Today traceability of the food supply chain isn’t just a government regulation. Many retailers, food service companies and restaurant chains are performing audits themselves. Why, you might ask. It’s simple, they want assurance that if they were called upon because of a food safety problem that they could stop the problem before their name brand is tainted and their reputation ruined. These problems are expensive and cause some companies everything; including the business itself. [Read more...]
Navision Classic Client versus Role Tailored Client; Should You Upgrade?
March 26, 2012 by
In preparing for this article I had to do a lot of research on this topic because I had little knowledge of the Classic Client. Microsoft Dynamics NAV was introduced to me after the Role Tailored Client (RTC) was standard to the product. I studied and studied to gain all of the knowledge that I could in order to have the ability to give you the best and latest information so that you could make an informed decision. Then the question came of how to present the information to you without just giving you a lot of facts; something that would be meaningful and helpful to you. I decided to use an example that we all know about, purchasing a new car.
As a sales representative my car is one of the most important tools that I have. Recently I had to make the decision to purchase a new car and I was debating if I really wanted to purchase a new car because I wasn’t sure that I wanted to add the monthly expense of a car payment and an increase in my insurance premiums. I thought that I might just hang onto the car that I had because it gets me to where I need to go and there really wasn’t a monthly expense tied to it anymore. Although it didn’t have everything that I might want or need, it worked for now. However, I do depend on the car daily and there is the wear and tear on the car. Over time the car had become more unreliable and needed more and more maintenance and repairs thus more trips to the shop and the repair dollars start adding up. The car also need premium gasoline, a cost that was adding up on a daily basis so I was faced with the option of replacing the car with a newer model that is more up to date and equipped with features that fit my situation today. Five years ago cars weren’t equipped with the same accessories that are available today; technology has changed giving us more and useful accessories. In today’s car the dashboard is full of new features, built in iPhone/iPod plug-ins, voice activated navigation systems, etc., and these are features that can make life easier while bringing my costs down. When driving a car everyday like I do, these features become very important.
Let’s say you’re a sales representative as I am and your job is to get from point A to point B and back to point A again at the end of the day. Wouldn’t a built-in, voice activated GPS system be a wonderful thing to have? Not too many years ago I was using a Thomas Guide Map book and if you were in my line of work you had to have several of them because you crossed county lines on a regular basis. Do you remember looking up the name of the street in the index and then being directed to a page number, a row number and a grid position? You then had to navigate yourself from there. Not to mention that you had to purchase these every year because new streets were being added annually.
Then there was MapQuest, what an invention! I could actually go to the internet input my starting from and going to locations and print out directions and get there with ease. Then came the Magellan GPS, wow what a change! You could actually find a location by several different methods, by city, by zip or type of business, all of that from wherever you were. No-more finding a computer and looking for a printer, no more carrying several pieces of paper around with me. However, I did need to make sure that you had the Magellan available to you at all times and had it fully charged.
Today I can get a car with a GPS in it. You have a built in screen located in sight and a voice that directs you on how to get to where you are going to how to get back; all of this at your fingertips, no clunky books, no extra parts to carry, the dash board of your new car has all of this equipment built in for you.
You might be asking what all of this has to do with your business software. Well the new GPS is the Role Tailored Client. You can access many pieces of data from one screen. You don’t have to have stacks of printed data, reports and you don’t need to go outside of the program and into another program, Excel, Word, Outlook, to obtain information; you can do it right from your personalized desktop. You get to choose the information that you need when you need it. You have the ability to access multiple documents, pieces of information and reports all from one screen. You have the ability to see how many emails you have waiting for you, any important notifications or request that need attention. All of these changes can be made on an individual basis without our help. You get to choose how you want to view the information that you need. [Read more...]
Allergens – The Number One Reason for Recalls – Are You Compliant?
December 28, 2011 by
According to recent trends, recall rates of 2011 are about the same as they were in 2009 and 2010 but there is one major difference; the number of recalls has mainly been due to the lack of allergens being listed on the food label. Could this happen to you? Are you tracking allergens in your recipe management system?
On January 1, 2006, the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA) became effective. This law requires manufacturers to clearly identify on their food labels if a food product has any ingredients that contain protein derived from any of the eight major allergenic foods and food groups: milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, or soybeans.
These eight foods and food groups account for 90 percent of all food allergies. Other allergenic foods (e.g., sesame) are not required to be declared in accordance with FALCPA.
Food manufacturers must comply with the law by identifying in plain English on their product labels the food source of any ingredient that is or contains protein from one of the eight foods or food groups mentioned above. FALCPA also requires the type of tree nut (e.g., almonds, pecans, walnuts); the type of fish (e.g., bass, flounder, cod); and the type of Crustacean shellfish (e.g., crab, lobster, shrimp) to be declared.
To download specific information about the Food Labeling regulations please visit: http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd/facts/nutrition/foodallergenfactsheet.pdf
Our product, bcFood, is a complete ERP system that tracks allergens in each recipe thus reducing your chances of a recall due to not listing the allergen on your label. If you would be interested in speaking with us please feel free to call us or email us, sales@beckconsulting.com or 1-800-456-8474 ext. 1.
COOL – What determines the Country of Origin?
December 28, 2011 by
Section 4.5 of the Codex General
for Food Labeling: Country of Origin.
Does altering an ingredient in a
second country change the country of origin? Altering the product is not the term to consider; however manufacturing or processing a product is. Raw Ingredient Products can be shipped from a
country of origin to another country, but if it is not manufactured or
processed into another product, then the country of origin would not change.
Example: if
you took a product from one country to another for shelling, deveining, etc.,
the product would still maintain the country that the product was grown and
harvested in. The service aspect of the
process would not change the product’s origin.
Today, many food products are the outcome
of a large number of ingredients that come from many countries; those
ingredients may be processed or manufactured from its original state to make
another product. For example: you may
take eggs from China, milk from Taiwan and cheese from Italy and manufacture quiche
in the U.S. and the quiche would carry a country of origin label (or bar code)
for being made in the United States.
Section 4.5.1 states: the country
of origin of the food shall be declared if its omission would mislead or
deceive the consumer.
Section 4.5.2 states: When a food undergoes processing in a second country which changes its
nature, the country in which the processing is performed shall be considered
the country of origin for the purposes of labeling.
The question is, is
the country of origin in the example above really the U.S.? Under today’s
regulation the answer is yes.
Many consumers groups are advocating changes
be made to the regulations in COOL in order to close all loopholes in the
regulation. Because society has experienced life threatening incidences of
tainted food products or raw ingredients being brought into the supply chain of
processed goods, like green onions, tomatoes, melamine in toothpaste and pet
food, that causes serious illness and sometimes death; lot tracking of every ingredient
has become essential.
If you would like to learn more about this regulation and
how it applies to you please visit the following sites:
“Made in U.S.A”. Standard
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/usajump.shtm
Codex Food Labeling (attached PDF)
http://fao/docrep/005/Y2770E/y2770e04.htm
bcFood ERP includes the compliance factors for today’s food
industry processors, manufacturers, distributors and brokers. If you need additional information of have
questions for us please feel free to contact us.
Food Safety Modernization Act: Are You Compliant?
October 20, 2011 by
As most of you know the President of the US signed the Food Safety modernization Act on January 04, 2011. The bill allows the government to mandate a recall of your manufactured goods. The current plan is to charge you fees to for subsequent audits to help in funding the law. Your company as a “Manufacturer of Food Items” could find that you are not only in trouble with the FDA but with your customers. Is your organization prepared? [Read more...]
HACCP in the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011
September 15, 2011 by
All food and beverage manufacturing companies, except for the very small, are required to have a written HACCP plan available for review should you be called upon. Have you examined your HACCP plan recently? [Read more...]
