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Identifying the most suitable ERP solution

22 May 2022

Mathew Simpson offers some advice on what needs to be considered before specifying an ERP system. 

Effective process management, supported by relevant and easily accessible data, are prerequisites for food processors to stay competitive and increase margins. 

An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system will deliver the efficiency and transparency to help companies achieve their business objectives – everything from shortening lead times and optimising product costing to increasing market share, reducing stock and improving quality. However, as with all digitalisation solutions, there is no ‘one size fits all approach’.

Any software that is as close to the core of a business as an ERP system must be a perfect fit. Each solution has to meet specific requirements and be tailored to a particular industry. 

To ensure the effectiveness of an ERP solution, therefore, there are many different factors for companies to consider. Here are some of the key areas that should form part of the decision-making process.

What do you want to achieve? – An ERP system can deliver on many levels. It acts like the central nervous system of a business where all data and functions come together. Its potential is enormous, and the temptation is sometimes to go for an over-engineered system. 

A good starting point is to have a clear idea of the goals, expectations and priorities. This is not always an easy task, as different parts of a business may have different requirements. However, it is worth the effort, as it will help you to assess whether a system can bring the required benefits and enable the creation of clearly defined goals on which to benchmark the return on investment (ROI).

Full capability – Whatever your specific needs, there are some fundamentals that a food industry ERP system must deliver. These include managing costs through precise information on all the components involved in production and packaging; recipe optimisation to control raw material costs, while delivering consistent quality; and effective production scheduling to reconcile manufacturing with available raw materials and changing customer orders.

The smooth integration of the system with all relevant hardware is also vital, so that it can supply the right information to each piece of equipment, such as master data for weigh-price-labellers or picking orders for mobile scanners. And delivering high levels of traceability will help businesses meet legislative requirements, retailer standards and increasing consumer demand to know more about the origins of the products they purchase.

Tailored to your sector – As well as each company’s particular requirements, the needs of individual sectors of the food industry will also be different – sausage making is not the same as confectionery production. 

It is useful, therefore, to investigate whether your proposed ERP system has any sector-specific features. For example, for meat applications, a simple image analysis can facilitate the fully automatic identification of sorted ingredients according to defined criteria. This supports the further automation of process and a reduction in error rates.

Alongside this, make sure that any standard features – such as dashboards, reporting or connecting data sources – can be tailored and able to cover all the project goals and objectives.

Growth when you need it – Successful businesses are constantly growing and evolving so the ERP system should also be able to grow and adapt alongside the business. A software system with a modular structure will enable users to add on functionalities at any time. 

As growth is likely to be in line with the original goals and priorities, make sure that modularity is anchored in the system and that all modules you might need at some stage are already available.

Futureproofing – In a similar vein, it is equally important to select an ERP system with the ability to expand in line with the business. Can additional capabilities be included as and when they are needed? Are there regular updates for the software? Is it continually upgraded with new functionalities? Does it have multilingual and multicurrency abilities? Can other systems be connected? Is the system itself stable with technology built on a robust platform?

Mobility – In today’s 24/7 global business world, mobility is becoming an increasingly important aspect – from mobile data capture of raw materials in receiving and mobile picking with hand-held devices to having remote access to the latest reports while on the move.

An ERP with comprehensive mobile capabilities provides the flexibility for managers to see data anytime and anywhere. And data exchange via tablets, scanners or audio headsets during production or picking can be passed onto the ERP for further processing with actions taken immediately to overcome any issues such as discrepancies, deviations, malfunctions or bottlenecks. 

Be safe – The importance of ensuring the security of data and process against cyber-attacks cannot be overemphasised. Make sure the ERP system meets current security standards. Permissions and levels of authorisation are a key part of this, particularly to restrict access to sensitive data or procedures. An integrated Enterprise Content Management System and a certified archive will allow you to store data from the ERP system in a protected and audit proof manner.

For small and medium-size enterprises, hosting the software at a certified data centre potentially offers greater convenience and security than having it on-site. With reputable cloud based systems, the ERP vendor takes responsibility for performance and security – using a level of specialist knowledge that food companies are unlikely to have in-house.

The ability to communicate – The ERP is the hub of the company and standard modules for customer relationship management (CRM), planned preventative maintenance (PPM), and business intelligence (BI) should normally be available. However, in many cases, company-specific solutions, legacy systems, or special machine data requirements from MES systems also have to be integrated. Make sure your provider has the additional interfaces (APIs) required and the industry knowledge to integrate these successfully.

Ultimately, the benefit of any system will depend largely on how quickly it is ready for operation – a long installation process will affect the ROI. Look for an ERP system that can be easily connected via standard interfaces, and from an experienced supplier with relevant industry knowledge and a tried and tested methodology for the introduction of the system.

Mathew Simpson is UK and Ireland sales at CSB-System.


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