automate your production lines using intelligent equipment and improve recipe management.
• Apply lean manufacturing practices to eliminate wasted steps in the manufacturing process.
• Continuously innovate to improve processing equipment and material handling.
• Track ingredients and products throughout the manufacturing process.
• Collect process data to meet regulatory compliance and make improvements.

Knowledge is the First Step to Maximizing Efficiency

Awareness of where food waste occurs is critical to knowing where to focus innovation. Having a thorough understanding of where food waste occurs makes it possible to maximize efficiency. That knowledge comes from having the right technology in place to gather and analyze data.

Our enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) provides insight into the entire food manufacturing operation. It can automate, streamline and verify your manufacturing processes. With the detailed and easily-accessed tracking information that Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) provides, gaining insight into where food loss occurs is possible.

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) Manages the Entire Food Manufacturing Process

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) includes functionality specific to the food manufacturing industry. The ERP software supports planning, scheduling and production control for the food manufacturer. It effectively manages the fluctuation of procurement, production and shipping while staying on top of compliance requirements. Unlike other solutions that rely heavily on add-on software to support industry-specific processes, food processing capabilities are built into Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3). Specific manufacturing management capabilities include:

• Process and mixed-mode manufacturing
• Recipe and batch management
• Catch weight management
• Weighing scales
• Product packaging
• Work schedule management
• Technical data configuration
• Costing
• Quality assurance
• Capacity planning

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) is a cost-effective solution built with a multi-tier architecture which ensures highly reliable, flexible and scalable operations. Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) is easy to use in a web browser and on mobile devices. It is simple to manage and highly configurable to adapt to your unique processes. It can be used as a service in the cloud or deployed on any internal infrastructure.

Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) enables food manufacturers to integrate their systems and standardize operations all while improving their bottom line. To learn more about Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3) and its unique features built especially for food manufacturing companies, click here.

To learn more about reducing food waste with ERP, download our whitepaper, Sage ERP EM (formerly known as Sage X3): Reducing Food Waste and Increasing Efficiency with ERP.

Our small and dedicated team specializes in helping small-to-medium size Canadian businesses and non-profits select and adapt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resource Management (HRMS) and IT services. With IWI’s 15 years in business and 100 plus years of combined experience, IWI has helped hundreds of food manufacturing, distribution, and financial service companies gain efficiency, grow, and lower their operating costs.

With the unique combination of industry knowledge and diverse technology expertise, IWI provides cost-effective solutions to help clients gain a competitive edge.  As a Sage business partner, servicing the Greater Toronto Area, we support evaluation and implementation of operations and finance systems to optimize technology, ensuring high return on investment with a quick and painless transition to new software.