Improved Production Yield Fully Integrated Manual Formulation

Improved Production Yield Fully Integrated Manual Formulation

An Asia-based manufacturer of dietary supplements and energy drinks needed to integrate weighing solutions into its inventory management system to enhance its manual formulation applications. Now, a combination of software and hardware solutions guides operators and provides full traceability.

Situation

This Asia-based manufacturer produces a variety of food products, such as instant coffee, energy drinks, and juices with healthy ingredients. The company required enhanced visibility and quality assurance in its formulation processes, including a transition to a paper-free recordkeeping, complete batch traceability, and an improved inventory management system.

Benefit

A comprehensive solution comprised of multiple high precision scales and formulation software delivered the following results:

Reduction of manual errors.
Efficient raw material handling based upon FEFO principles.
Improved track and trace capabilities.
Remote process and data monitoring.

The Challenge

The manufacturer sought a customized recipe-weighing solution that would meet the need for high-precision weighing and also easily integrate into the existing inventory management system. The enhanced process guidance and visibility would help them ensure accuracy and product quality while enabling the exchange of raw data with their enterprise system for full traceability. This operator guidance would make formulation easier for operators and reduce the risk of manual errors, which eliminates waste and improves the overall stock management system.

The Solution

When working with sensitive ingredients and complex formulations, paper-based procedures can lead to inefficiencies, manual errors, and costly rework. Form+ is a recipe management software that guides operators through the recipe weighing process. It is installed on a robust scale indicator, eliminating the need for paper work instructions, and every operator action is recorded. As a result, complete batch documentation is easily reportable. Furthermore, raw material use is tracked automatically, allowing managers to see where materials are used in just one click.

The Result

Because the system guides operators step-by-step through the batching process,the risk of manual errors and incorrect mixtures is reduced significantly, which conserves raw materials and saves money. Seamless integration into the stock management system makes it easy to adhere to FEFO principles, and the web-based process monitoring keeps managers informed. Overall, the solution resulted in full satisfaction of the local production team, and because of the success at this formulation station, the company is considering similar installations at other process lines.