Blog updated on 18th July 2022 by Tye Howitt
During food production, there are multiple ways in which waste can occur. Although the end goal is the finished product itself, I am sure all food producers would agree that limiting or eliminating waste altogether would also rank very highly on their priority list. This article explores the ways that food producers may be creating waste and the ways that SAP Business One can assist in reducing waste to create "less waste, more food".
SAP Business One is a world-class, affordable ERP system that is designed to streamline and simplify business processes for small to midsize companies. It handles everything you need to get maximum efficiency out of your manufacturing process while minimising waste, including tools such as:
To help illustrate how SAP Business One can help to drive waste reduction, I have broken the manufacturing process into 3 simple stages: before; during; and after.
There are ways within SAP Business One to prevent waste before the production process begins. Having access to MRP and forecasting tools ensures that you order the right products, to be in the right place at the right time. Automating this process and allowing SAP Business One to do the leg work for you, removes (or at least minimises) the risk of human error.
MRP in SAP Business One creates recommendations for purchase orders and production orders based on current stock levels, the status of transactions in the system, minimum stocking levels and actual and forecast demand.
Essentially, MRP works like an expert system, using its algorithm to determine how much should be purchased or manufactured at a particular point in time.
During the manufacturing process, SAP Business One utilises shelf-life management techniques to reduce waste by deriving and flagging expiry dates of items according to attributes of the materials being used in the process.
This is important as poor tracking of expiry dates can lead not only to raw materials expiring before they can be used, and having to be re-purchased, but also the risk that other components or ingredients may also be short on shelf life and may themselves expire before the replacements arrive.
As the saying goes, hindsight is always 20:20, and with SAP Business One you will see this in full effect. After the manufacturing process has concluded, you have access to additional dashboards and reports that analyse how much you have used and wasted along the way.
Variance reports are an example of this. These show the various inputs and outputs of production orders, including the items, components and resources that were consumed, as well as products and by-products that were generated as a result.
By tracking and monitoring production performance and waste levels with these analysis tools, the insight you gain will allow you to make better use of resources in the future, or as we said at the start “less waste, more food".
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We empower customers through the use of Cloud technologies to automate processes, connect ecosystems, analyse performance, and improve future outcomes.
To learn more, take a look at our Food and Drink sector page, start a chat or call now on 0113 273 7788.
by Tye Howitt
Blog Contributor.
