A once in a generation reset opportunity for food and beverage manufacturers and associated wholesale distribution enterprises comes with the recent budget commitment to a “modern manufacturing strategy” designed to assist Australian manufacturers in six priority, targeted sectors, one of which is food and beverage.
$1.3 billion of co-funding has been allocated to drive technology initiatives in supply chain resilience and production technology. Added to this, the additional capital allowances for 100 per cent investment write off, and the incentive for modernisation of business process improvement across manufacturing, distribution and e-commerce are now in place.
“Especially for small to medium sized enterprises, there’s never been a better time for Food and Bev operators to invest for recurring, long term yields over many years,” said Anthony Russo, principal consultant at CitySoft, a leading, innovation-based Australian technology services provider.
“If these technology innovations and benefits can be delivered on an almost cashflow neutral basis then the business case for modernisation looks very strong, especially in a low interest rate environment,” Russo said.
CitySoft has resourced and positioned its service and technology delivery teams to assist SME’s in technology selection and implementation across three main streams and themes in anticipation of an active 2021.
1. Product life cycle management
A key theme of success will be the enterprises ability to quickly develop and manage the design and delivery of new products to their range for markets that demonstrate the potential to quickly change in appetite and delivery model, such as complete pre-packaged and prepared meals.
PLM software allows businesses to manage product information and streamline product development throughout the entire life cycle from idea generation, through to formulation, packaging, compliance to disposal. Lascom PLM from CitySoft enables SMEs to achieve big business outcomes with affordable investment.
These solutions allow the enterprise to:
- Track trends and technology innovations to reduce time-to-market and maintain competitiveness;
- Manage and structure all products-related data and documents throughout their life cycle;
- Facilitate collaboration between your business units and your partners – labs, suppliers, subcontractors, etc.; and
- Master product formulation and make ensure compliance with on-going regulations.
2. Supply chain management
Supply will certainly need to go to the next level with a fully integrated model across both front-end e-commerce and EDI that delivers an emphasis on lot tracking and traceability that starts within the enterprise management.
The importance on origin of source, food safety, allergen tracking, ingredient management across a depth of multiple suppliers can create many internal pressures in the constant ambition of delivering quality product, especially where there is the horizon of continual, possible disruption or fluctuations in the supply chain.
Integrated ERP CitySoft solutions from SAP, BatchMaster and Sage X3 allows businesses to cost effectively manage:
- Forward and backward traceability across the supply chain;
- Track each ingredient and end-item by plant, batch or supplier, lots and sub-lots, along with automated recall capabilities rapidly in minutes, not hours or days; and
- End to end integration of warehouse management supporting RF barcode technology and printing, pick planning, directed put-away and scheduling.
3. Continuous command production process
Effectively reducing production unit costs will continue to play a big part in the determination of successful operators.
The scale shift in lifting production volume increasingly relies upon cost effectively managing the production process across resources, work centres, capacity management. This needs to be done in the concurrent management of ingredients and raw materials that mitigates spoilage and expiration.
Intelligent solution design is required to plan your production run and instantaneous rescale up or down to reflect constraints as well as maintain composition of each batch. Businesses keen to take the next step will need solutions that:
- Schedule production runs on user defined criteria: by hourly, shift or any other period of time that fits the production cycle;
- Standard ingredient quantities are back-flushed or recorded as complete;
- Update work orders during production, required changes are reported as they occur; and
- Effectively maintain composition of each batch for repeat orders from same customers.
CitySoft specialises in supporting companies embrace the digital world and to compete and prosper through the use of modern business software systems.
With our wealth of experience in the business software and consulting industry, you can feel at ease knowing your business will be supported by business experts.
If you would like to take advantage of the 2020 budget opportunities speak to one of our solution architects today on 1300 762 762, or via email sales@citysoft.net.au you can also download our Food & Beverage Guide for free HERE.
For more information, visit CitySoft at:
