Baking & Snack - December 2017 - 83

Aligning the entire process - from formulas to packaging - isn't always easy. In large baking companies,
Mr. Heflich noted, formulas reside in a number of places
from cost accounting to product development to quality
assurance to matching nutrition labeling requirements.
It's an interconnected chain that cannot be broken.
Any formula deviation or error - human or otherwise
- can result in a recall. "How do you make sure those
labels match the formula being run?" Mr. Heflich asked.
"You need a good process for change management in a
company. When changes are made, they are clearly communicated and coordinated. There are a lot of moving
parts. It's not the easiest thing to do."
Even in warehousing and distribution, bakers are

Striving for a new world of safety
It's commonly said that there is no competitive advantage when it comes to food
safety - or at least, there should be no
competitive advantage. Baking industry
veteran Len Heflich, founder of Heflich
Food Safety, is starting to have second
thoughts about that saying, especially
with those companies that comply with
the Food Safety Management Act (FSMA)
through Global Food Safety Initiative
(GFSI)-certified programs.
"With all the rules and regulations today,
that's all changed," he observed. "If you
have an operation that's run better and
more in control when it comes to food
safety, that's a competitive advantage."
Complying with FSMA can be a challenge, especially when it comes to ensuring that vendors - especially all international ingredient suppliers - comply with
the law's regulations. "FSMA doesn't say
exactly how to do that, so it's up to the
industry to figure it out," Mr. Heflich said.
"It's pretty sketchy at the moment."
That's where GFSI certification can help.
In addition to ideally reducing the number
of audits, the initiative establishes a standard that the entire food industry must
eventually attain. "GFSI audits didn't exist
20 years ago and were rare 10 years ago,"
Mr. Heflich recalled. "The whole idea is
to have the entire supply chain certified.
It's driving food safety globally. By setting
food safety standards, it's making life
easier for everybody."

seeing advances in technology. Radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology has been around for years, but it's
gaining greater traction because of better returns
on investment. "With the reduction of cost per
RFID tag, companies are able to track trays and assets while also using metrics to assist with order replenishment and recall if necessary," Mr. Maraj said.

Ahead in the cloud
Most software is compatible with enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other systems that integrate management
of core business processes in real time,
but the cloud has been a game-changer
for many bakeries. "Most of the data today resides in the cloud. It's not on your local server," Mr. Heflich said. "In many cases,
they have the data and format. As a result, I
don't need any IT support to install a system like that.
All you need is a computer with Internet access."
Companies looking to outsource their hardware and
software to the cloud are finding it readily available with
one household name, according to Mr. Maraj. "Amazon
Web Services is leading the way for affordable, secure
and scalable solutions including infrastructure as a service and platform as a service," he explained. He added
MiT offers a wide range of ERP applications from production to general ledger in the cloud for the baking and
snack industries.
Mr. Maraj also suggested that Amazon's purchase of
Whole Foods might further transform how bakers and
snack producers interact with major big box and online
supermarkets, club stores and mass merchandisers.
"The use of retail ordering portals designed to enhance the customer-ordering process is an effective way
of increasing customer retention while winning more
institutional and quick-service restaurant contracts,"
Mr. Maraj said. "Additionally, real-time dashboards using key performance indicators have improved visibility
to monitor your business operations while being able to
be proactive rather than reactive to the market needs."
As user-friendly technology adapts to changing regulations and shifts in the market, everyone's desk should
become less cluttered and paper cuts less frequent. "The
best advice I can give is to find a software replacement
for what you need to do on paper," Mr. Heflich said.
That's also one good way to prevent offices from becoming fire traps.

Consistent batching translates
into better product quality by
providing strict controls at the
front end of the process.
Focus Works

Find resources for food safety by visiting
www.esourcebaking.com. Browse by category under
Services, and click on Recipe Management for listings.

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Baking & Snack - December 2017

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