To meet changing consumers demands and address challenges in the frozen bakery industry, manufacturers require sophisticated tools like ERP for wholesale baking to optimize production, comply with global safety standards and grow their businesses.
Let’s look at some of the challenges inherent to bakery manufacturing and how industry-specific software can help.
Challenges in Baked Goods Manufacturing
1. Ingredient Variability
Frozen bakery manufacturers deal with a number of issues when it comes to ingredient variability. Flour, yeast, butter and dairy are all critical components in the production of baked goods, and can vary greatly depending on the source, vendor/supplier practices or region of origin. To accommodate the risks associated with ingredient variability, which include food safety and compliance to regulations, manufacturers of baked goods must have the ability to continually adjust their recipes to account for the variability in available ingredients.
2. Production Inefficiencies
In bakery manufacturing, production efficiency is incredibly important. Because ingredients like yeast continue to grow as they age, line stops in production inevitably lead to waste as ingredients become overproofed, overbaked and unusable. To reduce waste and streamline the production process, manufacturers require access to real-time operational and financial insights to improve production efficiency, simplify production scheduling and minimize production line setup.
3. Lack of Inventory Control
Real-time visibility into inventory shelf lives and stock levels is crucial to the success of bakery product manufacturing. Storage conditions for ingredients like yeast, butter, milk or cream must be carefully monitored so they don’t lose their quality. To ensure the safety of ingredients, manufacturers must have the ability to effectively track ingredients, control storage temperatures and alert users immediately when an out-of-tolerance situation (like a broken freezer unit storing butter) arises and inventory quality may be at risk.
How ERP for Wholesale Baking Can Help
To address the challenges in wholesale bakery manufacturing, businesses need tools to increase visibility and streamline operations. With access to company-wide information and data, bakery manufacturers can:
- Track the quality and characteristics of each ingredient used in production
- Make recipe adjustments up until the time of production based on ingredient variability
- Adjust production scheduling to ensure efficiency and reduce waste
An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution with industry-specific functionality stores inventory, production, finance, traceability and food safety data in one centralized solution. The goal of an ERP is to enable users in various departments and levels to exchange the information needed to make critical business decisions based on current conditions. With access to organization-wide data, bakery manufacturers can ensure they’re producing the best quality products while remaining compliant with government standards and regulations.
FoodBusiness ERP is an all-in-one solution designed specifically for the food and beverage industry. It contains out-of-the-box functionality that bakery manufacturers need to streamline operational efficiency and manage growth. To learn more about our ERP for wholesale baking, check out our Baked by Melissa customer story or reach out to us. We’d love to chat.