As a result of greater reported health incidents due to poor labeling, cross contamination and false ingredient declaration across the global supply chain has led to increasing regulation. For example the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), with respect to Foreign Supplier Verification Programs for imports, the setting of a minimum recall standard of 4 hours and the power to perform a mandatory recall means Foods and Beverage manufacturers have to change the way they manage their business of a daily basis. Meaning they have to run faster better to stay in business. Maintaining and changing your current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) is one thing, but changing your current ERP landscape may be necessary to met the regulatory demands of today and also for the future.

If you are looking to replace your current solution(s), below are the top 10 requirements you should be adding to your ERP selection checklist:

• Ingredient Declaration and Allergens – calculate nutritional and allergen data, and record supplier certificates and specifications data for Halal, Kosher, Bio categories
• Batch Traceability and Recall – simple and easy to use forward and backward tracking to understand and answer all your batch related questions
• Batch Date and Quality Status Control – shelf life, expiry date, and inspection dates to reduce stock write-offs, obsolescence and increase business profits, and status control to block batches to be consumed or sold
• Material Consumption – based on a FIFO and/or FEFO basis, and in high volume production backflush traceable products
• Quality Control – manage pre, in-process and post production quality control checks, batch and serial re-testing and purchase goods receipt to increase product quality and safety
• Recipe Management –  create percentage based recipes to include scrap and yield, co-Product, by-product and scrap management – to manage product variation as a result of the production process
• Yield Planning and Analysis – build into your recipe planned yield percentages and method for calculating actual yield
• Complaint management – centralize customers, supplier and internal business complaints into your ERP system, for analysis and business process integration to product returns, financial credits and quality processes
• Scheduling – optimize the factory based on an allergen vs non-allergen production plan, while keeping to customer delivery dates
• Certificate of Analysis – print general and customer specific certificate of analysis documents for the same batch