The Proof is in the ERP - Mitigating Risks, Saving Money and Increasing Profits with Aptean

Help Mitigate Risks, Save Money and Increase Revenue with Food and Beverage

The rising cost of doing business in the food and beverage market is a well-publicised reality and source of concern for many industry leaders. Between increased prices for raw inputs and energy, as well as widespread inflation and tougher regulatory penalties, the financial burden for manufacturers and distributors in this space is trending upward, and the situation remains unpredictable going forward.

In times of economic uncertainty like these, the tendency can be to “batten down the hatches,” reduce spending to a bare minimum and approach all decisions with an air of pessimism—or at least great caution. So would it surprise you to learn that research shows this is not the best course of action? In fact, now more than ever, you should instead invest in your organisation’s technological foundation to prepare for the future.

IDC’s Global Food and Beverage Industry Trends and Strategic Insights 2022 whitepaper, commissioned by Aptean, found that roughly three quarters of respondents unlocked improvements in multiple key performance indicators (KPIs) across all operational areas as a result of digital transformation initiatives. What’s more, 45 to 55% of participating food and beverage decision-makers anticipate even more improvement in the future, increasing the chances of continued success despite economic turbulence.

KPI Improvements from Digital Transformation Initiatives

This should send a powerful message to food and beverage businesses—now is the time more than any other to prioritise digital transformation and the implementation of purposebuilt software solutions. Perhaps the most essential is the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, as these cross-functional platforms provide powerful tools for multiple teams and promote the organisational agility and informed decision-making that you need to thrive despite the circumstances.

Even more relevant in light of today’s challenges, though, are the features of industry-specific ERP software that help food and beverage businesses mitigate risks, save money and increase revenue. The functionalities of advanced solutions—like Aptean Food & Beverage ERP—are designed with a deep understanding of the unique nuances inherent in each of the industry’s sectors, and that adds to their ability to boost your bottom line.

Now, let’s look in greater detail at the features that contribute to those three important objectives, as well as how Aptean’s award-winning system stands apart from competitors. Through this, it should become clear just why ERP is the key to successfully navigating a challenging environment of economic turbulence.

Mitigating Risks: ERP Features for Safeguarding Your Financial Resources

Protecting your business from the risks that come with the territory of operating in the food and beverage space can be daunting, but with the right technology on your side, the task is considerably more manageable. An ERP solution specialised for the food and beverage space will come with features that help mitigate the chances of a variety of adverse outcomes occurring in the course of operations, affording you greater assurance and lowering the chances you’ll face the costs of a recall or fine.

For starters, there’s the lot and sublot management tools that ERPs provide, which help to establish full bidirectional traceability of both raw materials and finished goods. Aptean’s software excels on this front, giving users the complete picture of supply chain movement from one end to the other and simplifying the initiation of recalls to just a few clicks of a mouse or taps on a screen.

Consider also the quality control functionalities offered by ERP software, which allow you to define quality triggers, assign checks, place failed items on immediate hold and automate steps in the overall process to streamline the identification and rectification of issues. This helps to head off the chance that a costly product recall or withdrawal will be necessary while also strengthening your efforts to boost consumer satisfaction, brand loyalty and customer retention.

Aptean Food & Beverage ERP takes this a step further with versatile inspection status features that facilitate the creation of a deliberate and orderly process for confirming that all goods coming in to and leaving your facilities meet your standards. Alerts can be implemented to ensure that common errors resulting from manual processes don’t result in important checks being missed, and the system can flag and block lots that may be compromised.

Meanwhile, a purpose-built ERP system also helps to safeguard your organisation from the risks of being found non-compliant with government health and safety regulations with compliance document management capabilities. When all of the required paperwork is handled digitally and in one unified system, it’s easier to maintain full visibility of pertinent certifications and have at your fingertips the records you need to satisfy auditors and demonstrate diligence.

Lastly, the vendor item catalog of Aptean’s food ERP helps to reduce the chances that you’ll run short on a required manufacturing material at an inopportune time with the functionality to create reoccurring orders. The feature also structures the order creation process in an efficient way that helps prevent error, which can be crucial considering how important it is to ensure that fulfillment is always on time and in full.

Aptean Customer Story: SanoRice

Dutch manufacturer SanoRice produces some 15 million cakes made from puffed grains each day across three production facilities in Europe. With such expansive operations, the company needed a single, unified system for data visibility and supply chain management. The internal leadership team chose to implement Aptean Food & Beverage ERP, and the returns have come quickly, eliminating discrepancies in record-keeping and protecting the business from potential pitfalls.

“Over the past year, our inventory variances have dropped dramatically, from substantial euro amounts to an insignificant figure It’s a huge difference.”

– Marco Netten, IT Manager, SanoRice

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How Can Aptean Food & Beverage ERP Software Help Mitigate Risks?

By providing these purpose-built features:

› Lot and sublot management for bidirectional traceability

› Quality control for better customer satisfaction

› Inspection status tools for greater assurance

› Compliance document management for regulatory concerns

› Vendor item catalog for facilitated reordering

Saving Money: ERP Features for Reducing Waste and Expenses

The old adage “a penny saved is a penny earned” is clichéd and a bit of an oversimplification, but the sentiment still rings true, especially for food and beverage businesses that are dealing with increased costs. Reducing expenditures where possible without sacrificing quality and productivity can make a big difference for the bottom line, and ensuring that every financial outlay you make will produce a return is also crucial.

An industry-specific ERP solution helps in these endeavors with robust production planning tools, which allow for the precise alignment of supply and demand that your company needs to maintain optimal inventory levels. With the insight that a purposebuilt system can provide, you’ll have what you need to fulfill orders without excess that could spoil and thus become a lost investment.

The perishable nature of food and beverage materials represents another potential source of waste—both of money and otherwise useful ingredients—but thankfully ERP software has your back here as well with expiration management functionality. Aptean’s system helps you keep track of the expiration dates of your products and warns users in advance of them so that they can be incorporated in production before they go bad and the funds spent on them originally aren’t wasted.

Of course, labor is another substantial cost for food and beverage manufacturers, and food and beverage ERP technology has you covered here too, with automations that accelerate your processes and help alleviate your workers of tedious manual tasks. Aptean Food & Beverage ERP’s advanced workflow engine can really help “grease the wheels” by automating handoffs and improving efficiency to save hours of human effort.

There’s also the mobile warehouse capabilities of Aptean’s solution, which enable your workers to accomplish critical inventory management tasks with speed and accuracy using handheld barcode scanners. Rather than having to scribble down numbers for later re-entry in a spreadsheet, employees can simply pull a trigger or push a button to immediately log important information and update the shared database, streamlining their efforts and preserving time for more mission-critical tasks.

Aptean Customer Story: Enrico Food

Enrico Food manufactures products under several well-known brand names and has grown to become an international organization. The business’s previous technology setup was limited, and did not offer the visibility into processes and critical information that such a large and fast-moving enterprise would need. Aptean Food & Beverage ERP was the solution ideally suited to help keep costs low while also enabling further expansion and greater flexibility.

“We are increasingly moving toward being a data-driven organization. Data helps to keep costs low and to keep the business running effectively at a fast pace.”

– Robin Heetkamp, Managing Director, Enrico Food

How Can Aptean Food & Beverage ERP Software Help Save You Money?

By providing these purpose-built features:

› Production planning tools to align supply with demand

› Expiration date management to minimise waste

› Advanced workflow engine for greater efficiency

› Mobile warehouse functionality to save time

Increasing Revenue: ERP Features for Unlocking Additional Earnings

In a market as competitive as the food and beverage industry, enhancing your brand’s ability to claim a fair share of the market isn’t necessarily an easy matter, but it’s a vital objective if your organisation is to weather economic challenges and come out the other side stronger for it. Luckily, ERP systems made for food and beverage companies come with tools that can help you identify and capitalise on opportunities for earning while also boosting your margins.

To begin with, forecasting functionalities help manufacturers and distributors alike to predict seasonal surges in demand for certain products that could be a great chance to drive additional revenue. With reliably accurate projections of consumers’ appetites and the expected sales in a given period, your business can adjust in time to meet those needs, capturing valuable income thanks to the foreknowledge provided by the system.

Speaking of knowledge, Aptean Food & Beverage ERP has built-in business intelligence features that facilitate the tracking of more than 500 key performance indicators (KPIs), over 300 of which are specific to the food and beverage world. With a greater understanding of which lines are

making money, where bottlenecks are holding your operations back and how potential changes would affect your organisation’s profitability, you’ll have actionable insights that lead to real improvement.

Another differentiating element of Aptean’s ERP software is the capability to leverage advanced pricing schemes—including hierarchical pricing models—with different customers. By accommodating scenarios that are commonly used in the food and beverage industry, allowing for enhanced discounting methods and generally affording greater flexibility, you’ll be able to set prices in a way that both satisfies clients and serves your income targets.

Finally, there’s another feature that sets Aptean Food & Beverage ERP apart from the pack in terms of increasing revenue, and that’s the versatile trade management toolset that enables the creation of multiple agreements with different clients to suit both parties’ interests. The functionalities include establishing separate trade plans for each agreement, using different trade rate configurations and more—all of which can help you tailor your prices in a way that’s attractive to both buyer and seller.

Aptean Customer Story: SunWest Foods

As the second-largest rice and wild rice producer in the state of California, SunWest Foods has established itself as a leader in the grains sector, but as of just a few years back the organization was struggling with a disjointed tech stack and repetitive, error-prone data entry processes. Since implementing Aptean Food & Beverage ERP, they’ve been able to rely on a single source of truth for better decision-making, and that’s helped to produce an increase in profits.

“Working from timely information we can trust has absolutely brought in new money. My commodity buysell decisions are smarter now. In our business, real-time information is everything.”

– Jim Errecarte, President and CEO, SunWest Foods

How Does Aptean Food & Beverage ERP Software Help Increase Revenue?

With these purpose-built features:

› Forecasting tools to anticipate seasonal surges

› Business Intelligence features for KPI tracking

› Advanced pricing schemes for improved flexibility

› Trade management functions for compelling agreements

Choose Aptean for Superior Solutions and Experience

The coverage of ERP features that help businesses succeed despite the rising costs of doing business in the previous sections helps to build a strong case for the implementation of a purpose-built solution. But in much the same way it’s critical to get a strong return on investment (ROI) on your raw materials or employees’ wages, it’s perhaps even more crucial when it comes to the deployment of an organisation-wide system.

As a knowledgeable and experienced provider of food and beverage business software, Aptean is an ally for companies looking to engage in digital transformation to future-proof operations. The dedicated professionals that make up Aptean’s teams have decades of collective expertise in the food and beverage market, and that has afforded them an in-depth understanding of the best practices that help businesses like yours overcome sector-specific challenges and achieve profitability goals.

Aptean is also committed to acting as a guide during implementation, helping to create a project roadmap with measurable milestones and providing support along the way. Flexible cloud deployments on the Software as a Service (SaaS) model are a great way to achieve additional flexibility and scalability, not to mention stronger cybersecurity, enhanced data protection and greater accessibility—all of which keep your company adaptable and resilient in a dynamic environment.

Finally, consider that Aptean was also featured on The Software Report’s Power 500 Software Companies of 2023, claiming the 30th overall rank and a spot in the upper echelon of providers. That’s a further testament to the provider’s strong performance, high quality products and service reliability.

About Aptean

Aptean is one of the world’s leading providers of purpose-built, industry-specific

tors effectively run and grow their businesses. With both cloud and on-premise deployment

services and unmatched expertise help businesses of all sizes to be Ready

Georgia and has offices in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

To learn more about Aptean and the markets we serve, visit www.aptean.com.