Post-pandemic, food manufacturers will have to turn their attention to providing a safe supply of food, improving the health of their employees and meeting customers’ demands for more sustainable products.
While many companies have suffered immense financial and reputational loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, those that have had reliable safety standards in place have been able to sustain normal operations through timely implementation of technological advances.
But with the global pandemic of COVID-19, it’s fair to say that every food manufacturers in every country has had a bit of a rethink about their priorities.
There are five key ingredients that can help food manufacturers in the post-pandemic market: Demand Planning, Food Safety, Employee Health, Digital Technology, and a Resilient Supply Chain.
Demand planning
Today’s food manufacturing companies need to know how to harness the power of data and technology. How can you keep up with changing consumer purchases so that your company thrives? One solution is to utilize new technology and tools for analysing data and finding trends. Today, there are many companies specializing in supply chain and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software solutions. These systems offer businesses a great opportunity to monitor market conditions, make critical decisions, and stay ahead of the curve on production.
Food Safety
Food safety is a clearly vital component of all food manufacturing businesses, and it’s also something that plays a huge role in the minds of potential customers. And that emphasis is only going to continue: Businesses will have to be able to source their ingredients, and then track the movement of these ingredients as they move along the supply chain, before being cooked up and delivered to an end customer.
When utilizing an ERP system, food manufacturers can improve performance and operate more effectively. An ERP system can help to ensure product quality through the proper storage and preparation of ingredients. Food borne illnesses are also reduced, which helps to ensure the safety of the consumer.
Employee health
Early in the pandemic, with a little common sense, the workplace could be kept safe and employees healthy. However, during the height of the pandemic, when widespread school and business closures were being considered, everyone—public, organizations, or private parties—looking to minimize employee contact and exposure will have to rethink how they deliver employee health services and seek solutions that rely on training and education rather than tools to protect you from transmissible diseases.
With an ERP solution, when a worker falls sick, you have complete visibility into the products, equipment, and other employees he/ she came into contact with, allowing you to understand the risk involved and take preventive steps.
Digital technology
Working from home is now necessary for many employees, and that places a greater need on the ability to manage your systems remotely via cloud-based solutions. Whether your business had already begun the process of embracing these new tools, a ramp up is likely still in order.
The potential of a workforce working from home is both exciting and, in some cases, concerning. While the benefits of a distributed workforce are significant, there needs to be a comprehensive strategy to ensure everyone has access to the systems they need from any location. The availability of cloud-based ERP solutions makes it possible for food manufacturers to manage resources and track productivity from anywhere
Resilient supply chain
The world is going through a period of unprecedented food crisis; one which has gripped us with fear as to how this will affect household economies, and in particular, the ability to provide daily bread to our families. The recent restrictions during the coronavirus epidemic have greatly affected the flow of food from the farm to the fork.
As a way to better provide for their customers, food manufacturers are working with ERP solutions to determine the best way to proactively meet customer demands. By streamlining order-to-cash processes companies can stay flexible and keep their customers happy.
Now more than ever, food manufacturers are accountable for satisfying their customers. At Signum Solutions, we understand your challenges and can help you build a solid information technology foundation so your organization can deliver the best products and services to meet consumer demands.
Signum’s SAP Business One Industry Edition for Food and Beverage manufacturing provides everything food manufacturers need for inventory management, production scheduling, decision, result tracking, reporting, and more – visit our Food and Beverage Industry page to learn more.
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