Changing Trends for Food and Beverage Manufacturers
As the temperatures drop and consumers bring out their sweaters and jackets for the cooler weather, they also start to crave comfort foods – swapping out chilled drinks for warm ones and light meals for hearty ones. Food and beverage manufacturers are gearing up for changing trends which is much easier when you have the support and insight offered in a robust enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution.
Seasonal changes can have an influence on your product sales and, after some time and experience, you may notice patterns or trends as to when you may need to make changes in marketing efforts or production schedules. However, health crazes and other trends can also impact product sales. If you aren’t tapped into social media or have the ability to monitor real-time sales, then you may not notice a steady decrease or a spike in sales which can either lead to an overstocked warehouse or unhappy customers and sales losses.
Food and beverage businesses need to be able to respond quickly to changes in customer needs and demands – seasonal or otherwise. Replacing disparate specialty solutions for a more powerful ERP solution can provide greater control and insight throughout your business, which you can use to respond faster to new opportunities or changes. You can manage your entire business from a single, integrated ERP solution, such as Sage® ERP, including finances, supply chain and inventory, manufacturing and distribution operations, and other core business processes. Sage ERP offers real-time visibility into inventory, sales, and customer preferences. You can use this data to discover trends with product sales by region, season, or other variables. The more you learn about customer trends, the faster you can make adjustments to procurement activities, manufacturing schedules, and product promotions.
Sage ERP also offers the traceability and transparency needed for governmental regulations including labeling and packaging requirements. You can track records throughout all of your materials purchased and with suppliers; as well as add time-saving automation and consistency to compliance reporting. You can also use EDI, RFID, and other electronic tracking to keep close tabs on raw materials and finished products.
Seasons are changing, which can influence production. Are you ready? Contact IWI Consulting Group for more information about getting prepared for seasonal and other trending changes with ERP.
By IWI Consulting Group, Sage ERP Partner out of Canada