The COVID-19 pandemic introduced unexpected stresses on food systems, creating many immediate challenges. COVID-19 has imposed shocks on all segments of food supply chains, simultaneously affecting farm production, food processing, transport and logistics, and final demand. Not all sectors and products have been equally affected, and different products have experienced disruptions at different stages of the supply chain. Food and workforce safety will remain a key issue during – and beyond – the ongoing pandemic. While the good news is that there is no proof of COVID-19 transmission from food or food packaging, restaurants will still have to put stringent new safety measures to protect their staff and customers alike.
It’s no secret that the foodservice industry –and the hospitality industry as a whole – has been heavily impacted by the containment measures imposed by governments. But many restaurateurs have been quick to adapt their business model to offer their customers more flexible, pandemic-friendly dining options. This has caused a surge in takeaway and delivery service options from quickservice or fast-casual restaurants and higher-end restaurants. SpecPage solutions enable transparency and traceability, supporting the food supply chain from farm to fork. SpecPDM provides traceability via oversight and insight into the process history, from research and development, trials, simulations, food manufacturing, supply chain, labeling, quality control, and management, to global regulatory compliance processes – delivering an end-to-end, comprehensive mapping process solution.
For nearly two decades, the company founders have sought innovative solutions to help formula and recipe-based food and beverage manufacturers produce better quality products for less – while complying with increasingly stringent global regulatory compliance challenges. Serial entrepreneurs Peter Atzenweiler and Severin Weiss founded SpecPage in Switzerland in 2006 as a dedicated software and digital process remedy to help food manufacturers streamline and grow their businesses. They understood that tangible, rapid returns on investment were crucial to the success of producers who often operate on razor-thin profit margins. The company quickly grew throughout Europe, and in 2010 they began expanding internationally. In 2015 they expanded to the United States, and in 2017, SpecPage expanded to China and the Asia-Pacific – the company now has clients on every continent, in every conceivable segment of the food and beverage industry.
Uniquely dedicated to the food and beverage industry, SpecPage innovative process solutions make modern recipe-based manufacturing manageable and legally compliant. SpecPage is the global leader in state-of-the-art, enhanced digital process solutions for formula-based food and beverage industrialized production. Delivering innovative software solutions in the cloud, SpecPage focuses on achieving and sustaining growth with seamless, connected, datadriven results. Lack of transparency, traceability, and visibility into production processes, product data, and supply chain management slows organizational growth, increases both hard and soft costs, and reduces razor-thin profit margins.
Regulations are slightly stricter in the EU, but the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued new regulations. As a global player, they can support any global regulatory compliance challenges.
Regulatory compliance for food and beverage manufacturers has become increasingly stringent – particularly for organizations with a global presence. These laws, requirements, and compliance protocols vary from state to state, country to country, and increase stress levels on all aspects of the supply chain, from research and development, quality control to distribution. Noncompliance is the costliest of measures from a profitability standpoint and legal and consumer safety perspectives. Global food product manufacturers reviewed require transparent product specification management and governance to enhance overall supply chain traceability. Companies needed to ensure the required levels of certifications across their supply networks and extend the scope for electronic specification management spanning suppliers to manufacturers. SpecPage’s solution enables manufacturers to achieve food safety, accurate labeling, traceability, and transparency throughout the global supply chain. Features-rich Compliance Guide supports a rapid response to regulatory updates with Industry 4.0 integrated compliance solutions.
SpecPage is the only PLM and PDM software provider dedicated to the food and beverage industry with a quickstart, out-of-the-box process solution. “A secure and transparent data management system will eliminate inaccuracies and prevent unnecessary confusion, errors and cost. Recreating lost, fragmented or untraceable documents instead of focusing on the development of a new product can cost your company thousands of dollars in hard costs - as well as soft costs, like staff time and efficiency,” says Severin Weiss, CEO & Founder of SpecPage. “Continually updating product data across multiple spreadsheets is time-consuming, and the information is prone to data entry error.” Implementation of the SpecPage’ SaaS solution provides rapid results and substantial tangible and quantifiable benefits, improve productivity by replacing manual processes and reducing errors. Besides, a central database with historical data will allow the users to reuse past experiments and formulations, speed new product development, and update Change Requests to existing products in real-time.
The SpecPDM application platform from SpecPage offers a single database for raw materials, formulas, packaging, labeling, and specifications, and a tool to standardize internal approval processes. At any point in time, the latest information about all products is available, allowing food manufacturers to react to market demands faster and more fexible manner by leveraging existing resources. There is no doubt that an implementation project and data consolidation can bring their challenges; however, when product development and information solutions are well-integrated, they provide a quick return on investment. When overall efficiency and data quality are improved, food producers can drive innovation and profitability, ensuring long-term success.
“We currently already have customers on all continents. We’re the European market leader for food and beverage PLM formula and compliance management solutions, in the US we only have couple dozen customers,” says Weiss. “Currently we are evaluating how to accelerate the US market penetration together with a strategic partner.” SpecPage is investing in enhanced digital supply chain functionality to comply with regulations, identify risks that can cause harm to consumers, workers, and the environment.