Being a leader in food manufacturing brings a number of challenges. From the ongoing scrutiny of the industry to emerging sustainability demands, there’s a lot to consider. We list six main problems food manufacturing leaders face and how to overcome them.

Challenge 1: Constant Scrutiny

The business of food manufacturing is directly related to public health. The tiniest mistake can have dire consequences. With lives on the line, it’s no surprise that regulations are tight and audits frequent. Whether it’s about label requirements or other information, regulations can vary from region to region. It’s up to the food manufacturer to keep up with the evolving demands.

Connected to this is the consumer demand to be informed of all the details concerning the products they buy. Where do the ingredients come from? How environmentally friendly is the product? Not only from a regulatory point of view but also from the customer’s perspective, your product is under constant scrutiny.

Solution: Train your employees & go for detail

To ensure compliance, your employees need to be trained and certified. Make sure you’ve got a good system on hand to track permits, audits, and employee certifications. It will enable you to proactively train your employees when you identify a skills gap.

Labeling products is important, but you only have so much space. Your information has to be comprehensive and understandable for every consumer. That’s where other means to reach your customers come in, such as websites (think about mobile-friendliness) and smart labels. You can only start thinking about this step once you can provide the exact information and details the customers are looking for.

Challenge 2: Employee shortage and retention

There’s not much enthusiasm to join the industry, especially for young people. In food manufacturing, long shifts or changing hours are common. That combined with tight regulations creates a stressful work environment which may drive employees away or even cause burn-out. This is already an epidemic in this generation of workers, so it’s unlikely people just stepping into the workforce will choose a field with a higher risk of burn-out.

Solution: Speak in their language

Especially when trying to attract Generation Z, communicating in their language and on their platforms is key. They’re not interested in a Twitter feed from a brand with a faceless logo, they’re interested in people. They’re much more likely to apply for a job at a company if they’ve seen some personal social media feeds from key figures in that company (or better yet: their future boss) with content they like. Create your personal brand, and be memorable.

To maximize productivity, it’s important to create a work environment that’s in line with modern employee expectations.

Challenge 3: Tomorrow is unlikely to be like today

The key to managing change is to anticipate it. In a fast-paced environment like food manufacturing, reacting is no longer enough. Proactive actions based on anticipated change are necessary if you want to reduce risks and seize opportunities before they fly you by.

Solution: Value soft skills

Because of this, when hiring new employees it’s also better to hire those who have the soft skills to adapt to a changeable environment, rather than hard skills, because what exact skills will not need honing, improvement, and even complete retraining in the future? Employees who can adopt the skills you need as you go are more valuable than those who have the skills you need as you hire them, but are unable to evolve beyond that.

Challenge 4: Factoring in sustainability

Sustainability is a hot topic. For the food manufacturing business, one of the major challenges is related to plastic. Both the excess consumption and the disposal of plastic are something food manufacturers need to take into account.

Another element related to eco-friendliness is waste management. The food industry produces a large amount of waste, both in the initial phase of sourcing raw material to the distribution phase.

Solution: Look further than your own facility

Reducing waste and plastic consumption during the manufacturing process is possible. It takes some effort, communication, and creative partnerships, but the food industry can turn towards a more environmentally friendly way of production and distribution. The first step is gaining insights into the exact amount of waste generated. From these observations, you can devise actions to make your production more environmentally friendly.

Challenge 5: Upholding safety standards

To maintain consumer trust in the food industry it is crucial that safety standards in the industry are upheld. You need to make sure that both the production runs smoothly and that the quality of the products is guaranteed. Also ensuring safety for everyone working in the industry is essential.

Solution: Digitize your safety and quality procedures

To make sure that both the food on a consumer’s plate is safe and that the workers are safe when producing the food, you need well-oiled safety and quality procedures. That’s where EHSQ software can come in handy. With a modern platform to keep track of all the incidents, contractors, and quality-related demands, production will run more smoothly and employees work more safely. With EHSQ software, food manufacturers can make sure that their facility is a secure environment, both for their workers and their products.

Challenge 6: Digital transformation

Modern technology can be your best friend. With an emphasis on ‘modern’. Archaic or legacy software implemented years (or even decades) ago is no longer up to par with the complex demands you’re facing in today’s changing world. It’s not only smart to keep your software and tech up-to-date, but it’s also profitable.

One of the largest technology-related challenges of today is traceability. Consumers want to know what’s in their food and this has led to a major interest in labels that contain all the ingredients. The end-to-end traceability of ingredients and packaging material has become one of the latest trends – and possible issues – for food manufacturers worldwide.

Solution: Embrace technology and EHSQ software

Technology is a major player in the competitive advantage and growth in the food industry. This ranges from cloud computing and analytical tech to EHSQ software to keep track of production quality and factory incidents.

Advanced technology such as IoT, AI, and Machine Learning has also found its entrance into the food industry. These technologies can complete tasks related to supply chain analyses, temperature monitoring, and so on.

Software solutions to streamline EHSQ procedures are also becoming indispensable. Food manufacturers who resort to tactics to ensure the digital transformation of their business keep and gain a competitive advantage and will be able to continue their growth.

Let’s Talk!

Talk with one of our EHSQ experts to see how we can help you automate your EHSQ processes to ensure better productivity and a safer working environment for your employees. Book a consultation here.

For more information about our approach to EHSQ software and our different modules, click here.

Sources:

https://www.infor.com/blog/the-top-5-challenges-food-and-beverage-manufacturers-are-facing-today

https://www.gminsights.com/blogs/challenges-in-food-and-beverage-industry

https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/article/129788/trends-and-challenges-2021/