Where’s the ROI
The use of software as a service, or SaaS, has increased rapidly in the food and beverage industry. Many reputable studies indicate that SaaS deployment has more than doubled in the past year.
F&B producers have unique challenges, and they need to be very light on their feet if they are to meet the fickle demands of consumers – while complying with ever-changing global regulatory compliance requirements.
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11 reasons to switch to SaaS for PLM & Supply Chain Management
Agile, swift, ready to pivot and pounce on new trends to serve customers and increase market share – these are just a few of the traits that successful manufacturers must employ in order to achieve sustainable growth and profitability.
Let’s examine the top three benefits that manufacturers find compelling about product lifecycle management SaaS.
Cost
Traditionally, PLM solutions were provided in combination with in-house servers and networks, and configured for each individual manufacturer’s needs. SpecPage worked closely with customers to design a suite of on premise, out-of-the-box process solutions that required less downtime for customization, and met the needs of busy food and beverage producers.
SpecPage has continued to innovate, and recently unveiled a suite of SaaS solutions to accelerate time to market, decrease costs, eradicate archaic spreadsheets and ensure food safety with transparency and traceability in the supply chain.
So, from a leadership or c-suite business perspective, PLM SaaS just makes sense. Subscription licensing lowers capital investment costs and SaaS PLM delivers a rapid return on investment. Startup costs are greatly reduced as there is little to no hardware investment, and the cost of the process solution is spread out over time. This is a major benefit for mid-sized manufacturers.
Flexibility
F&B manufacturers face an avalanche of competition; delivering differentiation is crucial – as is first-to-market-status. Operational speed, flexibility and cross-company communications are essential to improve organizational performances and address the challenges of time to market, product cost, market changes and trends, resource availability, and ingredient sourcing accessibility.
There have also been questions regarding producer’s ability to customize process solutions to fit their needs. This is not an issue or challenge with SpecPage; our PLM solution delivers functionality and process features that have been designed exclusively to fit the needs of food and beverage manufacturers.
The ability to access and share data on demand, and to have cross-functional support for formula reuse and new product development cannot be overstated – innovative PLM environments quickly adjust to meet the needs of R&D, QC and food safety teams.
Security
Many companies hesitate to employ SaaS because they are uber-cautious regarding the security of their data. Optimized data, as savvy food manufacturers know, provides a strategic competitive advantage.
Also, many software providers use outside security teams, hired on an as-needed basis – but at SpecPage, we take data security very seriously. We employ a dedicated chief information security officer, and we have earned the coveted ISO 27001 certification from independent inspection agency, Bureau Veritas.
The ISO 27001 certification process is exceptionally rigorous, it demonstrates that SpecPage customer data is protected and supported by a system that constantly assesses and manages risks and remedies for information security.
SaaS technology permits data to be accessed from any device with an internet connection and web browser. This is exceptionally convenient for teams that may work from different locations, states and countries. SaaS provides opportunities to reduce and eliminate miscommunications, process errors, backtracking time and ultimately, reduce costs.
Remote access to data and robust functionality do not have to come at the price of a security risk.
Intelligent use
Food and beverage producers are under constant pressure to improve productivity, lower cost, enhance product quality and eliminate food safety and global regulatory compliance issues – while producing ground-breaking innovative new products.
The rapid launch of a PLM process solution delivers opportunities to overcome all of the challenges, quickly and efficiently.
SpecPage SaaS PLM offers manufacturers intelligent use – fast, simple, low-cost deployment and the flexibility to scale in functionality and size – designed just for the food and beverage industry.
