4 Elements Effective Food Safety Management WP

The Four Elements of an Effective Food
Safety Management System
At a Glance
• As food and beverage manufacturers develop and enhance their Food Safety
Management Systems (FSMSs), four key components enable them to meet
demands with minimal business disruption, for a manageable cost.
• This paper outlines the key components of an effective FSMS: HACCP plans,
manufacturing operations management (MOM), instant traceability and recall
management, and single-source ERP.
• Food and beverage manufacturers can use the information in this paper to
identify, develop or jump-start an FSMS that includes these four components
plus the critical dimension of complete integration.
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The Four Elements of an Effective Food Safety

Management System
Food and beverage manufacturers can easily become overwhelmed as they
work to meet challenging customer requirements and government regulations,
such as the Food Safety Modernization Act, while continuing to minimize costs
and maximize profitability.
To meet these demands, manufacturers must develop and execute written

food safety plans. They must have systems in place that enable them to
rapidly identify and track every ingredient for each of their products through all
processing steps: from receipt through processing, packaging, and shipping, to
the exact customer location.
In the case of an investigation or recall, a manufacturer must be able to quickly

show documentation of each step performed for a particular product or
ingredient, not only within its own organization but also at least one step back
and one step forward in its supply chain.
There’s never been a greater need for a comprehensive food safety

management system (FSMS).
The Four Key Elements of FSMS

A complete FSMS enables the food and beverage manufacturer to meet all of
its customer and government demands with minimal business disruption, for a
manageable cost. An effective FSMS includes four components:
• HACCP plans
• Manufacturing operations management (MOM)
• Instant traceability and recall management
• Single-source ERP
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HACCP Support
Food and beverage manufacturers must have documented HACCP plans and
corrective actions/preventative actions (CAPAs) and be able to provide such
documentation to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) upon request. They
must also maintain all of these records for a minimum of two years.
To efficiently and effectively comply with these mandates, leading manufacturers

use FSMSs that enable electronic document controls and electronic signatures.
Such systems include workflow management functions, checklists/ standard
operating procedures (SOPs) and critical control point alarms. They also allow
for statistical process controls (SPC) charting and the easy collection of quality
data.
Not only do effective FSMSs enable compliance in these areas, but because
they automate data management processes that would otherwise require
manual intervention, they save costs and improve productivity.
Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP)
HACCP is defined by the FDA as “a management system in which food safety is addressed
through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material
production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the
finished product.”
MOM
Control of plant floor activities is a key to a manufacturer’s overall efficiency.
More and more food manufacturers use FSMSs that provide production
tracking and scheduling, scaling and rejection tracking. Such systems also
provide overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) reporting and analyses that
help manufacturers avoid costly breakdowns, develop a knowledge base of
technical experience, respond quickly to maintenance problems and maximize
productivity.
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It’s what’s next.

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Best-in-class FSMSs also include human-machine interface (HMI) and machine/

equipment integration (SCADA) functionality. They assist in managing inventory
by enabling food manufacturers to easily track consumed ingredients and inter-
mediate inventory in real time.
Traceability and Recall Management

With the number of audits and recalls on the rise, food manufacturers’ FSMSs
must track every ingredient from receipt through finished product delivery, at
least one-up and one-back in the supply chain. This capability is often referred
to as product genealogy usage.
With best-in-class FSMSs, control processes are in place to immediately

address any quality issues. If a quality problem is suspected or identified, here’s
a typical scenario:
The distributor or customer logs into its FSMS and creates a problem report,
noting the unique identification number, batch number or barcode scan that
identifies the problem ingredient by its lot or batch. The problem ticket triggers
an alert inside the system. Quality automatically receives the ticket, along with a
complete traceability tree for the problem product, including all ingredients.
The FSMS performs a root-cause analysis and identifies the problem. All
ingredients within the identified batch are quarantined inside the software. Then
the software quarantines the inventory not yet consumed and all finished goods
still in stock, and identifies any shipped products that need to be recalled.
Notifications are immediately sent to all distributors and customers.
This speedy response meets mandated turnaround times and notification

requirements. It also enables manufacturers to isolate any problem ingredients
early, reducing the scope of any audits or recalls.
ERP for Food and Beverage Manufacturers

The fourth, and final, component of an effective FSMS is enterprise resource
planning (ERP). ERP systems have traditionally included only finance and
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accounting. Today’s ERP solutions also include advanced costing, customer

resource management (CRM), human resources, maintenance and purchasing.
While, by definition, an ERP system covers all facets of a business, not every
solution that calls itself “ERP” actually supports all functions effectively or
within a single system. Also, because ERP systems have their origin in the
more industrial manufacturing industries, many are not well-suited for the
food and beverage processing environment. Comprehensive FSMSs include
ERP functionality that has been developed to meet the specific needs of the
processing industry.
• Document control • Product genealogy

• Compliance managment • Recall management
• Checklists/SOPs • Lot traceability
Traceability
eHACCP
• Corrective & preventive actions • Recall scope reduction

• Critical control point alarming • Tainted product containment
• Quality data collection
• SPC charting
• Electronic signatures
• Workflow
• Production tracking
• OEE reporting • HR/skills matrix
• Touch-screen operator interface • Accounting/finance
• Rejection tracking • Advanced costing
MOM
ERP
• Machine integration (SCADA) • CRM

• Consumed raw-material tracking • Maintenance
• Production access controls • Purchasing
• Scaling • Order management
• Production scheduling • Supplier & customer portals
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One for All

While there are many systems on the market today that provide one or two
of the four components of a comprehensive FSMS, best-in-class food and
beverage manufacturers use single-source technology solutions that include all
of these elements.
The Plex Manufacturing Cloud is one such solution. Not only does it include all
four elements of an effective FSMS within a single system, it links all functions
together seamlessly.
Because all functions are linked together, there is never a need for duplicate
data entry. Plex also eliminates the need for the additional work often required
to “patch together” disparate systems; identify and correct human errors; and
consolidate various spreadsheets and reports.
As a cloud solution, Plex ERP enables productivity increases and cost savings in
several ways.
• Maintenance costs are avoided, as there is no internal work needed to

manage the system.
• All data can be accessed and correlated easily, at anytime and from
anywhere.
• Data is kept online and readily available. It can be accessed by customers,

distributors and suppliers, enabling seamless communications and corrective
action tracking.
• There is no limit to the information that can be stored online. Users can move
photos, PDFs, and more, to the system, continuing to reduce the need for
paper files, internal storage and the delays that come from tracking files
manually.
• In the case of an audit, all required documentation can easily be pulled right
from the system – in hours or less, as opposed to days or weeks.
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A complete FSMS like Plex gives food manufacturers peace of mind. They can
rest easy knowing that they have a solid foundation to face not only today’s
challenges, but whatever comes next in regulatory enforcement and customer
demands.
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About Plex
Plex is the Manufacturing Cloud, delivering industry-leading ERP and manufacturing automation to nearly 400 companies
across industries including aerospace and defense, food and beverage and motor vehicles. Plex pioneered Cloud solutions
for the plant floor, connecting suppliers, machines, people, systems and customers with capabilities that are easy to
configure, deliver continuous innovation, and reduce IT costs. With insight that starts on the production line, Plex helps
companies see and understand every aspect of their business ecosystem, enabling them to lead in an ever-changing market.
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The Four Elements of an Effective Food

Safety Management System

The Four Elements of an Effective Food Safety

To meet these demands, manufacturers must develop and execute written

In the case of an investigation or recall, a manufacturer must be able to quickly

There’s never been a greater need for a comprehensive food safety

The Four Key Elements of FSMS

• Manufacturing operations management (MOM)

• Instant traceability and recall management

To efficiently and effectively comply with these mandates, leading manufacturers

Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP)

It’s what’s next.

Best-in-class FSMSs also include human-machine interface (HMI) and machine/

Traceability and Recall Management

With best-in-class FSMSs, control processes are in place to immediately

This speedy response meets mandated turnaround times and notification

ERP for Food and Beverage Manufacturers

It’s what’s next.

accounting. Today’s ERP solutions also include advanced costing, customer

• Document control • Product genealogy

• Corrective & preventive actions • Recall scope reduction

• Machine integration (SCADA) • CRM

It’s what’s next.

One for All

• Maintenance costs are avoided, as there is no internal work needed to

• Data is kept online and readily available. It can be accessed by customers,

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