Food delivery is entering a new era. Improvements in online platforms, triggered in large part by the COVID-19 pandemic, have made it easier than ever for consumers to order groceries and prepare food. This new accessibility means that delivery needs have increased at a rapid pace.

For companies that provide food delivery services, food safety is a top concern. Improving the efficiency and affordability of deliveries while also ensuring food safety is a complex challenge, especially as companies seek to scale their operations. To meet the challenge, a growing number of companies are relying on the tools provided by software as a service (SaaS), which is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted.

Embracing a New Food Safety Blueprint

As the field of food delivery was scaling up during the pandemic, FDA issued an initiative aimed at guiding the food industry in what the agency dubbed a “new era of smarter food safety.” This “blueprint” introduced four foundational principles that FDA hopes will “create a safer and more digital, traceable food system,” in part by encouraging food delivery companies to leverage technology solutions.

The four pillars proposed include:

• Tech-enabled traceability: Key to this pillar is the standardization and digitalization of the data and processes used to track the movement of food.
• Smarter tools and strategies for preventing and responding to outbreaks: FDA highlights the value of AI-driven tools for driving this component of food safety.
• Modernization of business models: Encouraging and exploring the use of innovative digital tools is highlighted as critical for bringing business models into the modern era of food delivery.
• Food safety culture: Developing strategies that help consumer to understand and use tech tools that drive greater food safety is seen by the FDA as an important step in establishing a food safety culture among businesses and consumers.

Leverage SaaS to Build New Systems

Companies seeking to implement these food safety pillars will find SaaS platforms to be invaluable tools. Essentially, these platforms give businesses access to powerful digital tools without the burden of maintaining, upgrading, or making a long-term commitment. They are developed by third-party companies that provide support and ongoing development.

Food delivery service providers can access SaaS platforms via the cloud or by integrating them into their existing systems, giving employees seamless access from essentially any location. These platforms can lead to cost savings, scalability, security, and support.

In the food delivery space, optimizing delivery processes is one of the practical applications of SaaS platforms. SaaS can integrate with delivery management tools to power delivery route efficiency. By drawing on traffic, weather, and order data, SaaS platforms can dynamically map out the most efficient routes, and by cutting down on delivery times, businesses can lower the risk that food will spoil during transport.

SaaS can also contribute to delivery optimization by facilitating enhanced customer communication. Miscommunication can lead to delivery delays that result in food spoilage. SaaS can reduce miscommunication by providing customers with easy access to communications channels and by automating the process of getting delivery updates to drivers.

Leveraging these systems for data analytics is another way to optimize delivery services, as the data gathered can be mined for insights into busy delivery zones, peak order times, driver performance, and other key metrics. By revealing inefficiencies in the delivery process and recommending changes, SaaS platforms can help companies develop more effective delivery strategies.

These platforms can also empower contactless delivery options, which minimize the risks of food contamination. By enhancing communication between customers and delivery services, SaaS can facilitate curbside pickups and lobby drop-offs. SaaS can also empower contactless payment systems.

In addition to ensuring that food is delivered with less risk of spoilage, SaaS platforms can also be used to improve driver safety by facilitating driver monitoring, which can be used to gather data on driver performance and road safety. AI-driven platforms can be used to analyze the data and develop safer routes and processes.

SaaS can also drive automated communication between delivery drivers and customers. As delivery times are updated, the system can notify customers, which allows drivers to stay focused on driving. Additionally, SaaS can be integrated with communication systems to provide drivers with hands-free communication, converting text messages to voice messages and enabling voice-activated commands.

New Levels of Flexibility

A key lesson learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is that customer needs can change rapidly and without warning as they did in the food delivery industry, in which the need for enhanced delivery capabilities and protocols increased dramatically in a very short period of time.

SaaS platforms provide companies with the versatility, agility, and efficiency to shift rapidly with evolving needs. By integrating them into current strategies, food delivery companies gain the capability to keep pace with consumer demands while also meeting key safety concerns.

Mammadov is CEO of Senpex Technology, a research and delivery service based in San Jose, Calif. He is a software development professional with more than 18 years of experience in enterprise solutions and mobile app development.

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The meal kit industry continues to grow rapidly, with a market size projected to reach $17.8 billion in 2023, compared with $13.50 billion in 2022, according to a report from The Business Research Company. But this relatively new sector of the food industry faces some additional growing pains.

For example, FSIS reported last year that ground beef products in HelloFresh meal kits may have been associated with reported illnesses related to E. coli infection. Additionally, the plant-based meal delivery service Daily Harvest voluntarily recalled its French Lentil and Leek Crumbles product after dozens of people who ate the product became sick. The Wall Street Journal reported that several had to undergo gallbladder surgery after eating the product.

The flurry of alarming news raised concerns about the regulatory environment surrounding meal kit delivery services. The biggest issue? The lack of targeted regulatory oversight. For now, the places where meal kit delivery and food safety intersect represent a sort of wild west of food production and distribution.

A positive development happened in December 2022, however, when a trio of federal agencies—USDA, FDA, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—issued a 49-page guide for how to ensure food safety in the third-party delivery (TPD) industry. The guidelines are not regulations, and companies do not have to abide by the suggestions, but they represent a good first step.

Either way, the industry’s lack of specific oversight does not mean that the products completely escape safety inspections. When food products of any kind are manufactured and packaged, they follow normal federal regulations and oversight. So, that vacuum-sealed bag of chicken thighs or the pouch of rice for a kung pao chicken meal does withstand USDA and FDA scrutiny, but once it’s packaged up into a box for shipping, it’s a different story.

Navigating the “Last Mile”

The main problem with meal kit food safety revolves around everything that happens once a kit leaves a company’s facility and heads to a person’s home—what FDA dubs the “last mile.”

With traditional food channels, such as grocery stores, the link between the manufacturing facility and the refrigerated shelves of the supermarket remains intact. The trucks are refrigerated if items require refrigeration. Inspectors scrutinize the trucks for signs of rodents or insects, and for holes in the truck that allow unwanted creatures and substances to enter. When the trucks reach their destinations, workers unload the boxes and direct them to their proper places, including freezers and refrigerators. All of this undergoes recordkeeping and regulatory oversight.

But with most meal kit deliveries, oversight vanishes once the products get packed into boxes. From there, companies use services such as UPS, the U.S. Postal Service, DHL, Amazon Prime, and other delivery outfits to ship boxes to customers. What else are the trucks carrying, other than the meal kits? Potentially hazardous substances, such as containers of Drano and dishwashing detergents, aerosol cans, nail polish remover, pesticides? It might all be packed helter skelter in a delivery truck. Once the products reach their destinations, often front porches and apartment lobbies, they sit until their owners whisk them away to their kitchens and ovens. This entire leg of the journey lacks FDA or USDA oversight.

The meal kit facility itself can stand as a source of concern. A wilderness of potentially unregulated control points there could affect food safety. For example, workers at a meal kit company could use unsanitary tables to repackage food they have received from suppliers, such as meat processors.

Still, I think the larger issue hinges on delivery. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted mail service, for example. Supply chain issues combined with labor shortages and increased reliance on home deliveries snarled delivery times. With many meal kits, packages are supposed to arrive within two to three days, and the cooling device they contain will be dry ice. But what happens if it takes five to seven days to get the package out? In a regulated environment, this would be rare, but in the world of meal kit delivery, it can be anyone’s guess.

The topic has been batted around in food safety circles for several years, especially regarding food delivery in general. Uber Eats and DoorDash have become prominent channels for food delivery, but the drivers have no training in food safety. Large companies that engage with food delivery, such as national pizza chains, often train their drivers in food safety and incorporate protocols and procedures surrounding packaging and temperature control that help protect food. But with TPD services, this training is absent. The same applies to meal kits. When it comes to the delivery part of the equation, training in food safety doesn’t happen.

Safeguarding Meal Kits Without Regulations

So far, the consequences of this lack of regulation have not been especially traumatic on a grand scale, but all it takes is one big food safety fail to change everything. I do believe FDA will eventually get more involved. Perhaps they will release more than just suggested guidelines, but right now, it’s such a petite sector of the food industry that it doesn’t dwell in the bullseye of the radar.

Until the meal kit industry submits to stiff oversight, I think these companies must continue to improve. One thing they can do is perform a risk assessment to determine what could be at risk. What if the package arrives one day late, or the ice doesn’t last as long as anticipated? What if the temperature outside is especially blazing? That’s where working with experts in food safety makes a difference—they understand the key variables and can help reduce risk as much as possible.

While consumers shouldn’t assume that meal kits delivered to their doorstep are safe upon arrival, the consumer does have the critical responsibility of cooking the food to its proper temperature. The risk for E. coli, for example, diminishes dramatically when food is cooked properly. Some people like to eat burgers and hear the cow moo. It’s never a safe idea, but overly rare burgers can be especially risky with meal kit delivery. Consumers don’t know how long a package has been in transit, what kind of truck was used, and how long the package sat outside the house. Given all of these factors, it’s vital for consumers to always follow directions closely for how to cook meal kit food.

The meal kit market is a new one, and I welcome it. These companies offer consumers access to new and thrilling dishes each week, compelling them to work on their cooking skills, improve their diets, and more. Although I will always champion this market, as with any new industry, regulations lag far behind, and safety is not as strong as it is in established sectors. I encourage the companies involved to ratchet up their attention to food safety, and closely review the new federal guidelines for meal kit safety.

As the industry matures, I also encourage FDA to pay increasing attention to this exciting new category within the food and beverage industry.

Williams is chief executive officer of ASI Food Safety, an auditing, training, and consulting company based in St. Louis, Mo. Reach him at twilliams@asifood.com.

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Keeping foods and beverages at recommended temperatures is a critical factor while they are in storage. But how do we make sure they are continuously stored correctly and are safe for the consumer? Any company that handles food must meet mandated requirements to safely store, move, and ship their goods. This requires checking temperature data at frequent intervals to make sure they meet FDA regulations for continuous storage conditions and provides proof that those thresholds weren’t exceeded.

When monitoring technology isn’t available, temperatures must be checked by someone who, with a clipboard or computer, walks to each freezer, refrigerator, or container, to make sure those storage places are kept at the correct temperatures. But human data collection also introduces the potential for human error. If a refrigeration unit goes down outside of the regularly scheduled temperature monitoring cadence, or if someone forgets to make the rounds, the product can quickly fall outside of temperature range that is designated to be safe. If the food is outside of the safe temperature range for an extended period, it must be disposed of, which could cost a food processor a tremendous amount of time and money.

Temperature Data Logging Devices

With an internet-connected data logging device, human error is far less of an issue. Technology-controlled data loggers help eliminate the miscalculations or errors that come with real-time monitoring. These data loggers allow warehouse and restaurant managers to easily collect temperature data without having to physically check in on storage. In addition, this data is stored on a server, which allows the user to show immediate proof of compliance with certain temperature-related regulations during audits.

Data loggers include a temperature monitoring sensor and data recorder that can send information to a cloud that is accessible to warehouse and restaurant managers. Monitoring schedules can also be set to any given interval specified by the individual setting up the logger—hourly or daily, for example. The logger can be set to send an immediate alert via text or email on anything that goes wrong, including specifics on what happened and identifying which storage facility or appliance needs attention.

There are many different types of data loggers and different functions that they serve. Portable data loggers allow you to monitor without a computer; some loggers come with a probing sensor that can be inserted into items such as meat to check internal temperatures and humidity monitors for food items such as certain types of produce that can be negatively affected by arid conditions, as well as those foods that require humidity to remain in peak condition.

Many data loggers can be ethernet connected, but they are also available via cellular, wifi, or Bluetooth connectivity. The communication type used will be based on the type of storage: transportation, warehousing, or in store. A Bluetooth or 4G data logger might be best for transporting goods and ethernet or wifi would be best for stationary storage, like that found at warehouses, restaurants, or grocery stores.

Case Report

A recent case from a U.S. meat distributor shows how temperature data loggers can help improve the efficiency and safety of a food handling operation.

To ensure the premium quality and safety of its inventory, which averages approximately $60 million worth of meat at one time, this distributor was required to manually measure its entire inventory frequently throughout the day. This process included having employees walk around the company’s storage facilities roughly 15 to 20 times per day to manually check and record multiple temperature gauges both inside and outside the facility’s freezers and refrigerators.

The many flaws of this approach included wasted time due to inefficiency and the introduction of human error, which included potentially missing a measurement cycle or misreading the gauges, leaving a refrigerator door open after reading a measurement, and other mishaps. All of these factors threatened the security and quality of the company’s inventory. It also made the required reporting of all temperature measurements to regulators, quality inspection organizations, and the grocers who purchase the meat more difficult.

The company engaged a data logging provider to leverage its technology to automate the storage/temperature management process. They purchased multiple wireless data loggers, which continuously measure temperature data and automatically uploaded it to a cloud service to be stored and viewed from computers and mobile devices, at any time and from anywhere. This data was ­simultaneously collected from multiple data loggers deployed in various locations, providing real-time reports to the company’s employees.

Using the data loggers, the distributor virtually mapped out each freezer/refrigerator to determine the temperature settings that are ideal for each room’s layout. The wireless functionality of the loggers allows employees to check the status of each loggers using an accompanying app. They can even tell immediately if a freezer or refrigerator door has been left open, causing temperatures to rise. This allows the company to ensure that proper conditions are being continuously maintained in real time.

One of the key activities in handling meat is taking inventory from a frozen to a thawed state safely. The temperature of the meat must be closely monitored throughout this process. With a data logger outfitted with a food probe made for measuring internal temperature, the company is also able to dial in on the exact parameters of this process. Overall, the company found a solution in which data loggers drastically improve the efficiency and accuracy of its inventory management.

Improve Productivity and Reduce Error

Making the relatively small investment in a data logger, which pales in comparison to the potential costs of product loss, can help eliminate errors and drastically improve productivity. The inaccurate data that can lead to spoiled food is no longer a threat. Protecting the consumer is the most important aspect of the food industry and data loggers can be a simple, cost-effective upgrade that fortifies safety procedures.

Knuth is president of TandD U.S.

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Most people don’t consider the daily convenience of freezers and refrigerators in their day-to-day lives; however, products that are kept cool and frozen must also be transported at precise temperatures, whether it be less-than-truckload (LTL) frozen e-commerce with direct doorstep delivery or full truckloads (FTL) for retail destinations such as grocery stores. Temperature-controlled transportation maintains cargo climate in transport through temperature-controlled shipping trailers, and cold chain logistics plays a role in just about every product we consume.

Refrigerated freight and goods are a growing industry these days. In fact, according to an industry report, “Refrigerated Goods Trucking Global Market Report 2022” from The Business Research Company, the industry is projected to reach more than $59 billion by 2025, up from $47.5 billion in 2020. With such a substantial market jump, many companies with perishable, frozen foods must focus on finding a cold chain logistics solution to get products to end customers in a safe and compliant fashion.

Luckily, outsourcing shipping operations to a third-party logistics (3PL) company saves you time and money, while allowing you to focus on other areas of your business, such as marketing and product innovations. Here are four things to consider when looking to invest in a 3PL partnership to move cold and frozen food products:

1. Find a 3PL with Temperature-Controlled Experience

Experience is important when outsourcing any aspect of your business, and a 3PL partnership for your temperature-sensitive shipping needs is no different. Having specialty freight needs such as temperature-controlled products and choosing the right 3PL provider can be an overwhelming process, but the right expert partner will not only take the anxiety and frustration out of your shipping processes, they’ll also save you money and time.

Experienced 3PLs have the wisdom to overcome regularly occurring challenges and will embrace new technologies such as:

• Remote, real-time, off-site temperature monitoring;
• Smart packaging;
• Cold blankets; and
• Special containment units such as portable chiller and freezer boxes.

2. Keep Cost Variations in Mind

Have you ever tried to move a refrigerator by yourself? If so, you know how difficult it can be due to the weight and design of thick, insulated walls and doors; however, this design is necessary to keep food cold and prevent waste through spoilage. Refrigerated trucks are also heavier and bulkier, leading to higher shipping costs at times.

Dry van freight can reach up to 110 degrees F, so, while they may be more efficient to move, the heavy refrigerated design elements are necessary in temperature-controlled freight. Reefer trailers are heavier than dry van and are therefore naturally more expensive to purchase and operate.

The weight of the equipment is not a major factor in increased costs for refrigerated equipment. Temperature-controlled trailers themselves are more expensive to purchase, so there is more capital expenditure required for a reefer fleet versus dry van trailers. Experienced reefer drivers require higher compensation as well, as those types of shipments need an additional level of driver knowledge to limit the possibility of potential product damage claims or regulatory challenges.

Because most refrigerated shipments are considered perishable, they have a higher probability of resulting in a claim in comparison to a dry shipment; this can impact insurance costs for the carrier. The reefer unit also requires fuel to operate the temperature controls, which further adds to higher costs for reefer carriers versus dry carriers.

Peak season also greatly impacts the circumstances—namely the price—of temperature-controlled equipment. The basic functions of supply and demand mean that spring and summer deliver a huge demand for cold chain logistical solutions. A limited number of reefer trailers are in circulation, and peak seasonal demands increase rates and makes capacity swings more dramatic compared with those that occur with dry freight.

3. Communication Is Key

It’s essential to communicate the product temperature needs to your freight carrier in advance and in detail. For example, ice cream must be kept at extremely cold temperatures to prevent melting and spoilage. Some frozen loads require continuous cooling, while others can be less prone to temperature sensitivity and can withstand slight temperature differentiations that can be maintained with a cycled reefer.

Successfully understanding the commodity entails knowing precisely how products need to be pre-cooled, loaded, shipped, and delivered. Effective and clear communication on temperature necessities helps avoid severely costly shipping mistakes and ensures quality products for end customers.

4. Hyperfocus on Food Safety

Food is a commodity that automatically comes to mind when it comes to cold chain logistics. But other products like sensitive technology equipment, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, flowers and growing bulbs, candles, paint, hazardous materials, and even products that are sensitive to humidity changes are often shipped with reefer trailers; however, not all products that require temperature-controlled solutions can be shipped together in the same container for a variety of reasons including the potential of cross contamination and differing temperature needs.

Reefer trucks are not intended to cool products, but are designed to help products retain constant temperatures. Regulations such as the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and the necessary yet strenuous oversight from entities like FDA make moving refrigerated and frozen food products a tricky and precise process. For example, the legislative extension of FSMA in the 2016 Sanitary Transportation Rules details requirements like sanitation and temperature recording throughout transit for both human and animal food products and is intended to be a “modern, risk-based framework for food safety.”

Partnering with a 3PL who prioritizes regulatory compliance to ensure safe products for both human and animal consumption is a safe business decision and a logistical relief for any shipper looking to transport temperature-sensitive products.

Transportation and logistics evolve rapidly, and the embrace of new technologies is critical to success. From farm to freezer to table, the right 3PL provider will alleviate your shipping stress by fulfilling your delivery needs.

Bahr is vice president of brokerage operations for TA Services, Inc. Reach him at cbahr@taservices.com.

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On February 24, Russia began an invasion of Ukraine. The conflict is having a devastating impact on the people of Ukraine and is having some impact on the food supply, specifically for emerging countries such as Egypt, Lebanon, and Turkey.

Ukraine, nicknamed the “breadbasket of Europe” for its rich, fertile soil, is a world leader in the production of items such as barley, maize, and wheat. In fact, Russia and Ukraine combined account for 30% of the world’s agricultural exports—most of which are shipped to these emerging countries whose dependence on the products are a top security matter.

“These food export shortfalls and rising U.S. dollar make it logistically and economically impossible for these countries to acquire enough grains, if at all, to feed their citizenry and may resort to reducing or eliminating their food subsidies which will inevitably lead to severe social unrest and political instability,” Albert Goldson, executive director of the Cerulean Council, a New York-based think tank, tells Food Quality & Safety.

During its combative efforts, the Russian navy has blockaded the Black Sea, through which 90% of Ukraine’s agricultural products are shipped, so there’s no way to get product out. “There are several maritime vessels, including two Chinese [ships], which are laden with goods but are not permitted to depart,” Goldson says. “Because of draconian sanctions, none are being transported to the E.U., which receives 6.4% of Ukraine’s agricultural exports.”

This is leading to both a shortage and higher costs. Numerous analysts have warned that the conflict could impact the production of grains and even double global wheat prices. While the number of people in the world who suffer from hunger has risen substantially over the last two years due to the pandemic, climate change, and other challenges, delaying these important products comes at a particularly vulnerable time.

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Whether you’re raising livestock, cultivating crops in the field or grove, processing fresh food into consumer and industry saleable products, or bringing product to market and stocking shelves, some part of your operation is dependent on inventory being used or sold prior to an expiration date. Failure to effectively manage your inventory results in waste and loss and can impact the safety of the products. To combat the challenges of adhering to date-coded inventory, organizations will implement first-in-first-out (FIFO) systems that assure the proper material or product is used at the proper time.

What Is a First-In-First-Out System?

So, what actually is a first-in-first-out warehousing system? It’s an inventory control method designed to properly rotate stock so that older products are distributed first, and newer products remain in inventory. It is widely used across all types of industries—including food, retail, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing—and applicable whether materials are stored on the shelf, in a dynamic warehouse, or in a refrigerator. It’s even more important in environments where there is a high volume of inventory with limited shelf life. 

Challenge: Food Using the First-In-First-Out Method

The first-in-first-out inventory control method is designed to be the simplest inventory valuation method, specifically designed for perishable products and widely used within the food production industry. Significant consequences can impact food manufacturers as a result of poor inventory management and noncompliance to a first-in-first-out system. Specifically, poor adherence to your FIFO system can result in food spoilage, disease, product recalls, and—ultimately—increased costs.

Food recalls in the U.S. have increased more than 10% from 2013 to 2018, according to a study by the Public Interest Research Group. The average food recall has a significant impact on an organization; a recall will damage a brand’s reputation, affect sales performance, and carry with it direct costs associated with the recall process itself. Additionally, an organization could also be hit with lawsuits and litigation and compliance-related penalties. According to the Consumer Brands Association, the average cost of a recall in the food manufacturing industry is north of $10 million.

Where Industry Has Failed

Today’s reality is that even the organizations that have a system in place struggle to control their first-in-first-out operation. Organizations that have implemented a FIFO system sometimes exhibit challenges related to manual scanning and verification processes, a heavy reliance on employee intervention that can result in human errors, and antiquated systems that lack the flexibility or logic to successfully manage a complex inventory strategy.

Then there are the organizations that have no FIFO system all together. This could be due to the overall complexities of implementing a system and technology to manage inventory. It could also be the scale of the operation that creates a significant challenge with FIFO compliance; large warehouse spaces, a diversified product catalog, and high inventory turnover all add complexity to inventory management. Additionally, some companies are generally challenged when it comes to gathering highly accurate data, and they struggle to turn the data they do have into actionable insights.

The Solution

While there are significant challenges to managing FIFO within the food manufacturing industry, organizations can leverage new developments in internet of things (IoT) technology to capture high-fidelity data capable of ensuring that a product can travel safely from field to fork.

Here are some ways in which organizations can digitally transform their inventory process:

• Serialized Asset Identification: The foundational building block of an effective FIFO system is identifying the data attributes of a specific asset. Traditional tagging methodologies limit the ability to do this. To enhance FIFO controls, organizations can introduce a serialized asset identification strategy through the implementation of ultra-high frequency (UHF) passive radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, which allows each asset to be identified with a unique serial number while preserving specific human readable label elements required in production. This serial identifier can be tied to various elements of master data, including date and time codes that drive FIFO logic. Once date and time codes are actualized, food manufacturers can begin planning production, inventory, and shipment at an individual asset level. In addition to UHF passive RFID, other types of serialized asset tagging technology are available including, ultra-wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, active RFID, and GPS. It’s important to qualify and select the right technology to match an organization’s individual objectives and business case.
• IoT Smart Sensors: To gather FIFO data, it’s important to deploy the IoT technology necessary to capture the serialized assets. Historically, organizations have relied on their employees and a manual scanning process to capture inventory data. Yet, at scale, this becomes difficult to manage and can result in either increased time and labor or a significant decrease in accuracy. To enhance inventory control, numerous forms of IoT technology are available that will automate the data collection process while maintaining or, in many cases, increasing the accuracy of data collection. Types of technology commonly deployed are UHF passive RFID antennas, including dock door and choke point portals, overhead antennas, and handheld devices, UWB beacons, vision systems, and active RFID beacons. All are designed to be autonomous and require minimal process change or human intervention.
• Temperature and Control Monitoring: In addition to serialized assets and smart sensing technology, companies are beginning to monitor the temperature of perishable assets, either through shipment or upon receipt into refrigerated warehouses. This has become one of the most important tools in the perishable food market due to the sensitivity to high temperatures and relative humidity of some products. Until now, this has been an incredible manual process and receiving data in real time was challenging. Now, it’s possible to capture this data through reporting systems that allow retailers and manufacturers to access insights quickly.
• Cloud-Based Software Technologies: Through the introduction of serialized asset identification and IoT Smart sensors to capture data, organizations have the data necessary to control the FIFO system; however, this data can quickly become irrelevant if organizations don’t transform it into insights and then into action. Cloud-based software technology can help to manage the vast amounts of data captured and use backend logic to actualize that data in a way that allows users to quickly identify the proper inventory to use. SaaS applications will do the heavy lifting and present the needed action to users through a user interface on a smartphone, handheld tablet, or other device with access to internet connection. Backend logic will pull back the oldest serialized inventory of a specific type indicated by a user; then the user interface will display the oldest three assets in descending order. The employee can then select the oldest inventory available for use.

Impact

By implementing IoT technology to enhance a FIFO inventory system, a food manufacturer can significantly impact the supply chain as well as the overall performance of the organization. A major positive impact of effectively managing FIFO inventory controls using IoT is quality control improvement, which can be seen throughout a food production process. Food manufacturers can realize an overall reduction in foodborne illness by shipping or consuming inventory based on the most appropriate date. As we know, this type of reduction can have a positive impact on brand perception and limit additional direct costs and lost sales. Organizations reduce the chance of product recalls, which also preserve their overall brand loyalty. Additionally, implementing a smart FIFO system can significantly reduce waste due to food spoilage. This can be one of the most costly and unnecessary challenges that impacts an organization; however, by enhancing visibility and increasing FIFO control using IoT, organizations can keep their warehouses from becoming cost centers.

A technology-driven FIFO system using serialized asset identification and high-fidelity data also allows food manufacturers to schedule workforce based on pack out. Through this, a workforce can be right-sized and specific shifts can be accurately staffed based on actual production demand. Gone are the days of idle shifts, employees waiting for mature product to ship, and manufacturers wasting product because they don’t have employees available to ship it.

Through effective inventory control methods, manufacturers can meet customer requirements. Retailers desire manufacturing partners with a reputation of quality product, on-time delivery, and high brand recognition.

Ruhaak is a strategic account executive at Surgere, a supply chain software organization based in Green, Ohio. Reach him at brian.ruhaak@surgere.com.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on many U.S. industries, and the food industry is no exception. In particular, food supply chain and safety issues have mounted as the pandemic has worn on.

“Food manufacturers have had to juggle a lot, including maintaining a sufficient number of qualified workers, having raw materials available, and meeting increasing demand for products,” says Martin Bucknavage, MS, MBA, CFS, senior food safety extension associate and program team leader of industrial food safety and quality in the department of food science at Penn State University in University Park.

Workforce availability has been among the biggest challenges. “Initially, there were worker absences as well as facility shutdowns related to COVID illnesses or prevention,” Bucknavage says. “Now, facilities are facing worker shortages due to hiring difficulties along with higher turnover levels.”

Raw material availability is another huge challenge for many companies, because specific ingredients can be difficult to obtain. “Again, workforce availability is the driver,” Bucknavage says. “This impacts a company’s production scheduling and forecasting.”

Many logistical issues also exist, whether it’s delays of imported goods getting unloaded at shipping ports or trucking issues impacting the movement of raw materials or finished products, Bucknavage says.

Consequences

As a result of the pandemic, labor shortages have occurred at many stages of the farm-to-table process, including at production, food safety, quality assurance, and supervisory/management levels. “This could result in a regression or de-prioritization of food safety culture, which inevitably results in more product contamination events and product recalls,” says Steve Kluting, Esq., national director of product recall for food and agribusiness at Gallagher, a commercial insurance and risk management firm in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Food manufacturing facilities have had to increase wages to retain and attract workers, says Glenn Drees, CSP, CPCU, managing director of food and agribusiness at Gallagher in Cincinnati, Ohio. Shipping and logistics costs are expected to keep rising in 2022. In some instances, certain products are unavailable or are in short supply. All of these costs are passed down throughout the supply chain, resulting in higher consumer prices.

John L. Kent, PhD, clinical professor of supply chain management at Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, anticipates a lack of consistency. “Order size variation from anywhere in the supply chain, including purchases by end consumers, creates a bullwhip effect, with peaks and valleys of inventory,” he says. “Prior to 2020, supply chain professionals had almost perfected most of the farm-to-fork food supply chains. Other than weather, a strike, or food safety recall, not much variation occurred because well-managed supply chains with trusted partners were established.”

Another effect of the pandemic has been that many food companies have had to reformulate certain foods and haven’t been able to produce certain SKUs because they couldn’t obtain some ingredients from international sources, says David Acheson, MD, former associate commissioner for foods and current CEO and president of The Acheson Group, a global food safety and public health consulting team based in Bigfork, Mont. In particular, China, a significant supplier, experienced many logistical issues and labor challenges due to COVID-19.

Furthermore, many ships outside of major ports such as Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., were unable to get to port and unload due to pandemic-related issues, Dr. Acheson says.

Ensuring Product Availability

So how can a food manufacturer guarantee that there’s a sufficient supply of their product? According to Dr. Acheson, food companies should avoid having a sole source supplier whenever possible. “If a sole supplier has a problem such as a labor shortage or breakdown at their facility, a manufacturer that needs that product will be in a pickle,” Dr. Acheson says.

To prevent this from occurring, Dr. Acheson recommends having at least two suppliers for any critical ingredient. “But that is easier said than done,” he says. “A food company needs to vet and qualify suppliers.”

Some companies are choosing to act as their own suppliers by sourcing their own needs, says Bob Grote, CEO of Grote Company, a food equipment manufacturer in Columbus, Ohio, who adds that vertical integration, which was prevalent a century ago, may be rising again. “Serving as your own supplier helps reduce the unpredictability of relying on outside suppliers, which is what some are experiencing now,” he says.

Another strategy to avoid limited inventory is to stockpile critical ingredients; however, this can only be done if a product is shelf stable and the manufacturer has sufficient warehouse storage. “This can be problematic because it can tie up substantial capital in ingredients just sitting there,” Dr. Acheson says. Thus, for economic reasons, many food companies have done the opposite—they’ve shifted to a just-in-time kind of approach in which they don’t carry a lot of ingredient inventory, making them vulnerable to any delivery delays.

Having a nimble supply chain is the key to ensuring product availability, Bucknavage says. This includes establishing secondary suppliers, obtaining assurances for supply availability and stability, having back-up production schedules, and communicating with customers on product availability. An important part of this is recognizing the limitations of internal resources, specifically labor.

By planning ahead and thinking through what inventory they may need, Grote says processors can keep up with product demand. “Conventional wisdom may be to keep inventory lower, but in our current business climate, it can be better to buy more,” he says. “Without inventory to sell, processors can’t count on revenue. Buying what’s needed from suppliers means production can continue.”

Success Stories

Some companies tout success in ensuring product availability. Ryan Hanan, chief operating officer at Hanan Products in Hicksville, N.Y., has employed several strategies, many of which were in place long before the pandemic. “As a family company, we’ve developed deep relationships with customers who trust we’re doing the best for them; they have remained loyal even during pressing times,” he says. “We’re nimble and can take actions such as overstocking, which helps eliminate dependence on incoming materials in real time.”

Hanan has also been successful in securing future contracts, which locks in a price for a set period—granting a time of stability. Even future contracts have been slapped with additional increases, however, for arbitrary costs such as trucking fees, pallet costs, and gas fees, which Hanan Products must pay.

Being a smaller company has its advantages, Hanan says.  For example, it’s much easier for a smaller company to receive one pallet of raw materials when an ingredient is in short supply than it is for a big company to receive 20 pallets in that situation.

Some measures that Pat Schwartz, vice president of product and operations at Perfect Keto, a food manufacturer in Austin, Texas, has taken to mitigate supply chain risk include placing larger blanket purchase orders to ensure proper stock and raw material procurement and providing six to 12-month rolling forecasts to its suppliers and manufacturers to ensure proper supply and production planning.

Schwartz has carried more inventory than what’s ideal and has reformulated certain products with more stable supply chain ingredients. “We’ve put more emphasis on looking upstream into our supply chain to understand where things come from, what ports they go through, how quickly we can re-supply, and how stable the supply chain is for future needs,” he says.

Food Safety Concerns

Along with food supply shortages, food safety concerns have also increased during the pandemic. Producing food safely requires individuals who work in food lines to perform their jobs well. “Labor shortages forced a greater reliance on inexperienced temp workers, who can increase food safety risk,” Dr. Acheson says. “New workers don’t know what they don’t know. They aren’t necessarily careless, but an experienced employee may see something that doesn’t look or feel right and bring it to their supervisor’s attention, whereas a new employee may not.”

Proper sanitation at a food production plant also plays an integral role in food safety. “There are often labor challenges with sanitation, because it’s such a tough job,” Dr. Acheson says. “Cleanliness is one of the first things that gets squeezed when there are labor shortages.” For example, the amount of time spent on cleaning may be shortened, or there may be a greater number of days between cleanings.

Along these lines, Grote says that labor safety and sanitation standards are at risk with new employees consistently cycling through a plant. “Training and, in some cases, retraining, is of greater importance,” he says. “Increasing the use of robotics may result in more sanitary processing conditions overall.”

Shortages can result in desperate measures being taken. “If you can’t meet a customer’s requests, it can be tempting to take shortcuts—such as substituting ingredients for lower quality ingredients or something that looks the same but isn’t,” Dr. Acheson says. “That may be done without any thought to causing harm, but it could occur.”

Schwartz saw a decline in in-person regulatory visits and onsite audits and an increase in virtual audits in 2020 and 2021, a situation that may continue well into 2022. “This can raise concerns about an audit’s quality and information being collected,” he says. “Manufacturers might only show you what they want to show you.”

Impact on the Food and Beverage Industries

The food supply chain crisis during the pandemic brought numerous issues to the forefront, including increased prices, increased demand for food, and a lack of inventory for necessary essential items. “E-commerce will not slow down; the industry has been forced to transform out of necessity, with technology supporting greater safety and convenience, contactless shopping, and delivery options—which all depend on high-quality interoperable, standardized data,” says Liz Sertl, senior director of retail grocery community engagement at GS1 US in Ewing Township, N.J. The information standards organization brings industry communities together to solve supply chain problems through the adoption and implementation of GS1 Standards.

Due to COVID-19, Daniel Hooker, MBA, senior lecturer and director of applied economics and management/food industry management at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., says lower velocity brands and products have been discontinued to focus on higher velocity products. “This will be short term, and then innovation will return,” he says. In addition, he expects larger and more financially stable retailers and manufacturers to thrive and grow—potentially squeezing out smaller players.

Grote expects less of a demand for traditional dining-in at restaurants, while the demand for food-to-go may continue to increase. He also foresees an increase in prices, a reduction in SKUs, an increase in preservatives used to keep food fresh longer, and a continued move toward automation.

Greater Impacts on Certain Sectors

The meat industry and produce sectors have had the greatest disruptions from the pandemic. “Long supply chains for cattle and pig slaughter take longer to work out,” Drees says. “It can take years to recover from reduced herds. A lack of workers for produce harvest has led to some crops rotting in fields.”

Dr. Acheson says that the meat and poultry industries were hit hard early in the pandemic because they were more reliant on manual labor. “These manufacturing facilities are designed deliberately for people to work in close proximity on a processing line; people can work very efficiently that way.” This led to some meat and poultry plants closing due to COVID-19—more than any other supplier—and labor shortages remain a big challenge for many large manufacturers. 

Meanwhile, longer shelf-life items such as frozen foods have become more popular, most likely because they can be stored longer than perishable foods. Hooker expects this trend to continue and grow in the near term.

The pandemic also led more people to cook at home, which resulted in increased grocery store purchases. “Behaviors changed because restaurants closed down or were operating under restrictions,” Grote says. Behavior changes such as these mean that processors have to consider how they package what they sell; it may mean packaging meat in smaller or different portions, for example.

The Outlook

In the short term, worker shortages and turnover are expected to continue. “This will push companies to place greater attention on training, especially on aspects that affect food safety,” Bucknavage says. “Hiring practices will continue to evolve as competition for workers, especially skilled workers, becomes more intense.”  Without well-trained, capable employees, particularly those who oversee and manage food safety, the risk of issues is higher.

Along with this concern, Bucknavage says that raw material supply issues will continue as these suppliers face ongoing logistical and workforce issues. Companies have learned to adapt to a less-stable supply chain; newer procedures will likely become part of normal operations. Companies have refined their product mixes with a focus on simplification in an effort to avoid empty slots on store shelves.

Finally, Bucknavage says inflationary pressures will impact customer purchases as prices rise due to increasing ingredient prices, operational costs (e.g., employee wages, energy), and logistical costs. As consumer buying power is impacted by inflation, demand for certain products will change, impacting long-term forecasting and scheduling.

Grote believes that inflation could affect the food industry more than supply chain issues, as it may remain a factor for a longer term. “We could expect prices to rise for a few more years,” he says. Inflation affects everything. If processors need to spend more to manufacture products, those costs are passed on to consumers.”

Coming full circle, if the pandemic has caused workers to leave their jobs, might inflation cause them to return to those jobs? “We’ll have to wait and see,” Grote says.

The post Why the Food Supply Chain Is Strained appeared first on Food Quality & Safety.

Many farms and restaurants are facing financial peril during the current economic climate. The trucking industry has been heavily disrupted as well. With the economy so variable by country, state, and city, no player in the farm-to-market chain can afford losses caused by waste in transit. Here’s how the remote, mobile Internet of Things (IoT) can reduce losses in transit and help restaurants get what they need to stay in business.

What’s at stake for farmers, restaurants, and truckers? Operators in all three industries are cutting costs and trying to find efficiencies that will allow them to stay in business. In the U.S. House of Representatives, some lawmakers from both parties say small farms need more federal help to cope with the reduction in demand from schools, restaurants, and farmers’ markets. Restaurants hit hard in the spring by closures are facing another round of shutdowns in many areas. And in May, Reuters reported that new freight contracts were down 60% to 90% worldwide, forcing many small trucking firms to compete hard on rates in order to keep their drivers on the road.

Reducing Food Spoilage with Remote Mobile Cold-Chain Monitoring

Approximately one-third of the world’s food is lost or wasted yearly. According to the U.N. Food Program, up to half of temperature-sensitive produce is ruined after harvest, “primarily because of lack of or inadequate access to cold-chain logistics.” As produce exports from developing countries increase, and as climate change creates new temperature management challenges for distributors and transport companies, the need for affordable, easy-to-implement cold-chain monitoring technology will keep growing.

Transportation temperature monitoring solutions are already available, thanks to mobile IoT technology. It only takes a few minutes to outfit a reefer trailer with wireless temperature sensors that feed real-time readings to a mobile data gateway. Trucking company managers can then view a continuous feed of data on their phones, tablets, or computers that shows the temperature inside the reefer at any time, to make sure the cold chain remains in effect.

Managers can also set thresholds for each sensor, based on the correct temperature range for the items in transit, so that they get alerts if the temperature inside the reefer rises or falls outside the acceptable level. These immediate notifications allow managers to reach out to the driver to try to solve the issue or to pull the items if they’ve been out of the proper temperature range too long, to avoid a costly and damaging recall later.

Transit companies can also, if they choose, allow clients such as restaurant managers or chefs to log in to see data on their incoming shipments, to demonstrate quality control. Aside from tracking real-time temperature data, this cold-chain monitoring technology builds a database of historical sensor readings that managers can review to spot areas where improvements are needed to maintain the right temperature. This ability to monitor and continuously improve cold chain compliance—with the data to back it up—gives trucking companies a competitive advantage with clients who need to ship temperature-sensitive food items.

Protecting Fragile Food Products with Remote Vibration Sensors

Out-of-range temperatures aren’t the only threat to produce in transit. Physical shocks caused by rough roads, sudden stops, or lane changes and containers shifting inside the trailer can crush or damage food items. But even an uneventful haul can harm the quality of produce, due to persistent vibrations of lower amplitude in the truck that can change the appearance or taste of foods such as lettuce and berries.

There’s a mobile IoT solution for this problem, too: wireless vibration sensors that relay data to a mobile gateway in the same way that wireless temperature sensors do. Both types of sensors can operate on the same network in a trailer to provide a clearer picture of conditions in transit. As with temperature sensors, vibration sensors can send alerts when vibrations are out of range for optimal produce quality. The historical sensor data can help managers determine which kinds of trailers, routes, and packaging provide the best protection from damaging shocks and vibrations, and which need improvement.

Tracking Shipments and Total Transit Time with GPS

Timing of deliveries is important for restaurants. It’s also important for quality control, as longer transport times increase the likelihood of food waste. Knowing exactly when items will arrive allows chefs to plan menus that maximize available food when it’s freshest, to reduce food and financial waste.

When location tracking data is appended to real-time temperature and vibration readings, transport company managers can see where problems with shocks and cold chain compliance happen. That can allow them to address problems on their end or work with farmers to come up with a solution.

Less Food Waste, More Savings—and a Competitive Advantage

With mobile IoT-enabled cold-chain, vibration, and location data available in real time and in graphs and reports, trucking companies can see and share their metrics for produce quality protection on the road. That proof of quality can help small trucking firms gain a competitive edge, help farmers get more product safely to market, and help restaurants get more value for their food budget.

Almgren is chief executive officer of Swift Sensors. Reach him at ralmgren@swiftsensors.com.

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In April 2020, Tyson Foods took out full-page ads in The New York Times and The Washington Post warning that the food supply chain was breaking in the era of COVID-19. Experts pointed out that the ads were focused on COVID-19–related closures of meat processing plants, that Tyson was being alarmist, and that Americans were not going to run out of food anytime soon.

While the panic buying seen early on during the pandemic and concerns that the food supply chain was “breaking” have largely subsided, they did spark overdue conversations about the topic: The food chain is fragile—and it’s a problem we need to tackle.

Here are some of the weak links in our food supply chain and suggestions for how we can fix them to optimize the food industry—during COVID-19 and beyond.

Too Many Data Silos

Let’s take a look at our food supply chain. We have more than 200,000 companies trading with one another, 3.7 million farms, and 45,000 grocery stores. If you’ve ever managed a handful of employees, or even tried to get a few friends to agree on a restaurant, you can imagine how difficult it is to get all of these moving parts to work together.

No matter how they order and receive products, supply chain managers must juggle multiple supply chains, third-party vendors, and more to ensure that the end customer gets what they want, when they want it. Storage, inventory control, and transportation also need to be perfectly orchestrated to make this happen. Crises, industry shifts, shifting weather patterns, changes in the environment, and store promos only add to the confusion.

Right now, all of this is precariously balanced on top of outdated or clunky communication systems such as email, phone, and paper purchase orders, all of which keep businesses from accessing valuable data about sales and consumer trends, among other information.

High complexity and low data are a mix that can hurt any business. In his book The Complexity Crisis (Platinum Press, 2008), John Mariotti says that more data is often accompanied by a “better granularity regarding the consequences of the amount and nature of the complexity, and its relative impact on profitability.”

Right now, [the supply chain] is precariously balanced on top of outdated or clunky communication systems [that] keep businesses from accessing valuable data about sales and consumer trends.

Increasing Costs Disrupt the Food Supply Chain

Higher costs amount to lower profits, and these costs disrupt entire food supply chains as they are passed to the next partner in the chain.

Higher fuel prices and labor costs are big cost drivers as well, but here are some of the more controllable expenses that can cut into profit margins for food manufacturers:

• Poor planning and inefficient routing, which lead to wasted fuel and product loss;
• Stocking or stockpiling inventory, which ties up capital and can lead to food waste when the goods are not sold;
• Choosing the wrong suppliers due to lack of good data around supplier prices and reliability; and
• Overproduction due to the lack of visibility around consumer demand.

The complexity referenced earlier is a major culprit in each of these expenses. The less we know about what is happening with our partners, customers, and the market at large, the more we are reduced to making educated guesses about routing, stocking, and production.

Slow Shipping, Unsafe Storage

Getting food where it needs to be in a timely manner, keeping it fresh during transportation and storage, and handling it efficiently are a challenging set of tasks, especially for smaller businesses. One misstep along this chain, and the end result can be ruined product and/or fines.

For example, keeping fresh food refrigerated during transport isn’t cheap. Even if refrigerated trucks were inexpensive, the shortage of long-haul truckers drives up transportation costs, while also increasing the risk that products spend so much time in storage or transit that they lose their freshness.

Customers don’t care about their supplier problems; they just want the products to arrive on time to satisfy their customers. Late or incomplete deliveries are a big problem, with the U.S. food industry losing $15 to $20 billion in sales annually due to out-of-stock or unsellable products.

For this reason, retailers require food producers to hit their “must arrive by” dates or incur a fee. Less-than-truckload shipping can help smaller producers hit these delivery deadlines, but the fact that their products are loaded and unloaded more frequently, and that they’re transported along with non-food items, leads to more breakage and contamination. This creates a vicious cycle.

These are only a few of the transportation challenges smaller food businesses face. Larger and international businesses have challenges of their own, such as port congestion, that can delay deliveries.

Strengthening the Fragile Food Supply Chain

What do all of these issues—complexity, shipping and storage problems, and increasing costs—have in common? They can all be solved with more transparency among partners in the food supply chain.

We have the data that can help us streamline the entire food supply chain. Now, we need to implement the data-sharing, communication, and forecasting technologies that other industries have been using for years.

The food supply isn’t at the breaking point yet. Let’s put the tech in place to ensure it won’t get there.

Traasdahl is the founder and CEO of Crisp.

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Data present the foundational elements for any good quality assurance program. Collected process data can tell food manufacturers how their lines are performing, when there’s a concerning issue or trend, and whether or not products ultimately meet quality and safety standards. With so much insight waiting to be uncovered, it comes as no surprise that most plant-floor teams would want to collect as much data as they can from their various gauges and other equipment.

What that data collection typically involves is far from ideal. Often, you’ll find operators furiously scribbling down measurements onto paper. Some input their handwritten data into spreadsheets. But, given the time-consuming nature of these largely paper-based methods and the sheer amount of information they collect, teams have little time to understand what their data are telling them while production is in process. Thus, many relegate themselves to only a final review after finished goods come off the line.

The challenge with post-production reviews, though, is that if an issue is discovered, teams must shift into firefighting mode, searching far and wide to corral the necessary papers and spreadsheets to understand what went wrong upstream and then (hopefully) contain the problem. Such constant firefighting isn’t the best use of quality and process data, not when manufacturers want to—and can—glean greater operational insights through more advanced, automated means.

Today, food manufacturers can automate many aspects of quality management on the plant floor, including not only data collection, but also process monitoring and even analysis with modern statistical process control (SPC) software. These cloud-based solutions enable quality teams to break away from reactive firefighting and enact real-time, proactive quality control and process improvements.

Automate Data Collection and Issue Detection

In the April/May issue of Food Quality & Safety in an article entitled “Temperature and Humidity” (p. 53), I explained that SPC is an industry standard methodology for measuring and controlling the manufacturing process that involves taking collected process data and plotting it to graphs against pre-determined control limits to identify process variations and ensure optimal quality and consistency. But, rather than having quality professionals produce these graphs themselves, SPC software can do the heavy lifting for them, automatically generating data visualizations for users to review in role-based dashboards. All that remains is for quality professionals to interpret and act on the presented performance information.

Taking full advantage of SPC software and these data visualizations requires manufacturers to drop the paper and pencil and adopt new methods for real-time data collection that goes directly into the system’s own unified data repository. SPC software has advanced backend analysis engines that plot data as it comes in. So, when teams get real-time process- and quality-related data streams into this repository, the data instantly become actionable by identifying sources of process variation, enabling timely detection and remediation of quality issues while production is in process, not after. No more firefighting.

Notably, there are numerous solutions now available for manufacturers to facilitate real-time data collection. There are smart devices, part of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), that can wirelessly collect all the data you need off the production line. Some SPC software directly integrates with a manufacturer’s digital measurement devices, capturing and storing readings into a centralized database.

For those who would prefer to have their operators perform data collection and entry, SPC software can also provide automated notifications to remind them when their next data collections are due. When operators are recording their measurements, pre-defined parameters within the software can enforce best practices, reduce risk of entry error or missed information, and ensure standardization of data entry, with standardization being critical if manufacturers want to conduct any form of comparative analysis between lines, products, or sites.

Automated Alerts & Problem Resolution

From wireless devices to automated notifications, no matter the method for facilitating data collection, they all benefit quality teams at the end of the day. Operators don’t have to worry about getting timely, accurate process information. They also don’t have to glance at the clock constantly to ensure that they make their rounds for quality checks.

Similarly, when it comes to monitoring and identifying process variations from the data, operators don’t have to sit and stare at their dashboards and charts waiting for something out of the ordinary to pop up. That’s because—in addition to role-based dashboards that present the most important information to users according to their job—SPC solutions can automatically catch potentially harmful events and send alerts to the appropriate team members—alerting them to go in and review the problem. It may be that a process is out of specification or there was a missed or late data collection.

From their dashboards, operators can readily see if they have a queue of events in need of attention (see Figure 1). Defined workflows then take the guesswork out of problem resolution with prescribed actions that walk them through the necessary remedial steps, ensuring consistency in the proper handling of issues. Additional documentation noted on each event can also provide contextual information to prevent reoccurrences.

Dashboards for quality or plant managers would be slightly different; they would offer more oversight across operations, including events that are currently outstanding and team members who need to take action. This fosters better accountability so that individual events are quickly addressed before they escalate into larger quality concerns.

Automate the Grade

When quality teams are free from worrying about firefighting, missed data collections, and constant process monitoring, they can dedicate more time to examining their data to find ways to improve their processes and prevent issues, as well as to prioritize where to expend their resources. At the same time, though, trying to figure out where these opportunities lie can be overwhelming, given the huge volume of data coming from the production line. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack or digging for buried treasure without the benefit of a treasure map.

“Stream grading” is one innovative way that SPC software can help manufacturers dig through the deluge of data and surface process improvement knowledge. Stream grading is a function in which the software automatically processes unique streams of data from different products, lines, and features and applies SPC methods to provide a letter-number grade representing the expected and potential yield for a specific stream. When manufacturers standardize on an SPC software and centralize data collection across multiple plants, they can achieve enterprise visibility to compare the grades (i.e., performance) between sites and reveal opportunities for global improvements.

Here’s how the letter grades work: A grade of A, B, or C indicates the potential yield of each stream. In other words, how wide is the distribution compared to the specification limits? Grade A means the stream’s distribution is very skinny and could potentially fall well within the specification limits. Conversely, grade C indicates the stream’s distribution does not fit within the specification limits. For the numbers, a rank of 1, 2, or 3 represents the stream’s actual yield performance—in other words, how well the distribution is centered within the specification limits. A value of 1 means that the process is perfectly centered, 2 means it is off center, and 3 shows that it is way off center.

Combined, an A1 grade is a high-yield stream that is meeting its full potential, while a C3 grade is a low-yield stream that is not meeting its potential. The greatest opportunities for improvement are the A3 grades, which demonstrate that a stream is highly capable but is currently very off center. Small adjustments here can present huge returns in process improvement. The grading’s simple letter–number combinations (and color coding) make it easy for quality professionals to quickly uncover insights buried within their data and, in an agile way, prioritize their efforts and resources for continuous improvement.

The function can also go a step further, allowing users to select a stream and drill down, layer by layer, to access the granular information that’s behind the grade. From this vantage point, quality teams can understand the root cause of poor performance and determine which fixes are the easy wins, requiring minimal effort but possibly leading to significant improvements in operations. For instance, the fix might be something as simple as a tweak to some equipment settings. Other corrective measures may be more expensive, such as replacing the equipment entirely. Insight into root causes and the level of effort required for improvement can help manufacturers better plan their budgets based on return on investment and, ultimately, lead to better resource management across lines, processes, products, and the enterprise.

At its core, automation through SPC software is all about empowering quality teams, allowing them to think and act more efficiently. The key is for quality professionals to receive the information they need, when they need it. It’s about enabling direct, timely action on the plant floor, effective comparisons of process output against specifications and control limits, and strategic, data-driven decisions. Those who choose to automate their quality management and analysis can go beyond the piles of paper and the endless firefights of yesterday and truly see the meaning behind their data—and the best actions to take in response to that data—to optimize product quality and manufacturing operations.

Wise is vice president of digital food safety at InfinityQS International, Inc. Reach him at swise@infinityqs.com.

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