A number of the customers that we have serviced over the years are well known Australian manufacturers of mass produced food products such as Cakes, Pickles and Chocolates. We have learned a great deal about this vertical as a result of this experience.
What are the special needs of these sorts of industries?
- The most important from a health point of view is traceability of all products produced from a single production run or batch. If a product recall becomes necessary, it’s important to identify all customers who have purchased the faulty product. This extends right down to the components used in the recipe as well.
- Raising purchase orders to suppliers to ensure that raw material components arrive just before needed so they are in peak condition. Perishability and Local availability are the key factors that determine the lead time of delivery.
- Shelf life/Use-by Dates needs to be recorded on both raw materials and the finished product. This will help the warehouse pick the oldest products first to minimise the likelihood of stocking expired products.
- Keeping stock levels at optimum levels by predicting factory production based on seasonal sales forecasts, actual orders received, current stock in the warehouse and the practical production capacity of the machinery and labour force.
Selecting a good Manufacturing System can be quite onerous as you must map the production process including all the stages of manufacture. You need to consider stock locations, outsourced manufacture, phantom bills (such as bread dough) which exists only as a temporary component in the process, resource capacity, wastage, the production of by-products etc.
About the Author
Rick is the director of marketing and operations at Axsapt, a consulting organisation specialising in business software across a range of products and offerings. Rick has been involved in software consulting for over 30 years and brings a depth and breadth of expertise in technology.
