What is Food Processing Software? The Complete Guide

Food processing software usually refers to applications that help food processing businesses successfully manage inventory, production, food traceability and accounting integration.

New technology developments are becoming available at an unprecedented speed in the food processing industry. With the technology available today, meat and poultry processing businesses can ensure product reliability and safety, while lowering spoilage and raising labeling accuracy. (Also check out our article on How to Prevent Mislabelling in Food Industry)

We see this change everywhere in North America. Most successful food processing businesses in the US and Canada have transitioned to fully automated software solutions.

In this article, we will look at all of the different types of software solutions used in the food industry.

Which software is used in food processing and manufacturing?

The most common food processing software solutions include:

• WMS (Warehouse Management System)
• MES (Manufacturing Execution System)
• ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
• Automated Weighing & Labelling software
• Food Traceability suits

What are the functions of a WMS in food processing?

Although most WMS products offer a variety of functions, they might lack some of the crucial elements. As the experts in Food Industry WMS, we think a robust food industry WMS should have the following functions:

• Complete traceability from supplier to customer
• End-to-end WIP tracking including recipe-based production
• Complex inventory management
• Centralized product and label management
• Sales orders, purchase orders, product costing, and invoicing
• Pricelist management
• Reporting: sales, inventory, production, margins, and yields.
• Integration with ERP and Accounting systems

What is the right setup of WMS in food processing companies?

Most WMS applications for the food industry are based on the GS1 standard barcoding system. When a food processor implements GS1 barcodes on all their inventory, their finished good products can be received by most standard ERP systems around the world. By having barcoded inventory, a food processor’s WMS will provide full visibility into their inventory.

Barcoded inventory also helps food processors streamline their picking and shipping process. By scanning the barcodes on cases and pallets to an order, a processor ensures that they are shipping the right products to the right customers. Processors will also have full serialized visibility into which products have been shipped to which customers.

What is MES?

MES stands for Manufacturing Execution Systems. The main purpose of the MES is to provide real-time production data to ensure an end-to-end food traceability compliance.

Carlisle Symphony solution allows a food processing plant to:

• Create production batches
• Keep an accurate record of all raw material issued to each production batch
• Associate production outputs (like intermediate products and finished goods) to specific production batches
• Provides complete view of every production batch from raw material inputs through to finished goods outputs.

What is ERP in Food Industry

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. ERP systems help food processors manage almost all aspects of their operation, including, purchasing, costing, accounting, recipe management, resource planning, CRM, and more.

ERP integration is critical to any food processing plant in order to accurately analyze data, take an in-depth look at the processes and maximize the efficiencies and streamline the flow of production.

The key to successful ERP implementation is to ensure healthy integration with plant-floor hardware like scales or other data collection devices. Carlisle’s Symphony MES can be the bridge between the ERP system and the plant-floor. With seamless integration to the plant-floor Symphony MES augments the standard ERP system.

Automated Weighing & Labelling

Most food processing businesses in North America have adopted automated weighing and labeling software solutions that enable operator-free case weighing and labeling.

When choosing an automated weighing and labeling solution, it’s best to ensure the system has essential features.

A robust automated weighing and labeling solution should offer advanced features such as:

• Inbound product identification (used to identify mixed product prior weighing)
• Automated weight and data capture
• Automated case labeling
• Outbound label verification
• Reject management

Food Traceability Solutions

Food traceability software solutions like the Symphony suit help food processing businesses automate food traceability by setting defined processes, collecting standardized data, and reporting on crucial production and warehouse insights.

Without an automated system, food traceability can be tricky. With the right food traceability solution, food processing businesses can achieve:

• Reduced business risk and improved brand image
• Improved recall reaction times
• Streamlined inventory management
• Enhanced business efficiency
• Supply chain growth
• Increased profits while reducing costs

Carlisle Technology has specialized in food processing software and hardware solutions for over 30 years. With our extensive industry experience, Carlisle offers the most complete food processing software solutions in North America. Contact us today to discuss the food processing software solutions with one of our experts.

Written by: Can Malay, SEO Specialist – Carlisle Technology

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