Manufacturing Efficiency

Raw material management

Raw materials management involves a number of often-complex identification, track and trace processes that require optimisation, if they are to deliver value and efficiency to the modern food manufacturing, distribution or retailing business.

On entry to the business, ingredients and materials require checking of lot numbers and expiry dates for accuracy and compliance before storage. Once in inventory, then the checkout process requires analysis of whether the ‘first in, first out’ (FIFO) principle is being correctly applied to minimise potential waste. Any discrepancies in the book and physical inventories must also be managed through regular stocktaking and controlling of the ingredients inventory.

SATO, a leader in auto identification and data control solutions, supports the food industry sector raw material management requirements with a comprehensive range of technologies to:

• Manage inventories by type, lot number and/or expiry date
• Search, view and print inventory lists based on user-defined conditions
• Monitor ingredient inventory levels in real-time
• Manage simultaneous inventory data updates from each stage of the manufacturing process - receiving, shipping, stocktaking, work in progress and disposal

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Manufacturing - control of preparations

When preparing raw materials and ingredients for food manufacturing, for example, in weighing and mixing operations, a number of accurate data collection and labelling processes are required to optimise operational efficiency.

Initial weighing and dividing of ingredients, based on manufacturing instructions, requires lot information and batch sizes to be recorded. As packaged supplies are opened, use-by dates and unused portions must be managed. When dosing and mixing of ingredients is carried out, master data must be managed and instructions issued to the manufacturing line, along with recoding lot numbers and production data.

SATO, as a leading supplier partner to the food industry, knows that accurate recording of business critical information and labelling is key to driving efficiency in the preparation stage of food operations. SATO provides a comprehensive range of hardware, software and food safe label designs, to enable food manufacturers to:

• Check who, when, what and how much of a raw material or ingredient is used for each manufacturing instruction
• Record production output for yield management purposes
• Issue finished product labels for product tracking and management
• Scan QR codes of ingredients at the point of use to prevent errors and save corresponding data automatically
• Weigh ingredients automatically by synchronising scales with panel computers

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Production management - inventory and shipping

As a leader in food industry auto identification and data collection solutions, SATO understands the critical nature of efficiently planning and controlling product inventory to minimise costs and waste.

Having completed the food manufacturing process requirements, efficiently managing finished product inventory, location transfer and shipping operations can make or break the profitability of a business.

SATO provides a range of integrated, intelligent print systems to perform inventory checks, by location and lot, enabling effective product inventory control. When picking and assorting, products can be selected by shipping instruction and routed to internal logistics centers and customers efficiently.

SATO enables food manufacturers and distribution companies to:

• Manage inventory by lot and expiry date after converting recorded production output into finished product inventory
• Create picking lists for efficient product selection
• Support further production planning and ordering based on inventory and production plans
• Calculate ingredients quantities based on production plans entered by users
• Check inventory levels to facilitate further ingredients ordering

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