INVENTORY MANAGEMENT AND TRACEABILITY FOR THE MEAT AND POULTRY INDUSTRY
Automate and maximize your inventory management
Food safety standards, consumer concerns about where food comes from, demand forecasting… the challenges you face are significant. That’s why we’ve created digital solutions with features specifically tailored to your industry. With our solutions, you can:
Track live animals along the entire supply chain to meat cuts in real time
Interpret data from the slaughter floor to processing
Use this data in the event of a post-production feed recall
Transmit slaughter or processing information directly to government agencies or federations
Identify the origin of the meat pieces in each package as they leave the plant to meet the highest standards for export markets.
Our software is perfectly suited to the particularities of the meat industry and can be integrated into your ERP system or existing equipment.
SECTORS
MULTISPECIES
Our solution optimizes your traceability and auditing processes while reducing data entry and risk of error. In addition, it ensures a reliable exchange of information with financial systems, agencies or federations. Your declarations are automatically transferred to Attestra SimpliTrace.
PORK
With the 2000 classification integrated in our solution, manual data entry is a thing of the past. Each animal is accurately tracked from birth to slaughter. Your declaration is automatically transferred to the government agencies in order to receive your premium quickly.
POULTRY
Our solution features industry-specific functionalities, including transport management: all data are integrated into our system (number of chickens per box, mortality rate, animal health criteria, etc.); chicken supply: our application takes into account the most rigorous criteria such as the lifespan of the birds, their weight, etc. in order to facilitate management; and demerit management: in the event of a recall, you can trace each step.
MODULES
RECEIVING AND SHIPPING
SAMPLING
LOCATION (WAREHOUSE/LOCATION/CRATE)
INPUT CONSUMPTION
INVENTORY
REPACKAGING-REPROCESSING
PRODUCTION AND LABELING
AUTOMATED LINES AND EQUIPMENT INTEGRATION
LOADING AND PROCUREMENT OF ANIMALS
SLAUGHTER
Farmsoft’S MEAT AND SEAFOOD WMS EXPERTISE
Farmsoft has many customers in the meat and seafood industry.
With our Farmsoft meat and seafood WMS, you can track your inventory from source to the store. Farmsoft can provide a comprehensive traceability solution for your company.
Farmsoft is a real time, rules based warehouse management system, and therefore, you can trace your product through the complete supply chain.
With Farmsoft meat and seafood wms, you will have real time visibility across all of the touch points in the supply chain.
We comply with the traceability and food safety requirements both domestically and internationally.
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MEAT AND SEAFOOD WMS SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS FOR MEAT AND SEAFOOD INDUSTRY
R4 Meat and Seafood WMS Software Solutions comply with the traceability and food safety requirements both domestically and internationally
TRACEABILITY
We will turn FDA compliance into profits by utilizing the bar codes required to keep track of cartons, pallets, mixed pallets, repacks, and processed items, with lot control from the source to the store.
Temperature-Check-Product-495x400
POPULAR PLATFORMS
EASY INTEGRATION
Easily integrates with your existing system. You will be able to use our rules-based system to maximize the information you have about your products, manage your resources, and reduce costs, all without changing your way of doing business.
REASONABLE COSTS
This is a Tier One ERP at Tier Two pricing. A variety of financing options are available. Most users’ return on investment is less than nine months.
Farmsoft – 3PL SYSTEM Improves Customer Satisfaction
MAKE COMPLIANCE A PROFIT CENTER
Easy integration with your existing system. We will provide:
INVENTORY ACCURACY (99+ %)
EXPIRATION DATE CONTROL
ONE STEP FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK
STREAMLINE PROCESSES
CATCH WEIGHTS
TEMPERATURE CONTROL
REAL TIME VISIBILITY
REASONABLE COST
LABOR CONTROL
RFID, VOICE, BAR CODE OR PAPER BASED
UNLIMITED ATTRIBUTES
OPEN SYSTEM, PLATFORM INDEPENDENT
SCHEDULE A DEMO
Transform your Warehouse into a Competitive Advantage.
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Farmsoft Brochure
Farmsoft WMS
Our warehouse management software application suite (Farmsoft) is the core of our Supply Chain Solution.
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WMS ROI Calculator
We have prepared an easy to use use ROI calculator to give you an idea on how much money you can save by using our WMS.
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WMS Checklist
Are you planning to implement a warehouse management system (WMS) in the near future? If so, it’s smart to start preparing now.
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WMS Implementation Methodologies
Create a WMS implementation checklist to ensure you’re prepared for things to launch.
Optimising Storage, Handling & Movement of Chill & Frozen Meat and Seafood Products
meat and seafood warehouse management
Chill Picking 3PL warehouse operations including those involved the handling of fresh, chilled or frozen meat, seafood or poultry – be they manufacturers, distributors or 3PL Logistics businesses – face some of the most unique and stringent handling challenges of any industry. Unpreserved product has only a relatively short life storage life. Perishable products must be refrigerated, frozen, dried promptly, or cured. The handling of such products is particularly prone to the growth of micro-organisms that can result in foodborne illnesses, or even death. Consequently, strict regulation and legislation must be adhered to in all regions.
Challenges in Chill Picking Meat and Seafood Warehouse Operations:
Product Safety & Quality Demands
Strict Regulatory Compliance
Management of Variable Weight Items
Serial Item Tracking
Traceability Throughout Product Life Cycle
Auditability
High Volume Product Movement
seafood distribution softwareMicroorganism growth is a temperature-dependent process, temperatures must be maintained, and a full audit trail of temperatures kept. Such products are usually variable weight items until in retail packs. Products can arrive fresh on mixed pallets, can be blast frozen mixed, sorted by SKU by Best Before Date or kill date, stored at -18°C or less, and shipped frozen or be tempered – or even microwaved – before shipping. And operators must, at all times, be able to demonstrate complete traceability throughout the entire process.
Meat distribution Software – Chill & Frozen 3PL Warehouse Operations
Meat distribution software that has full Real-Time Stock Traceability, Visibility & Control
Blind Receipting Against ASN File
Auto Receipt on QC Hold – Quality Inspection
Serial Item Tracking of Variable Weight Items Throughout
Mixed Pallets to Blast & Plate Freezing
Extraction from Freezer – Pallet Topping Function
Foreign Object Metal Detecting
Product Tempering – Microwaving
Product Weighing – Labelling
Product Sleeving – Date Coding & Labelling
BRC Accredited Processes
Forced Air & Rapid Air Processes
Co-Packing & Re-Packing
DEFRA Approved Export Services Controls
Customs Approved Bonded Facilities
USDA Meat Import Services & USDA ID Sites
READ MORE IN OUR WAREHOUSE OPTIMISATION CASE STUDIES
Our customers rely on our robust, modular and patented In-DEX WMS Warehouse Management Software suite to run efficient and revenue enhancing operations. They have direct access to an industry and technology expert pool spanning over 25 years’ operating across the Chill & Frozen Food business sector.
INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE IN THE FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRY | Farmsoft
Person holding opened space gray iPad
Familiar with the food service industry? Then you know the competition is fierce and the industry can be daunting. According to a Cornell report, about 59 percent of restaurants fail within the first three years, which is a cumulative statistic that includes chain restaurants and independently owned restaurants. Independent restaurants tend to fail more within the first three years at a rate of 61 percent.
Diving deeper into that statistic, the going is at its toughest for the smallest establishments. Overall, restaurants with fewer than 20 employees fail more often within the first year than other service businesses, Forbes notes. On average, restaurants with 5 or fewer employees last 3.75 years while other startups of the same size last 4 years.
The good news is the food service industry is growing. From 2015 to 2016, Data USA estimates the restaurant employment rate grew by nearly 2 percent and is expected to grow by 0.6 percent over the next 10 years. Worldwide, the food and beverage industry is growing at a rate of 5 percent, according to Plant & Food Research.
That means there are opportunities for restaurants and the industries that supply them to jump ahead of the competition through advanced inventory management. A leg up on logistics is particularly important for independent restaurants and small farms that face stiff competition. Food service excellence often comes down to juggling inventory logistics — including agricultural supply, hospitality products, and shipping — alongside the art of hospitality, the finesse of marketing, and the culinary craft. To say this is a lot is an understatement.
From farm to table, if you’re a small-to-medium-sized business in the food service industry, you can likely benefit from free inventory management software. The software streamlines your inventory process so you can compete with big business and have more time for the passion of ownership. Here’s a look at how Farmsoft’s cloud-based solution can work for you.
AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURING
Farms, ranches, and feedlots have to keep track of many different moving parts just to maintain a steady workflow. This includes cultivating crops, caring for livestock, purchasing and maintaining equipment, monitoring the health of their assets, and keeping up with other miscellaneous supplies. On top of all that, according to the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, there’s an “ever increasing consumer demand for food quality and safety and animal welfare.” Farms and ranches have to be incredibly efficient with inventory in order to meet consumer demand for quality, safety, and humane animal treatment.
In 2012, according to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), 80 percent of consumer food dollars went to post-harvest manufacturers while 17 percent went to farmers. These numbers are staggering compared to 1950 when 40 percent of dollars went to farmers.
This means farmers are now tasked with producing food to meet higher demand at slimmer profit margins. The demand for organic food has grown about 20 percent annually, and, along with that, the NAS reports that “food sold directly from farmers to consumers is a small but growing segment of the market.”
When it comes to the food service industry, organic farms and small farms must have advanced inventory management in order to serve niche markets and supply a growing restaurant industry. Food costs have dropped to around 10 percent of the average American’s disposable income, meaning more people are able to eat out.
The manufacturing side of this picture collects the lion’s share of the American food dollar because many foods need to be packaged and prepared before they’re shipped to restaurants all over the world. Manufacturers aggregate, store, and process foods. Manufacturers include meat packers, bakeries, and farmer cooperatives. Small-to-medium regional manufacturers and local cooperatives can benefit from free inventory management software to cut down on costs.
HOW A CLOUD-BASED INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM CAN HELP AGRICULTURAL BUSINESSES
Farmsoft’s cloud-based solution lets farmers and other agriculture professionals manage inventory directly from a smartphone. If you’re in the field or traveling, you’ll have easy access and the ability to coordinate with at least four other people, all via one app. For livestock managers, you can easily input stock data, cycle shipments out, track locations, and view transactions with meat packers.
Meanwhile, crop managers can track seed and harvest cycles, log shipments in and out, and minimize order processing costs by ordering the right quantities at the right times based on prior data. Farmsoft integrates with QuickBooks Online so that when it comes time to crunch numbers there’s no redundant data entry.
FOOD DISTRIBUTION AND TRANSPORTATION
As we noted earlier, 80 percent of the consumer food dollar goes to the post-harvest process, and distribution takes a great deal of that dollar. Food distributors who are able to keep track of every item have an advantage because they know when and why losses occur.
Farmers and ranchers produce about 1 trillion pounds of crops, but by the time those crops make it to restaurants and retailers as food and beverage products, there has been a considerable loss of weight. Post-harvest, about one-third of product weight is lost, and some of that loss comes down to spoilage during shipping. In 2010 alone, $161.6 billion worth of food was lost.
Fresh produce and meat are valuable to the food service industry, and wholesale distributors are faced with a real challenge when it comes to warehousing and transporting valuable, fresh product that can spoil quickly. That being the case, efficient inventory management is essential. Distributors who minimize loss during transportation stand to make more money.
HOW A CLOUD-BASED INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM CAN IMPROVE FOOD TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
When it comes to distribution and food industry inventory management, a single word captures what you’re after: speed. The best inventory software allows you to quickly catalog every item, create new items, and track items from warehouse to vendor. Moreover, this software allows you to export data so you can analyze trends.
Speed is crucial to food service. Distributors who can rapidly log and track shipments have an advantage, and when you never have to pay for the software to do it, you can spend money where it counts. The more cash you have available to spend on personnel and equipment, the better you’ll scale.
FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRY
The USDA notes 31 percent of food waste and loss happens at the retail level. Restaurants, cafes, and cafeterias are particularly aware of the challenge at hand: if you don’t have enough inventory available, you won’t meet the demand of customers. But order too much and you waste money when food goes to waste.
A food service establishment can analyze industry data and search for case studies about other similar establishments of the same size. However, inventory needs for other establishments aren’t necessarily predictive of your own, especially when you’re running a small-to-medium-size niche establishment. The best way to minimize waste and maintain enough supply is to constantly keep tabs on inventory, analyze trends, and place orders based on statistical analysis. Keeping detailed, useful records of inventory can inform everything from portion size to what dishes go on the menu, and when to retire unpopular items.
Here’s the crux of the issue for food service: the fewer orders you place, the less you spend. Especially when you’re ordering produce and meat, maximizing inventory efficiency is crucial for maintaining a profit margin. The only way to do it well is to keep extremely accurate books and understand short-term, weekly trends, seasonal trends, and event-based trends in your area.
HOW A CLOUD-BASED INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM CAN SAVE YOUR RESTAURANT MONEY
Farmsoft’s free inventory management software allows you to scan items in and out with your smartphone. Once you’ve tallied sales numbers, you can export data via CSV files for further analysis. As you continue to analyze loss and sales trends over time, you’ll get a reliable picture of what your inventory needs will look like in the future. Then you can place large orders for items that you can store and repeat those small orders for perishable, fresh foods. This scientific approach to inventory management removes the guesswork and saves you money. Paper ledgers cost money, but Farmsoft is free from the get-go — and forever. Don’t pay until you’ve scaled your restaurant up to the size where you need additional services.
No more manual data entry — once tax time comes, Farmsoft’s software syncs directly with QuickBooks Online. Reduce waste, save time, and save money: that’s what running a sustainable food service business is all about.
Why is Inventory Management Important for the Food Industry?
Having a robust, automated Inventory Management System, also referred as WMS (Warehouse Management System) is imperative to being successful in today’s hyper competitive food processing industry. On the other hand, not having a system in place can be challenging to remain fully compliant with the law and stay competitive in dealing with larger clients.
How Common is the use of Automated Inventory Management Systems in the Food Industry?
The food processing industry has evolved over the past couple of decades. A large shift from a manual inventory management system, such as pen and paper, to a fully automated system, has occured
throughout the food industry. So, if you’re thinking of starting a food processing business or taking your small business to the next level in the food processing industry you should absolutely consider using an automated inventory management system for multiple compelling reasons.
In another blog, I wrote in-depth about what a Warehouse Management System is and its application in the Food & Beverage Industry. You can read it here.
What are the Main Reasons for using WMS in Food Processing Industry?
As a processor grows their operation, they will experience an ever-growing need for a streamlined, efficient, and cost-effective way to manage their inventory. This can only be done by automating the inventory management process. Inventory Management systems provide a comprehensive approach to recall management, visibility, and efficiency. This is done through automated technology that communicates from the plant-floor to the office in real-time.
Reason 1: Recall Management
Recall Management is one of the most important variables that a food processor needs to control within their operation every single day. Food recalls are a serious business threat to meat and poultry processors in North America. Each food recall can carry a heavy cost, and inherently bring large risks that affect the entire business.
An automated inventory management system like the Farmsoft Symphony WMS allows a processor to do a quick and comprehensive recall. It is important to have inventory visibility, from raw material receiving to finished goods shipping. This not only adheres to government regulation, but allows a processor to expand their market, meet supplier requirements for larger-scale distributors, and saves time and money.
Moreover, inventory management systems can communicate with members of your supply chain and can provide access to information about the products in real-time. This provides heightened visibility and allows you to track certain shipments, should a problem arise. There is a significant amount of data being shared that can provide insight into safety, shipping, and overstock issues.
Inventory management systems not only enhance Recall Management standards, but they also amplify a processor’s ability to perform sales and order fulfillment.
Reason 2: Enhanced Sales & Order Fulfillment Processes
Having detailed and real-time insight into inventory for sales and order fulfillment is paramount in the food processing industry. In a manual system, sales reps are forced to go through handwritten logs of inventory records to look for available quantity, oldest product, and other identifying variables to fulfill this order. This would then need to be communicated to the operators on the plant-floor to pick the product from the correct location and manually record the change. This system is prone to a litany of different operational flaws. These includes:
Brain Fog
Illegible Handwriting
Miscounting Product
Mistakes are inevitable and can happen across multiple touch points along the operation. For a small-scale operation, these errors can only be managed for so long. As a processor grows, its processes need to adapt to this growth.
An automated inventory management system drastically reduces these mistakes by combining a robust back-end software system that communicates with plant-floor hardware in real-time.
Barcoding and radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology support inventory management by making the picking process more efficient. Inventory should be organized with barcoded storage locations and item numbers, which can be especially helpful for distributors with multiple warehouse locations. Systems that provide available information across all locations allow distributors to fulfill orders more quickly.
This provides the office with real-time visibility into accurate inventory levels. Inventory reports by location, warehouse, and movement within the facility allow the office to check inventory levels in real-time. Cycle counting, utilizing a FIFO system, and having controls such as QA locks are standard features that provide a processor with complete inventory control.
With an automated inventory management system, sales reps have the ability to create new and future orders based on accurate real-time information on consumable inventory. Sales reps can release the order down to the plant-floor to be picked and view progress on picking in real-time from a serialized inventory and location. The sales rep can then review the order, assign a truck to the order, and print off necessary paperwork such as a Bill of Lading, Manifest, Packing Slip, etc.
Not only does the inventory management system aid in the sales and order fulfillment process, but it enhances a food processor’s efficiency and productivity.
Reason 3: WMS Improves Efficiency and Productivity in Food Industry
With the right inventory management software at their disposal, procurement managers are able to integrate their inventory data with their supplier’s availability. This ensures that lead times are kept to a minimum and the lines of communication are open, clear, and free of misinterpretation. This leads to a decrease in an under or oversupply of inventory. Having an accurate inventory will reduce waste and also prevent delays in production due to inventory being out of stock.
Gain Full Visibility on All High-Risk Products in Your Inventory
When dealing with a product that has a short shelf-life, it is vital that inventory managers have the ability to track, trace and account for each inventory item. Visibility into the supply chain is exactly what an effective inventory management software solution is tasked to achieve.
Total visibility into the movement of each inventory item through the supply chain creates a ripple effect that generates greater efficiency and value along every touchpoint – from demand forecasting, through purchasing, manufacturing, distribution, and sales.
Gain Locate Items in Real-Time
Being able to locate each inventory item in real-time leads to a significant reduction in loss as a result of mismanaged, misplaced, and mishandled inventory.
Inventory can be kept at optimal levels thereby insulating the business against the risk of overstock and understock issues. These issues include: expired inventory, tied-up cash flow, missed sales due to stock-outs, and off-target forecasting and purchasing.
Optimize Shipping and Receiving Items
Inventory management systems can communicate with members of your supply chain and can provide access to information about inventory products in real-time. This provides heightened visibility and allows you to track certain shipments if a problem arises. There is a significant amount of data being shared that can provide insight into safety, shipping, and overstock issues.
Barcoding and radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology support inventory management by making the picking process more efficient. Inventory should be organized with barcoded storage locations and item numbers, which can be especially helpful for distributors with multiple warehouse locations. Systems that provide availability information across all locations allow distributors to fulfill orders more quickly.
Processors should look towards an automated inventory management system as a long-term investment that will streamline plant-floor operations, improve back-end operations, and gain critical visibility into lacking areas.
How Farmsoft Technology’s Inventory Management system streamlines plant-floor operations
Are you looking for an inventory management system? Look no further than Farmsoft Technology’s WMS solution. Symphony’s Warehouse Management (WMS) software enables users to track inventory from receiving through to shipping. With the Order Management Application sales orders can be tracked from the entry of an order through picking, staging, and shipping with a single application screen. For fast and accurate warehouse management, Symphony WMS is an essential piece to any plant management system.
Interested in a demo? We would love to hear from you. Give us a call and our experts can help guide you through the WMS and implementation process.