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Adoption of technology for quality management.
20/12/21 |
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Technological advancement and digital transformation have become prominent topics for the food industry recently. The move to adopt new technological solutions is steering an increasingly wide range of concerns, with publications writing on topics like the FDA’s focus on food traceability, the pros and cons of unified data for R&D, the future of trust and transparency in the food supply chain, and the future of food manufacturing. No-matter where you look, technology, data processing and information systems take centre stage.
With technology and systems advancement receiving so much attention, it would be easy to imagine food businesses operating like a NASA control room, with banks of computers adjusting operational settings millions of times per second and sensors logging real-time product quality characteristics. In reality, this poll taken on the International Food Safety and Quality Network indicates that 85% of food factories use a combination of Excel, Word, and manual records for quality management. At the time of writing, just 9.18% of respondents reported that they used a software solution.
It’s worth noting that the poll was opened in May 2019, but with more than 300 responses it presents an acceptable reflection of the state of play.
This article is intended to explore some of the benefits of technological advancement, as well as some of the factors that may be holding back adoption.
With technology and systems advancement receiving so much attention, it would be easy to imagine food businesses operating like a NASA control room, with banks of computers adjusting operational settings millions of times per second and sensors logging real-time product quality characteristics. In reality, this poll taken on the International Food Safety and Quality Network indicates that 85% of food factories use a combination of Excel, Word, and manual records for quality management. At the time of writing, just 9.18% of respondents reported that they used a software solution.
It’s worth noting that the poll was opened in May 2019, but with more than 300 responses it presents an acceptable reflection of the state of play.
This article is intended to explore some of the benefits of technological advancement, as well as some of the factors that may be holding back adoption.
Excel for quality management
It wouldn’t be possible to meaningfully examine the outlook for data processing in the food industry without first looking at Excel. First-hand experience would corroborate the findings of the IFSQN member’s poll – many food manufacturers rely on excel to operate their quality management systems (QMS).
There are some substantial reasons for Excel’s popularity as a QMS throughout the food industry. Any businesses that use Microsoft 365/Office already have access, so there are no additional costs associated with its use, and the program is adaptable enough to perform almost any function. In principle, the QMS output from Excel is limited only by the imagination and competency of the person using it.
The trouble is many of the things that make Excel a useful tool also make it a bit of a double-edged sword. ‘Adaptability’ and ‘fragility’ go hand-in-hand, so it’s easy for spreadsheets to stop working because someone has overtyped a formula or merged cells. Even if spreadsheets are password protected and cells with formulae locked to prevent editing, quality management systems based on Excel seem to take a lot of maintenance just to keep them working.
Even when everything goes perfectly, businesses take on a certain degree of risk due to reliance on Excel. A skilled and competent quality systems manager might set up an excellent functional system that performs exactly as needed… But if that individual leaves the business, the next person to take over the role might not be able to troubleshoot any issues that arise. It’s common for new managers joining companies to create entirely new systems rather than try to work out how the existing systems work because it can be very hard to reverse engineer a workbook that someone else designed.
There’s also an emotional attachment at play. It’s very easy to understand that food technologists who have invested a lot of time into learning Excel’s functions and designing a QMS within it, could feel that the value of their individual contributions was under threat if the dependence on Excel ended. This is a significant reason why people can feel resistance to technological progression – Excel is complicated to the extent that a set of skills need to be developed to use it well, so of course people can feel insecure if systems that don’t require the competency are put forward.
At this point, I’d like to emphasise, Excel is a useful tool with many advantages. A skilled quality systems manager can use Excel to perform quality functions and apply them to almost any process, and while it takes specialised knowledge to be able to use Excel well, developing those skills is easily attainable with some time and effort.
So, there’s a clear explanation for why so many food manufacturers operate their quality management systems using Excel. It can perform adequately, there’s little to no financial barrier to overcome, and the act of using it keeps certain skills relevant. The disadvantages are also significant because Excel-based systems are fragile and staff changes can render existing systems impractical to maintain. In short, Excel is just good enough to get the job done and there are emotional/sentimental reasons that may discourage individuals from entertaining alternatives.
There are some substantial reasons for Excel’s popularity as a QMS throughout the food industry. Any businesses that use Microsoft 365/Office already have access, so there are no additional costs associated with its use, and the program is adaptable enough to perform almost any function. In principle, the QMS output from Excel is limited only by the imagination and competency of the person using it.
The trouble is many of the things that make Excel a useful tool also make it a bit of a double-edged sword. ‘Adaptability’ and ‘fragility’ go hand-in-hand, so it’s easy for spreadsheets to stop working because someone has overtyped a formula or merged cells. Even if spreadsheets are password protected and cells with formulae locked to prevent editing, quality management systems based on Excel seem to take a lot of maintenance just to keep them working.
Even when everything goes perfectly, businesses take on a certain degree of risk due to reliance on Excel. A skilled and competent quality systems manager might set up an excellent functional system that performs exactly as needed… But if that individual leaves the business, the next person to take over the role might not be able to troubleshoot any issues that arise. It’s common for new managers joining companies to create entirely new systems rather than try to work out how the existing systems work because it can be very hard to reverse engineer a workbook that someone else designed.
There’s also an emotional attachment at play. It’s very easy to understand that food technologists who have invested a lot of time into learning Excel’s functions and designing a QMS within it, could feel that the value of their individual contributions was under threat if the dependence on Excel ended. This is a significant reason why people can feel resistance to technological progression – Excel is complicated to the extent that a set of skills need to be developed to use it well, so of course people can feel insecure if systems that don’t require the competency are put forward.
At this point, I’d like to emphasise, Excel is a useful tool with many advantages. A skilled quality systems manager can use Excel to perform quality functions and apply them to almost any process, and while it takes specialised knowledge to be able to use Excel well, developing those skills is easily attainable with some time and effort.
So, there’s a clear explanation for why so many food manufacturers operate their quality management systems using Excel. It can perform adequately, there’s little to no financial barrier to overcome, and the act of using it keeps certain skills relevant. The disadvantages are also significant because Excel-based systems are fragile and staff changes can render existing systems impractical to maintain. In short, Excel is just good enough to get the job done and there are emotional/sentimental reasons that may discourage individuals from entertaining alternatives.
Benefits of technology and specialised software for food manufacturers
Food Portal offers cloud-based systems, so this explanation is based on cloud services as opposed to blockchain technologies etc.
The first thing to acknowledge is that specialised software solves all the problems associated with Excel. The fragility and maintenance associated with Excel just isn’t a relevant factor. There are no cells to overtype – you can’t break it.
The interesting thing is that cloud-based systems bring capabilities that could never be realised through other means, just by the systems being online rather than offline. There is a level of automation and connectivity, with possibilities that might not be immediately obvious if you are conditioned to doing these things on Excel.
Here are just 2 examples of how this can be applied….
Supplier assurance
Carrying out supplier assurance work offline is a time-consuming and repetitive task. The process involves placing a request for assurance evidence from suppliers, receiving that evidence by email, then manually transposing expiry dates into some kind of supplier management system – usually an Excel workbook. With a few dozen suppliers, each having 2-3 accreditations, it can add up to an exorbitant amount of time exchanging documents and administrating renewal dates.
That process can just be eliminated using an online system. The Food Portal Supplier Directory enables food businesses to create a profile for their company and upload any assurance evidence to be shared with their customers. Food Portal member companies can connect their suppliers’ profiles directly to their approval systems so that updates made by their suppliers are instantly reflected in their approval records.
This is the significance of online systems. By moving the process online, supply chain actors can connect directly so that assurance information is accessible to all parties; and this holds true for all future updates. This is actually the way major retailers manage their supplier records – so each supplier uploads their site accreditations to an account that they administrate, and there is no maintenance of these supplier records needed by the retailer for ongoing approval.
Distributing release certificates (COAs/COCs)
Another huge resource drain, providing customers with release certificates for their orders can be a major burden when done offline. Sales order processing or stock control allocates a batch of product to a customer order, and a member of the quality team subsequently accesses batch information, finds the pertinent analysis certificate, and emails it to the customer. If large batches of product are sold to multiple customers, this can add up to a ludicrous amount of repetition.
This is another instance where the work can be radically reduced just by managing the process online. Food Portal’s traceability function allows attachments to be associated with raw material and finished product batches, which are automatically distributed to customers when a batch of product is allocated to their order. Upload an analysis once, and there is zero administration required for customers to be provided with release documents for every consignment after that point. The system also provides fraud mitigation as an answer to developing concerns throughout the food industry.
There are lots of ways food quality management software can fundamentally transform the way food businesses operate, but this isn’t intended to be an advert, so I’ll leave it at those 2 examples. The underlying point is that specialised software applied as an online solution isn’t just a more stable replacement for offline systems – technology can be used to transform processes and revolutionise the way results are achieved.
The first thing to acknowledge is that specialised software solves all the problems associated with Excel. The fragility and maintenance associated with Excel just isn’t a relevant factor. There are no cells to overtype – you can’t break it.
The interesting thing is that cloud-based systems bring capabilities that could never be realised through other means, just by the systems being online rather than offline. There is a level of automation and connectivity, with possibilities that might not be immediately obvious if you are conditioned to doing these things on Excel.
Here are just 2 examples of how this can be applied….
Supplier assurance
Carrying out supplier assurance work offline is a time-consuming and repetitive task. The process involves placing a request for assurance evidence from suppliers, receiving that evidence by email, then manually transposing expiry dates into some kind of supplier management system – usually an Excel workbook. With a few dozen suppliers, each having 2-3 accreditations, it can add up to an exorbitant amount of time exchanging documents and administrating renewal dates.
That process can just be eliminated using an online system. The Food Portal Supplier Directory enables food businesses to create a profile for their company and upload any assurance evidence to be shared with their customers. Food Portal member companies can connect their suppliers’ profiles directly to their approval systems so that updates made by their suppliers are instantly reflected in their approval records.
This is the significance of online systems. By moving the process online, supply chain actors can connect directly so that assurance information is accessible to all parties; and this holds true for all future updates. This is actually the way major retailers manage their supplier records – so each supplier uploads their site accreditations to an account that they administrate, and there is no maintenance of these supplier records needed by the retailer for ongoing approval.
Distributing release certificates (COAs/COCs)
Another huge resource drain, providing customers with release certificates for their orders can be a major burden when done offline. Sales order processing or stock control allocates a batch of product to a customer order, and a member of the quality team subsequently accesses batch information, finds the pertinent analysis certificate, and emails it to the customer. If large batches of product are sold to multiple customers, this can add up to a ludicrous amount of repetition.
This is another instance where the work can be radically reduced just by managing the process online. Food Portal’s traceability function allows attachments to be associated with raw material and finished product batches, which are automatically distributed to customers when a batch of product is allocated to their order. Upload an analysis once, and there is zero administration required for customers to be provided with release documents for every consignment after that point. The system also provides fraud mitigation as an answer to developing concerns throughout the food industry.
There are lots of ways food quality management software can fundamentally transform the way food businesses operate, but this isn’t intended to be an advert, so I’ll leave it at those 2 examples. The underlying point is that specialised software applied as an online solution isn’t just a more stable replacement for offline systems – technology can be used to transform processes and revolutionise the way results are achieved.
Limiting factors preventing adoption
With so many incredible advantages of online quality management software, what’s holding the industry back? Why aren’t all food manufacturers reaping the benefits?
The first reason is cost. Frustratingly, most software service providers decline to publish their prices but anecdotally we’ve been told about 2 case examples – one where a provider would charge around £5,000 per module per year, and another where a different provider would charge in the region of £70,000 installation followed by an annual fee in a similar ballpark. Not only are these prices prohibitive to many businesses, but even for those who could afford to pay there’s no point in using a service if the price outweighs the advantages. Food Portal is transparent and priced for accessibility. We believe all food manufacturers should be able to access excellent systems, not just the major corporations with the biggest budgets. You can see our prices here.
The second reason is the effort of transition to a software solution. As discussed above, Excel is just functional enough to get by on, and in the absence of a serious and immediate systems failure it can be hard for food manufacturers to feel motivated to migrate data from one system onto another – even in light of all the advantages.
The first reason is cost. Frustratingly, most software service providers decline to publish their prices but anecdotally we’ve been told about 2 case examples – one where a provider would charge around £5,000 per module per year, and another where a different provider would charge in the region of £70,000 installation followed by an annual fee in a similar ballpark. Not only are these prices prohibitive to many businesses, but even for those who could afford to pay there’s no point in using a service if the price outweighs the advantages. Food Portal is transparent and priced for accessibility. We believe all food manufacturers should be able to access excellent systems, not just the major corporations with the biggest budgets. You can see our prices here.
The second reason is the effort of transition to a software solution. As discussed above, Excel is just functional enough to get by on, and in the absence of a serious and immediate systems failure it can be hard for food manufacturers to feel motivated to migrate data from one system onto another – even in light of all the advantages.
In summary
With regulatory updates like the FSMA Proposed Rule for Food Traceability and the EU Transparency Regulation, there will be increasing incentives for food manufacturers to adopt specialised online quality management software into the future. It seems unlikely that the use of software solutions will be mandated in the short term, but food businesses that use technological solutions are likely to be at an advantage.
Food Portal is making cloud-based quality systems available to all food manufacturers, removing barriers to adoption, and supporting advancement.
Food Portal is making cloud-based quality systems available to all food manufacturers, removing barriers to adoption, and supporting advancement.
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Author: Duncan Lacey - Director of Innovation, Food Portal
Duncan Lacey | LinkedIn |
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