ERP Software for the Cheese and Dairy Industry – 15 Essential ERP Software Requirements

From June 6-8, 2010 in Houston, Texas, the International Dairy Deli Bake Association will host its annual IDDBA show and expo. The show provides an excellent opportunity for cheese and dairy processors and distributors, ingredient suppliers, equipment manufacturers, and technology vendors to showcase their new products. For those IDDBA 2010 show exhibitors and attendees about to engage in an ERP selection project and replace their existing software systems, there are a number of critical ERP software requirements that must be met to improve organizational efficiency, access to information, product safety, and lot traceability. These features include:

1.    Financial management and accounting
2.    Inventory management and a warehouse management system
3.    Manufacturing
4.    Procurement
5.    Order management and customer service
6.    Formula and recipe management
7.    The ability to support variable batch size manufacturing
8.    Multiple units of measure and product-specific unit of measure conversions
9.    Shelf-Life and expiration date tracking
10.    Food traceability software functionality
11.    Catch weight processing
12.    Industry compliance support and product recall management
13.    Shipping and receiving
14.    EDI processing
15.    Customer relationship management (CRM)

Perhaps most importantly, each of the software features/functions noted above should be part of a fully-integrated ERP software system. If nothing else, one of the most significant benefits to be realized from ERP software ownership and implementation is the fact that all of the organization’s departments, from finance and accounting to quality control, will be able to operate on a single software platform with a consistent view of real-time business information. By selecting an ERP system that meets such requirements, cheese and dairy processors and distributors will be in a position to streamline operations and realize bottom-line profitability gains.