Food and beverage manufacturing and distribution is a fast-paced, ever-changing industry rife with competition and regulations. And with the economy and global supply chain in flux, evaluating your business management software has never been more critical.
Many food and beverage manufacturers and distributors start with entry-level, on-premises software. However, as these businesses grow, workarounds and manual processes cause mistakes and drain productivity. Some companies will implement a customer relationship management (CRM) platform to address customer service issues, but those platforms can’t integrate with the finance department, warehouse, or supply chain partners.
Disconnected systems inhibit food and beverage businesses’ growth. They buckle under an increasing volume of data and can’t deliver real-time information for a clear picture of financial and operational performance. And when you rely on questionable information, you make questionable decisions.
More food and beverage manufacturers and distributors are moving to cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions to centralize their data on one easy-to-use platform with anytime, anywhere access.
Here are three reasons your food and beverage manufacturing and distribution business should consider cloud ERP.
With every aspect of your business connected, you can easily share information across departments and with your customers and vendors. From warehouse employees to the executive team, cloud ERP provides total visibility into:
Manually managing inventory means you’re not sure what’s in stock, its location, or how fast you can ship products. If you handle perishable items, you risk passing expiration dates and wasting food.
A cloud ERP solution offers a complete view of inventory. It allows you to track byproducts, coproducts, yield, wastage, expiration dates, first in first out (FIFO), and first expired first out (FEFO). That means you reduce waste without losing sales from out-of-stock inventory.
High-profile contamination and food recalls would significantly affect your operations.
A cloud ERP solution enables you to track your products as they leave the warehouse and enter the supply chain, automate and streamline collaboration with thousands of stakeholders, respond quickly to changing regulations, and share your non-standardized data with supply chain vendors. Most importantly, you can effectively manage recalls while maintaining daily operations.
Cloud ERP empowers food and beverage manufacturers and distributors to quickly identify issues that cost too much time and money. It clearly shows which departments, processes, and products are the most and least profitable. It delivers real-time information and a single, on-demand version of the truth. With better information, you’ll make better decisions.
Download our free eBook, Produce Traceability Technology in Focus: How to Ensure Food Safety from Farm to Fork, to learn more about cloud ERP’s many features and benefits for your food and beverage manufacturing and distribution business.