Regulatory requirements demand that batch software provide electronic recordkeeping
When a multinational, Midwest-based condiment manufacturer recently acquired a new manufacturing plant, the company quickly realized the custom-made batch software and human-machine interface (HMI) system were becoming obsolete, resulting in increased maintenance costs, wasted batches and limited production flexibility.
Because the legacy systems were aging and did not comply with corporate standards, they were no longer supported by the manufacturer or company resources. The custom batch system had no scheduling or historical batch recordkeeping capabilities, making it difficult for plant managers to manage production. Often, the only way managers were made aware of wasted batches was when there was a shortage of raw materials for a given recipe because those ingredients were used when they shouldn’t have been—a big problem for a facility that produces more than a dozen product varieties. In addition, the inflexible nature of the system was keeping the plant from making software programming changes for routine enhancements, which meant that if an issue were to arise, the company was at risk of incurring significant plant downtime.