Friday, November 22, 2013

The need for better control of the food manufacturing process, through #MES




I read an article today on SmartBrief that said FDA recalls more than doubled in this quarter, primarily due to undeclared allergens. Here is the article link:

http://www.smartbrief.com/news/gma/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=C815E5BB-7A9C-4A0B-B3F4-8A02B272EFA5&copyid=8C2DB16D-CFB4-41CA-A7BB-13A33D45D6ED&campaign=googleplus&ref=googleplus8C2DB16D-CFB4-41CA-A7BB-13A33D45D6ED


What's troubling about this are the lack of controls that the processors still have--perhaps labeling errors, or batch genealogy shortfalls, or the ability to track and trace materials going through transformation.  These solutions are available--and have been--for years now.  But the uptake, especially for smaller manufacturers, is slight.  Is it the IT resources required?  Education on the solution?  Ability to match their specific operational needs?  Whatever the case, we as industry leads need to address, and help these processors, in improving their supply chain to ensure consumers of  safe food sources.

We at Invensys have for years offered Manufacturing Execution Systems that provide that infrastructure and organizational rigor, documenting, managing, and informing workers of good manufacturing practices and enforcing compliant operations.  So if you are a small food producer, contact me and let us help you gain that compliance for your processes. 

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