Food ERP: Does your Industry Need it?

The reality is that the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) has far-reaching impact. No food company in the United States nor any food company that does business with the United States (including many of here in Canada) is left unaffected by the act. Believe it or not, the beverage industry is impacted as well, and this includes alcoholic beverages. With such a wide reach, companies need to understand that they are very likely affected by these rules and should be considering enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for their businesses to help in meeting them. This food ERP can be essential in keeping up with the processes and information needed to uphold the FSMA’s regulations. To understand the timeframes and deadlines for compliance of these regulations, visit here.

How does the FSMA affect companies? For starters, it is important to realize that the nature and size of a company correlates to how the act applies to it in either direct or indirect ways. These same factors also impact how stringent the compliance schedule will be. Let’s take a closer look at all shapes and sizes of businesses to see the affect the FSMA has on them.

The Smallest of Food Manufacturing Businesses- Local Producers

Very small businesses, such as local food producers, are largely exempted from the regulations if their revenue is less than $500,000 annually and results from primarily local sales. The reason for the exemption is the FSMA’s goal to preserve local food systems and keep them local. Even still, state and local regulations must be met, and evidence must be provided by these producers demonstrating state or local certification. In addition, the name of these small producers and farms must be displayed prominently throughout marketing and product labels.

Small Businesses in Food Manufacturing

For those companies that expand the majority of their sales outside of their local area and make more than $500,000 per year in revenue, compliance with FSMA is mandated. The caveat is that they receive more time to reach compliance buying them a year to 18 months to meet regulations.

Large Companies and Multinational Food Manufacturing Corporations

The larger the company, the tighter the margins. For large companies and corporations, the FSMA regulations apply in full, and the deadlines for compliance are not extended. The stakes are high to be in compliance and to do this quickly.

No matter what the size of your business, having food ERP to help with record keeping, tracking, accounting, and other tasks will be essential to your company’s ability to be FSMA compliant. In essence, it will help in getting the focus right. This focus should now be on risk assessment, food safety, record keeping, and transparency. For food manufacturing companies large enough that they are not exempt from the rules but lack resources of major and multinational companies, this is particularly the case. ERP for food industry businesses can be an integral part of successful compliance.

For more information on ERP for food industry companies, consider Sage EM (formerly known as Sage X3). This ERP for food industry software will help you avoid overhead while simultaneously expanding compliance and transparency programs. To learn more about the FSMA, food ERP that can help it compliance, and if your company is affected, download our whitepaper “What Food Manufacturers Need to Know about the Food Safety Modernization Act.”

Our small and dedicated team specializes in helping small-to-medium size Canadian businesses and non-profits select and adapt Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resource Management (HRMS) and IT services. With IWI’s 15 years in business and 100 plus years of combined experience, IWI has helped hundreds of manufacturing, distribution, and financial service companies gain efficiency, grow, and lower their operating costs.

With the unique combination of industry knowledge and diverse technology expertise, IWI provides cost-effective solutions to help clients gain a competitive edge. As a Sage business partner, servicing the Greater Toronto Area, we support evaluation and implementation of operations and finance systems to optimize technology, ensuring high return on investment with a quick and painless transition to new software.