In 2002, the US government enacted the “Bioterrorism Act” and it requires that food manufacturers comply with a recall of adulterated goods within a 24 hour timeframe.  You must report lot and transportation traceability for all ingredients and packaging items that have made contact with the food.

In January of 2011, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law and these regulations mandate even stricter guidelines. The government now has the authority to recall products themselves.  The supplier of the product may be subject to civil penalties if they don’t comply with a government mandated recall.

Recalls happen for various reasons; food can be contaminated at many different steps – on the farm, in processing or distribution facilities, during transit and at retail or food service locations. A recall can also take place because an allergen isn’t listed on the food label or the food was contaminated because it came in contact with an allergen at some point during processing, foreign materials may be found in the batch or, cGMP regulations weren’t followed.  However, all products are required to have a specific lot number that would allow for the product to be returned to the supplier if such an event occurred.

These regulations require backward/forward traceability of all products and its packaging; you must provide the following information during an audit: the name, address, phone, fax number, email, lot number or other identifier of the product or ingredient and the type of packaging and quantity per lot of the Company’s plant that had the product or ingredient immediately before you.  You must have the date that you received it from that supplier. You are required to have the same information from the transportation company that delivered it to you along with the bill of lading number and the mode of transportation.  You are also required to provide the same information when you ship the product to your customer.

bcFood, developed by Beck Consulting, a Gold Certified ERP Reseller,  was built specifically for the food industry and is compliant with the regulations from the FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) ,GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative), SQF (Safe Quality Food Institute),   USDA and the FDA.

bcFood records and retains the following:

• Records all relevant QC test data and retains the information permanently
• Records samples data and retains the data permanently
• Records shelf life and expiration dates of raw materials and finished goods
• Records location of inventory
• Records dates of receiving, movement, transfers, picking, staging, production
• Records allergens
• Records lot number changes as the product is produced; while tracking each lot number of stated ingredients
• Records of all relevant production activities, tests, inspections, analyses, incubations, evaluations and records of all scheduled processes applied to each batch and actions taken in relation to under processed foods shall be maintained
• Records Finished Good shipment data; lot number of finished good product and packaging, name, address, phone number, fax number, email address,  transportation carrier, bill of lading number, mode of transportation, date of delivery and COA if applicable
• A complaint management system for handling complaints, investigation of complaint and resolution or recall of complaint.

bcFood provides you with a system that you can rely on to give you the data that you need when you need it. bcFood is powered by Microsoft Dynamics NAV, the world’s leading ERP system.  bcFood supplies a one stop shop suite of modules that include the following: Inventory Control, Production, Distribution, Global Trade, Accounting, Payroll, Compliance, Recipe Management, Allergen Tracking, CRM, Shipping, Notifications, EDI, and Warehouse Management.

Call us today if you are interested in an ERP solution that can meet all of the FDA/USDA regulations,and make it much easier for your organization to go through the audit process.

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.

If you are using the Classic Client, it is like using the Thomas Guide; you need to navigate to the right page, the right card to get the information that you need.  If you make a change on a page or card, the change is for everyone and this generally requires coding or customization.

The Classic Client is based on a traditional two tier concept, and the new client is based on a three tier concept.  The two tier concept has two elements: the client and the database server.  The three tier concept has an application server between the database and the client.  The role tailored client is a .NET application and introduces many new features to the NAV experience including a Role Center page that displays stacks of documents representing the number of items that need to be handled such as open sales orders, detailed customer information, payment status, a notepad and much more.

The Role Tailored Client makes finding information faster and easier.  For example to search for all open sales orders in the classic client you must go through approximately eight steps, however in the Role Tailored Client there is just one step; you are one click away from the information that you need.  In order to obtain information about a customer in the Classic Client requires six steps and the Role Tailored Client takes only one step.  It is not possible to send NOTIFICATIONS from the Custom Client, if you don’t have a customized program like bcNotifications, but in the Role Tailored Client you can send and receive notifications from your personalized home screen.  The bottom line is that the Role Tailored Client gives you the information that you need most often with just a click; this saves you time and money.

The Role Tailored client can be run from a remote location over a VPN.  The Classic Client needs to have Citrix or Terminal Services to be run from a remote location. Moving to the Role Tailored Client eliminates the costs of purchasing and maintaining license fees of Citrix or Terminals Services Software.

The Role Tailored Client helps you by lowering IT costs, gives you more “out of the box” functionality, less customization, better integration into other software, tighter integration to information in your company and more user productivity.

Only you can decide if the time to upgrade your business software to the next level is right for you and your organization.  I did decide to purchase the new car and it was well worth it. I have everything that I need at my fingertips.

If you are interested in taking a closer look at what is available to you, please call us.  We are happy to discuss what options are available to you and to assist you in developing a timeline and a plan for taking your business system to the next level.

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.

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.

Imagine that you are called upon for an audit and the inspector finds you in violation and mandates a recall; what are the implications? It is no longer just the footprint of the tainted goods that they may mandate be brought back but the reputation that you hold in the market for you and/or your customers, if you are a contract manufacturer. Your good name with the consumers could be tainted forever. So, you ask what you can do to lessen the burden of such an act.

You may want to look at bcFood, a complete ERP software solution that is designed to run your business; one that is built for “process manufacturers”. A software solution that has “out of the box” compliance built into it that allows for:

1. Capturing real time data during the creating of a recipe, picking of inventory, staging and the production process.
2. Tracking of expiration dates, shelf life guidelines, lot numbers, allergens and ingredients.
3. Retention of your quality data, samples, and revision control for all of your recipes.
4. Eliminating “back flushing”; considerably lowering the footprint of a recall, allowing for forward and backward traceability of all raw ingredients used in a particular batch.
5. Most importantly, a software solution that would allow you to hand the auditor a report in minutes or hours instead of days or weeks.

We work with food companies like yours every day and have developed a complete solution that includes accounting, production, distribution, EDI, warehouse management and more; all from one provider. We provide for all of the needs of today while providing an upgrade path to address all of your growing needs of tomorrow. Please call (800) 456-8474 option 1 or email us, sales@beckconsulting.com , if you are interested in discovering what bcFood can do for you.

The language that is presented in the new law is worded as Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls which may differ from HACCP but has yet to be fully defined by the FDA.

Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls
This part of the law will take effect in July, 2012, when all registered facilities will be required to conduct a hazard analysis, implement preventive controls and develop a food safety plan to document the monitoring, correction, and verification of preventive controls. The food safety plan and all related documents must be made available to FDA during inspections. As part of its food safety plan, a facility may be required to document sanitation procedures, a recall plan, a food allergen control program, supplier verification activities, and environmental sampling testing. The American Bakers Association (ABA) and AIB International have stated that the HACCP plan will likely be closer to that required by seafood and juice manufacturers.

The preventive controls requirements only apply to registered facilities. Under the current definition, farms, restaurants, and retail facilities are exempt from the registration requirement. Currently, farms are defined as a facility devoted to the growing and harvesting of crops for food and/or the raising of animals for food (including seafood). The current definition includes farms that pack, hold, process, or manufacture food, if all of the food is consumed on that farm or another farm under the same ownership. Under the new legislation, FDA must develop regulations defining what constitutes on-farm packing, holding, manufacturing, and processing. Some facilities that are only engaged in specific types of on-farm manufacturing, processing, packing or holding activities that are determined to be low-risk may be exempt or subject to modified preventive controls requirements. Additional exemptions apply for qualified facilities that sell under $500,000 of food annually and sell either directly to consumers or to a restaurant or retail establishments that are located in the same state or not more than 275 miles from the facility.

These HACCP Plans are required to be updated every 3 years. You will be required maintain records and make available for review for a period of 2 years.

We have attached a brief overview of HACCP regulations for seafood and juice manufacturers for your review. We work every day to assure that the bcFood ERP solution meets all compliance regulations and these new regulations are no exception. We also encourage you to visit the FDA website to learn more about HACCP Plans.

As always, we would appreciate the opportunity to stay in touch with you and if we can be of assistance in any way, please feel free to contact us via email or call us at (800) 456-8474 option 1.

HACCP Regulations Overview

Alameda, CA. (August 8, 2011) – Beck Consulting (www.beckconsulting.com) announced today that it has been named to the 2011 President’s Club for Microsoft Dynamics, a group of high performing Microsoft Dynamics partners whose commitment to customers is reflected in their business success and growth. This prestigious group represents the top five percent of Microsoft Dynamics partners worldwide.

“Microsoft is proud to recognize Beck Consulting for its outstanding sales achievement,” said Doug Kennedy, vice president, Microsoft Dynamics Partners. “This honor is a direct reflection of Beck Consulting’s outstanding group of employees and management team, all of whom should be very proud of this accomplishment. Beck Consulting plays a very important role in the growth and success of Microsoft Dynamics.”

Presidents club represents a small group of top channel partners who reach key business milestones while maintaining a constant dedication to achieving high levels of customer satisfaction and an active pursuit of product and technological advancement.

“We are especially gratified to have been named to the President’s Club this year, as Microsoft has now made client satisfaction one of the key criteria for selection”, said Allen Beck, President of Beck Consulting. “While we have always provided clients with a high level of service and innovative solutions, we are pleased to see Microsoft recognizing the value of those efforts, as well as our business growth in difficult economic times. This award reflects the dedication, professionalism and creativity of our professional staff and is directly attributable to their efforts.”

Earlier this year, Beck Consulting was awarded the Microsoft Gold Certified ERP Partner Status for their expertise in selling and implementing Microsoft Dynamics ERP systems.

“Being elected a member of the President’s Club means that we are doing the right thing in terms of helping our clients achieve more efficient and effective business processes in their areas of the food industry”, commented Dirk Manders, VP of Operations. “The combination of BCfood and our highly skilled and experienced implementation and development staff allows us to consistently provide a high level of service to our clients. Ultimately, their trust in our abilities made it possible for us to achieve this award.”

About Beck Consulting

Beck Consulting was founded in 1987 and a Microsoft Dynamics NAV partner since 1997. Specializing in the food industry for the past 25 years, Beck Consulting has developed BCfood, built on Microsoft Dynamics NAV for food processors, manufacturers, distributors, and brokers.

About Microsoft Dynamics NAV

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 R2 is a complete enterprise resource planning (ERP) software solution for mid-sized organizations that is fast to implement, easy to configure, and simple to use. Right from the start, simplicity has guided—and continues to guide—innovations in product design, development, implementation, and usability. Microsoft Dynamics NAV has more than 80,000 customers, over one million users worldwide, and is available in more than 40 country versions.

With Microsoft Dynamics NAV you can implement proven industry-specific functionality relevant to your needs—even for the most highly specialized industries and organizations. The result? A cost-effective complete ERP software solution tailored precisely to your unique requirements—one that helps you better manage and improve your cash flow, increase efficiency, and impact the bottom line.

Not much.

First we should define what we mean by “processing” and “manufacturing”.  Processing generally refers to what we call “first level” manufacturing.  Processors typically take a raw product from the field, and turn it into an ingredient useable by a “second level” manufacturer.  Turning raw tomatoes into tomato paste, for example, and packaging it in containers that are easily sold and distributed for a variety of uses is typically done by a processor.  The manufacturer on the other hand purchases the paste and uses it as an ingredient in a more complex product, such as spaghetti sauce, or any number of products that require tomato paste.  Both processors and manufacturers add value to the product.

Processors are generally concerned about:

1. Food safety & traceability
2. Cost of processing
3. Regulatory compliance
4. Sales
5. Profitability

Manufacturers on the other hand are generally concerned about:

1. Food safety & traceability
2. Cost of production
3. Regulatory compliance
4. Sales
5. Profitability

As you can see, there is not much difference.  Cost of processing and production includes labor, materials used in the process or manufacture, other ingredients, packaging, transportation and other regulated costs, and labeling.  Emphasis and priority is placed on any one of the costs based on product, market, and other pressures, including corporate marketing strategies (i.e., low cost leader vs. segment innovator).  This is important because this is where we find the differences – not in the business requirements, but in how each type of organization implements the functionality.

Let’s be clear.  In manufacturing jargon, “processing” has a very distinct meaning.  Process manufacturing involves ingredients and formulas that are often made in a batch.  Once produced, these products cannot be disassembled – think of beer for example.  Process’s cousin, discrete manufacturing, involves bills of material and routing.  Discrete products can often be disassembled, but not always, back to their raw materials – think of a boxed rice mix designed for the consumer.  If you are a “process” manufacturer, you have unique needs over discrete manufacturing and you should be clear about the differences (which are the subject of upcoming articles).

bcFood with Microsoft Dynamics NAV has the functionality to provide a great solution for first level processers as well as second level manufacturers, for both process and discrete products.  Foremost, given the current regulatory environment, is its ability for complete product traceability from the source, through production and final shipment which not only provides peace of mind, but documentation and country of origin labeling as well.  Production capabilities provide for both process and discrete manufacturing disciplines so mixed-mode manufacturers no longer have to choose one over the other.  And finally, margins and profitability are not left to chance.  There are several means throughout the system, and especially in the production and logistics management modules to capture and report costs accurately. 

There aren’t many differences between food processors and manufacturers from the standpoint of an ERP provider.  What’s important is that the business priorities are well defined and the provider take the time to understand them.  A great solution will work for both.

“Microsoft significantly raised the requirements for the Gold ERP competency this year, emphasizing customer satisfaction and staff certifications, with the goal of providing customers with a higher level of confidence in the capabilities of a Gold ERP Partner”, says Allen Beck, President of Beck Consulting.  “This has made attainment of the Gold designation far more difficult for organizations unwilling to commit the resources to customer service and ongoing professional education.   We are proud of our staff’s commitment to service and education in attaining the Gold ERP competency.”

To achieve Microsoft Gold ERP Partner status, the highest ERP partner qualification possible, Beck Consulting demonstrated commitment, quality, and consistent ability to implement Microsoft Dynamics NAV ERP projects in all aspects, and assist their clients over the long term.  

“Microsoft Dynamics NAV enables organizations to implement proven industry-specific functionality relevant to their needs” says Bruno Johansson, VP of Business Development at Beck Consulting. “Even for the most highly specialized industries and organizations the result is a cost-effective complete ERP software solution tailored precisely to the unique requirements of a specific organization —one that helps them better manage and improve their cash flow, increase efficiency, which in the end will impact the bottom line.  This certification reflects our ability to help our clients achieve these things.”

About Beck Consulting

Beck Consulting was founded in 1987 and a Microsoft Dynamics NAV partner since 1997.  Specializing in the food industry for the past 25 years, Beck Consulting has developed bcFood, built on Microsoft Dynamics NAV for food processors, manufacturers, distributors, and brokers.

About Microsoft Dynamics NAV

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 R2 is a complete enterprise resource planning (ERP) software solution for mid-sized organizations that is fast to implement, easy to configure, and simple to use. Right from the start, simplicity has guided—and continues to guide—innovations in product design, development, implementation, and usability. Microsoft Dynamics NAV has more than 80,000 customers, over one million users worldwide, and is available in more than 40 country versions.

With Microsoft Dynamics NAV you can implement proven industry-specific functionality relevant to your needs—even for the most highly specialized industries and organizations. The result? A cost-effective complete ERP software solution tailored precisely to your unique requirements—one that helps you better manage and improve your cash flow, increase efficiency, and impact the bottom line.

In general, retailers must maintain records or other documentary evidence that permits
verification of origin claims made at retail. These records may be maintained in any
location and, unless specified otherwise, must be maintained for a period of 1 year from
the date the declaration was made at retail. Upon request, these records must be provided
to any duly authorized representatives of USDA within 5 business days of the request.

For covered commodities sold in pre-labeled consumer-ready packages, the record must
identify the covered commodity and the retail supplier. For products that are pre-labeled
with the origin information on the shipping container (or other type of outer container),
the label itself is sufficient evidence on which the retailer may rely to establish the
product’s origin at the point of sale. In this case, retailers must still maintain a record
identifying the covered commodity and the retail supplier. In addition, to allow
substantiation of the origin claim, the retailer must either maintain the pre-labeled
shipping container at the retail store for as long as the product is on hand, or ensure the
origin information is included in the record identifying the covered commodity and the
retail supplier.

For products that are not pre-labeled, the retailer must maintain records
that identify the covered commodity, the retail supplier, and the origin information.
Retail suppliers must maintain records to establish and identify the immediate previous
source (if applicable) and immediate subsequent recipient of a covered commodity for a
period of 1 year from the date of the transaction. Upon request, these records must be
provided to any duly authorized representatives of USDA within 5 business days of the
request and may be maintained in any location.

The supplier of a covered commodity that is responsible for initiating a country of origin
declaration, which in the case of beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and goat is the slaughter
facility, must possess or have legal access to records that are necessary to substantiate
that claim. In the case of beef, lamb, chicken, goat, and pork, a producer affidavit shall
be considered acceptable evidence on which the slaughter facility may rely to initiate the
origin claim, provided it is made by someone having first-hand knowledge of the origin
of the animal(s) and identifies the animal(s) unique to the transaction.

For an imported covered commodity, the importer of record as determined by Customs
and Border Protection, must ensure that records: provide clear product tracking from the
United States port of entry to the immediate subsequent recipient and accurately reflect
the country(ies) of origin of the item as identified in relevant CBP entry documents and
information systems; and maintain such records for a period of 1 year from the date of
the transaction.

Resources:

USDA Economic Research Service
USDA Agricultural Marketing Service
Country of Origin Labeling: Legislative History