Survey: Majority of Manufacturers Feel the Heat When It Comes to the FSMA

Alpharetta, GA, December 9, 2015 — Tougher industry standards, like the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), are creating a renewed focus on quality among food manufacturers according to a survey recently commissioned by global enterprise software provider, Aptean.

The survey, designed to gauge the sentiment of Aptean customers on the FSMA, found that a majority (81 percent) are experiencing some level of effect from already instituted and impending regulations. The manufacturers affected by the weight of the FSMA listed the following five areas of their operations as having been impacted the most:

• Traceability

• Supplier & facility audits

• HACCP/Preventative

• Corrective actions

• Product recalls

Moreover, even with Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) guidance and credentials, 70 percent of manufacturers feel there is still moderate to considerable effort needed on their behalf to comply with FSMA.

“While I think most manufacturers support the FSMA’s mission to put prevention at the forefront, many aren’t equipped to handle growing consumer concerns and compliance demands,” said Jack Payne, Vice President of Product Management and Solution Consulting. “Our customers are taking the right steps by implementing advanced technology to transform their strategies from reactive to proactive.”

Notably, respondents shared they believe both their Aptean enterprise resource planning(ERP) and manufacturing execution solution (MES) have helped with a variety of aspects of FSMA including traceability, product recalls and supplier/facility audits. When asked what they considered to be the top three benefits of Aptean’s Ross ERP solution, for example, manufacturers answered as follows:

• Access to analytics

• Increased response time

• Increased prevention

“Aptean has enabled our team to maintain a higher level of accountability when it comes to all areas of our product,” said Kelly Finch, director of technology at O-AT-KA Milk Products Corporation. “It tracks and traces every component from farm to fork.”

About Aptean

Aptean provides very specific industries with very specific ERP, supply chain management and customer experience solutions. In today’s fast-paced, highly competitive economy, organizations don’t have time to waste forcing homegrown software, spreadsheets and one-size-fits-all solutions to do things they were never designed to do. That’s why over 7,000 highly specialized organizations in more than 20 industries and 74 countries rely on Aptean to streamline their everyday operations. To learn how Aptean can help your organization stay at the forefront of your industry, visit www.aptean.com.

Aptean is a registered trademark of Aptean, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.