Back in April, salads were suddenly unhealthy to eat due to a particularly deadly E. coli contamination on romaine lettuce. Instances like these bring a lot of things to light about food handling and processing. For anyone who works in the food and beverage industry, it heightens that daily awareness that the strict controls of your work schedule could be a major part of what stands between your customers and a very uncomfortable time in the bathroom.

Food and beverage industry ERP, SYSPRO, recently looked into this and other challenges present in the industry via a survey conducted using Demographica. Are you surprised at what they uncovered? Take a look.

Download ERP for the Packaging Industry, a whitepaper for US manufacturers and distributors.

No Off Button

The findings paint a picture of individuals who operate in a high-speed environment where there is no off button. Because there are constantly orders coming in and out, someone must always be available to process requests.

Adding to the pace of this environment is the constant race against time. Because food and beverage professionals work with perishables, products can easily expire, become damaged, or—as we experienced very recently—contaminated. The importance of timing cannot be emphasized enough.

Unceasing Customer Demands

There is simply no room to get comfortable. Customers are demanding and often unforgiving. Food and beverage industry leaders are constantly innovating and bringing new ideas to the table in order to keep consumers excited about their products. Otherwise, they risk losing those customers to competitors.

Constant Crisis Management

The survey also found the demands placed on food and beverage professionals are different to anyone else operating in the manufacturing industry. Why? Because managing food and drink products adds a much deeper layer of complexity throughout the entire supply chain process. When things happen, they happen in real time.

As one Application Manager pointed out, the job might as well be crisis management. To ensure everything runs smoothly, you likely rely heavily on your technology. Things are chaotic, and food and beverage managers simply can’t be at multiple distribution centers all at once, so you use technology to monitor the situation on the ground.

Tech’s Increasingly Important Role

Increased focus on digitization was identified as a key trend in a recent global survey of 120 food and beverage industry leaders. The survey, which was carried out by IT specialist CSB-System, indicated that continued pressure on pricing across the globe would likely result in necessary cost reductions. To reduce costs without compromising the quality of the product, digitization would be looked to as the solution.

Not only did respondents see IT systems as critical to the reduction of costs, but also to the more effective management of complex operations.

Specialized Systems are Key

One important point which became increasingly evident was that it’s important for these systems to consider the differing complexities of each sector and company. ERP solutions should not be generalized according to the size of a company, but rather according to the complexity of the business in question and the nature of the industry in which it operates. Because the future success of a food and beverage business is so closely linked to the success of the ERP system it uses, companies need to invest in holistic ERP solutions rather than packaged products.

SYSPRO food and beverage industry ERP is dedicated to studying the future of ERP technology and developing solutions accordingly. It’s the reason SYSPRO is used in over 62 different countries, the reason SYSPRO features up-and-coming capabilities such as the cloud, mobile, and software as a service (SaaS) software options. Build confidence in your ERP, knowing that it empowers you to not only prevent crises, but also find new ways to engage and build a future with your customers.

For more than 15 years, PositiveVision has been helping companies large and small implement ERP systems for improved industry management. Learn more about how SYSPRO ERP can help your food and beverage company. Contact us today for some food for thought.