Throughout the food manufacturing process, from purchasing raw materials to distributing end products, manufacturing companies rely on different types of software to facilitate their business-critical operations. An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution is one of the key elements of a manufacturing software ecosystem. It helps plan raw material procurement and utilization, monitor inventory levels across various stages, automate customer order processing, and track finished food items through the entire supply chain.

The key functionality of food manufacturing software

All ERPs for food manufacturers is unique and may provide different functionality depending on the manufacturer’s size, the production process specifics, the existing digital environment, and more. customers from the food domain are typically interested in the following food manufacturing software features:

• Planning of food production and distribution. To analyze sales history, get analytics-based recommendations on the optimal time for raw material purchasing, manage order grouping for bulk processing, and plan product shipping.
• Bill of Materials (BOM) creation and management. To centralize information on the amount and cost of raw materials required to manufacture a particular SKU, create and edit product manufacturing and packaging instructions.
• Inventory management. To track the number of raw materials and finished goods, timely reallocate inventory between multiple , storage, and distribution sites, identify slow sellers and popular products, and predict high and low sales periods to avoid overstocking and stockouts.
• Supply chain management. To monitor the transfer of raw materials and end products between manufacturing facilities, storage locations, and distribution centers.
• Recipe management. To facilitate the creation and storage of food and beverage recipes, record information on ingredients and their substitutions.
• Quality management. To establish quality control checklists and procedures, monitor the quality of raw materials and end products to ensure food safety and quality, and maintain compliance with relevant governmental regulations.
• Cost management. To accurately value inventory based on a preferred costing method, track the spending on raw materials, consumables, etc.

Make the first step in your future food software

Food manufacturing and distribution software can facilitate planning, optimize inventory management and supply chain operations, and help guarantee the compliance of food products with the required industry- and country-specific regulations. If you consider implementing effective food software to improve the transparency and overall effectiveness of your food and distribution processes.