ERP and MES - Enterprise Resource Planning and Manufacturing Execution Systems – two pieces of tech that can have a powerful impact on F&B processing and manufacturing. MES helps bridge the gap between the shop floor and enterprise systems, ensuring real-time visibility, control, and optimization of manufacturing processes. Meanwhile, ERP integrates business functions across the organization, streamlining operations from finance to supply chain management.

Food manufacturers are using the technology to optimize processes.

“We have a phrase that we use called elastic MES, which basically implies that, yes, we can talk to the machines. Yes, we can run the production jobs on the floor report the consumption, report the output, do the lot trace, things you might traditionally think of as MES, but for many companies, it's challenging to do just that and then integrate that with ERP. In certain areas, for example, warehouse management within the manufacturing operation,” said Jim Bressler, director of product management for F&B at Plex Systems. “It’s so much easier if you can have that tied in directly in the same product for receiving. So we have a concept where we can do from say, receiving through shipping, including the production step and fill in the gaps where you need it, including quality.”

For example, Harvest Food Group, an Illinois-based IQF processor and manufacturer of frozen fruits, vegetables and side dishes, tackled production obstacles by replacing a legacy, paper-based system. Previously their internal processes required manual confirmation of invoices on the final day of each month, halting production to complete calculations. The same process included an additional one week per year shutdown to perform a full inventory count. 

• Harvest Food Group adopted an ERP and MES in 2017 and experienced significant improvements in efficiency: Cycle count accuracy increased from 6% to 98%.
• Accounts receivable aging has decreased from 5% to 1.6%.
• 100% elimination of manual inventory checks. 

The company has continued digitizing their processes, Bressler said, for example using ERP software to improve scrap utilization and digitize OEE.

Driving Efficiency with ERP

Enterprise Resource Planning and Manufacturing Execution Systems can have a powerful impact on F&B processing and manufacturing.

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For an F&B manufacturer just beginning their journey to deploy an ERP system, Bressler says the most important factor can also be the most overlooked.

“It's people it's always comes down to people, even though we're talking about automation in a lot of cases. It's really organizing a big group of people in a company to get something done effectively to figure out what their true pain points are, what their measures of success would be, what the bottom line requirements are, Bressler said. “And then engaging – having top-level support from management, because nobody likes change. The hardest thing is still change management, honestly.”

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