Over 15 million tonnes of pasta are produced all over the world, which makes the productive impact of the pasta factories sector extremely important for global economy.
The pasta sector is an important sector for the food industry all over the world. SAM ERP2 is a cutting-edge ERP system designed and developed specifically to fit the needs of companies working in this sector.
Its functions allow companies to manage not only administrative and commercial processes, but also the needs that arise from the purchasing of raw materials, their storage and transformation, the production and quality control processes, and lastly issues concerning food traceability (in full compliance with “food law” EC 178/2002), all in the best way possible.
SAM ERP2 provides a full management of advanced logistics and is supported by INDICOD standards “UCC/EAN-128” and “SSCC”, which represent essential tools for certifying the quality of company processes and products along the entire production chain (ISO 2200).
SAM ERP2 is a powerful, cutting-edge ERP system developed by Centro Software for full and integrated management of pasta factories. Security, quality controls, traceability and tracking, control over the entire production and commercial sale, management of sale processes, relationship with large-scale retail trade, handling of lots and expiration dates, organization of warehouses, internal and external logistics, labeling, barcodes, picking, freight, calculation of net contribution margins… these are only some of the functions that make SAM ERP2 a perfectly adaptable product for every production or commercial business of the paper and tissue sector, whether small or large.
SAM ERP2 is an integrated system where all functions result from one single project and perfectly interact with each other. It consists in a fully-fledged system that offers all the necessary functions to manage all company processes, internal and external: purchases, production, CRM, goods handling and storage, online connections with the productive and commercial chain, administration, cash management, financial management, management control systems, etc.
In particular, the functions useful for pasta factories are the following.
WAREHOUSES, INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL LOGISTICS (EAN, UCC, SSCC, etc.), LABELING, PICKING
Arrival of goods with simplified procedures for operators:
- Receipt of semolina with labeled sample for quality control
- Receipt of raw materials (e.g. eggs) with temperature check
- Interface with semolina silos and their loading cells
- Receipt of primary and secondary packaging for traceability
SAM ERP2 offers functions to immediately identify and locate products, optimize warehouse spaces and transfer paths, thereby reducing the average time for the preparation of orders, and improve client services by considerably reducing non-conformities due to picking. The Warehouse Module also allows to manage warehouse locations by also taking into account their capacity, handle biohazard procedures, generate and manage loading units, arrange SSCC labeling, and lastly take care of Delivery Notes, Packing Lists, DESADV, etc.
TRANSFER OF GOODS THROUGH BARCODES (WMS – Warehouse Management System)
SAM ERP2 makes it possible to identify and transfer goods by reading their barcode through wireless terminals connected to the central system in real time: receipt, shipping, picking, transfer, reintegration, reduction, etc. of goods, as well as inventory, check, management of locations (Aisles/Levels/Columns) and of “loading units”, which can even be customized to fit every client’s needs. Our ERP system also allows to optimize spaces and routes and to create a dynamic map of both physical and fictitious warehouses. Furthermore, it is also provided with the DRP-I (Distribution Requirements Planning), a useful control tool that allows to identify the moment in which different types of warehouses (e.g. picking, stocking, overstock, etc. locations) will run into issues within a certain time frame, thereby suggesting reintegration at the right time through re-balancing of stock levels, in order to synchronize re-distribution of items and make sure each location has the necessary availability depending on previously scheduled transfers and shipments.
TRACEABILITY AND TRACKING
The quality of the products does not only result from optimal production processes, but also from the care put into checking the origin and the usage of raw materials. This philosophy is even more important in the food sector, because having accurate information on the raw materials significantly affects the protection of consumers’ health.
By managing operational processes, it is possible to follow products in a simple and automatic way along the entire production chain, identify its origin, collect qualifying information to be highlighted through seal of quality, labels, or certifications. The powerful tools provided by our ERP system guarantee compliance with regulations on food safety, which ensures the fulfilment of all standards laid down in the European regulation no. 178/2002 regarding consumers’ health.
Our ERP environment allows to implement traceability and tracking functions also in the operational portals and to provide and highlight the quality characteristics of the raw materials, semifinished and finished products, in order to establish an agreement as a consumer/client warranty.
LOTS AND EXPIRATION DATES (SHELF LIFE, BEST BEFORE), FIFO and FEFO (First Expire First Out)
The full configurability of the “material flow” allows to manage lots, along with their production dates, shelf life and/or best before for each raw material, semifinished or finished product. By managing “silos” it is possible to obtain lots deriving from blending, refining, cutting, etc.
PRODUCTION PLANNING
Production planning is one of the most crucial and demanding activities for pasta factories, especially medium or large ones, where production batches can be very fast, where it might not be possible to efficiently plan more ahead than one week at a time, and where production plans may have to change due to last-minute change in priorities. SAM ERP2 provides all the necessary information and automatisms to help planners to put to use their experience by avoiding manageable criticalities (e.g. forecast data coming from promotions, canvass, etc.) and by generating production and activity plans for production lines through the ERP’s scheduler. The ERP system interacts with the production plant by passing the recipe, the drying plan and the drawing to be used, thanks to the Industry 4.0 software module. If necessary, this tool allows to change recipe to compensate any quality or quantity differences between different batches of raw materials or due to environmental reasons. Through the connection with the plant supervisor, it is also possible to measure the process quality.
REAL-TIME CONTROL OF PRODUCTION
SAM ERP2 allows to manage recipes, processing cycles, plant and maintenance schedules, thereby allowing to efficiently plan processing lines and contract work phases. Through the MES (Manufacturing Execution System) it is possible to monitor the production process by integrating at the “border of line” all functions related to sampling and quality control cycles. The handling of lot characteristics allows the system to recommend the best raw materials for each processing. The operating production functions also include the connection to automatic warehouses, loading cells, “silo” warehouses and the integrated management of transactions with Wi-Fi terminals.
MANAGEMENT OF PACKAGING
Management of packaging also includes operations like buffer for primary and secondary packaging with tracking of lots and the printing of labels on industrial markers by assigning label models and pallet structures defined for each item or client. SAM ERP2 also guarantees the optimization of warehouse stock levels by location, including incomplete pallets resulting from transfers from one batch to the other, as well as management of single lot, single item or multi-item pallets, depending on the client’s requests.
QUALITY CONTROL (Delivery, Internal/External Laboratories, HACCP, Tools, etc.)
Thanks to the integration with ISO and Vision2000 certifications, it is possible to efficiently manage quality control processes during regular operating workflows, without the need of any additional or asynchronous activities, and in full compliance with product control standards. The quality control functions allow to define control plans for each item and phase, customize testing levels, associate critical points of products and supplier classes, and lastly to configure automatic procedures to pass the tests. For example, each delivery of raw materials might have to undergo measurement and analysis procedures in the internal laboratory, and generation of Non-Conformity reports related to the purchase process (definition of price according to characteristics of product, reclassification, etc.) and to the suppliers’ accounting procedures.
MAINTENANCE OF PRODUCTION PLANTS – INDUSTRY 4.0
The concept of Business Continuity, namely the ability of continuing to provide products or services with no interruptions, is of fundamental importance in this sector, as it requires certain production and delivery times while also incurring in issues such as the perishability of goods.
Predictive and preventive maintenance jobs on production plants can reduce the risk rating related to such issues. CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) allows to manage the maintenance of company’s plants and equipment by suggesting “review”, “replacement” or “repair” interventions before functioning anomalies can even occur. This allows to plan “plant downtime” in advance to carry out maintenance interventions at the most appropriate time, thereby optimizing the working time of the plants in full compliance with the WCM regulations (World Class Manufacturing).
The CMMS Module is fully integrated with SAM ERP2 and the entire workflow is automatic: when the limits set are exceeded, the system proposes or issues a MO (Maintenance Order) which includes the Bill of Materials which, in turn, contains the information that maintenance workers need to pick up replacements and carry out maintenance work (replacement code, lubricant type, estimated time, pictures or links to web pages, technical specifications, etc.).
It is essential that this function be connected with digital devices that allow the software to communicate in real-time with the ERP system and the production plants (e.g. electronic card “Black Box C4” designed by Centro Software). The implementation of such technologies represents the first step to access Industry 4.0 and have the benefit of super-depreciations.
SALE PROCESS AND LARGE-SCALE RETAIL TRADE
You can obtain the best integration of sales force within the company’s business processes by implementing the Sales Force Automation and Sale Attempt procedures. These tools allow to gain efficiency from sharing new “prospects”, “visit rounds” and credit recovery procedures. Furthermore, these tools allow to easily involve the sales force in activities scheduled in the company’s CRM (interviews, bookings, canvass, etc.).
Clients’ orders can be entered from the SFA portal or through EDI standard protocols supported by SAM ERP2. For both methods, is it possible to manage INVOICE DISCOUNTS by showing them directly on the order lines based on the item priority, client priority and specific lists.
The MANAGEMENT OF END OF YEAR BONUSES function is related to the hierarchy by validity date of large-scale retail trade organizations. It consists in a powerful, flexible function that allows to define the actual sale net price and cover all calculations, including requested payments with purchase invoice and/or credit note.
RELATIONSHIP WITH LARGE-SCALE RETAIL TRADE AND RULE COMPLEXITY
The complex rules that governate the relationship with large-scale retail trade can be efficiently replicated in the Sales Area of SAM ERP2. It is possible to fully set and manage different levels of price application, discounts on each line, multi-agent options, document promotions and prizes on certain time periods. It is also possible to place campaigns in specific periods and set targets for product groups. This function not only represents an excellent tool for managing and controlling actual sale prices, but it also enables the sale department to guide the sales force in the most competent and efficient way. SAM ERP2 is integrated with the main EDI standards, which allows to improve document flows by limiting manual interventions.
SETUP OF DELIVERY ROUTES
Through SAM ERP2, it is possible to set up the delivery routes that include the printing of carrier pick-up documents and that are always synchronized with WMS for the execution of tasks. This allows to always keep every client’s needs in consideration, e.g. shelf life of the goods in the moment of shipping, and to manage pallets by also including the calculation of the carrier allowance.
NET CONTRIBUTION MARGIN (depending on performance, weight reductions, maturing, by-products)
Pasta factories are affected by different dynamics for the calculation of the net contribution margin due to various factors that significantly impact on production cycles, such as different performance of raw materials depending on temperature and humidity, as well as other technological and environmental factors. The correct management of weight reduction, related to the isolation or maturing of the products, and the calculation of the by-products obtained from the processing of the main product represent fundamental factors for defining the cost of the items and create a consistent calculation method for real contribution margins.
