Consumers aren’t often granted the privilege of seeing what goes on inside of the manufacturing plant where their food is processed. For this reason, food labels are an integral part of the trust that exists between consumers and food providers. Consumers rely on the accuracy of a provider’s word to tell them exactly what is in the product.
This is especially important when allergies are involved. Recently, chicken manufacturer Foster Farms had to recall several cases containing 12, six-ounce trays of chicken breast strips. This amounted to roughly 6,000 pounds of meat. The recall was due to the fact that the company used labels intended to be placed on other products. The affected meat contained wheat and soy—but these allergens were not declared on the product’s labels.
Aside from being wasteful—as well as incredibly dangerous—this case is a perfect example of how implementing real-time manufacturing intelligence in facilities can prevent potentially disastrous recalls from happening. Product recalls cause more than financial damage. In the Foster Farms case nobody got sick, however the company will suffer the financial losses of the recall as well as the damage to their reputation from a public that relies on accurate allergy information on labeling.
The demand for impeccable food quality has placed a large burden on manufacturers to ensure that every product that makes its way onto a shelf is flawless. And manufacturing intelligence (MI) is the best way that companies can make sure that this demand is met. By using statistical process control (SPC), manufacturing intelligence provides real-time data to make certain that the supply chain is not compromised at any point.