Wonderware MES Strengths: Track, Trace, Genealogy

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Expert: Food trends to watch as population grows, with comments

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/top-stories/headlines/market-trends/id40177/expert-column-the-future-of-our-food/

This article from Progressive Grocer aptly captures the needs and demands of customers as the food supply chain becomes more complicated and the information needs of the consumers becomes more pronounced. The public is becoming more educated, and the onus is on the suppliers to become more transparent, not only in the ingredients, but likely in the sourcing of location, the way the products have been processed, and the extent of the supply chain prior to final placement in stores.

We as providers to the industry can assist in the information gathering and oversight of the food manufacturing process. The technology is called MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) and it's been around for over 25 years.  Tracking from raw materials through finished goods, MES offers supply chain transparency, processing visibility, and a "system of record" of the transformation.  As consumers demand more insight, MES is a great way for processors to create an environment of conformance & compliance, responding to government regulations (such as the Food Safety Act) as well as establishing an infrastructure for Good Manufacturing Practices for the processor as a means of self-regulation.

There are a number of providers of MES--check out www.mesa.org and of course Wonderware offers a wide suite of solutions to scale from a single plant through an enterprise. MES is the way the industry can respond to more demanding, and changing, consumer tastes.

Why automate food safety solutions?

By Niels Andersen, VP Manufacturing Business Consulting, Invensys Operations Management

We are now on track to get a revised food safety system in place in the USA. President Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act into law on January 4, 2011, and the FDA issued the proposed rules to fulfill the requirements for preventive controls in human food on January 4, 2013. The proposed rules are based on widely-accepted industry standards, so there should be few surprises for manufacturers. There is still work to be done to get the finalized rules in place, but there is now little doubt that the Food Safety Modernization Act is here to stay.

With the Food Safety Act in play, the question that Invensys now asks ourselves is "how do we bring value to our customers by automating food safety solutions?"