by Nic Azad, TrakSYS Communications Lead at Parsec Automation Corp.
Mother’s Day is on May 14 this year. No matter how you choose to celebrate, there’s a good chance food will be involved – after all, food has brought families together since the history of, well, food! Sharing a meal is an apt way to commemorate the maternal figures in our lives, given all the food they’ve prepared for us over the years.
According to a study facilitated by the National Restaurant Association, an estimated 38% of people celebrate Mother’s Day with a home-cooked meal, 27% eat out at a restaurant, and 18% order takeout. No matter how you slice the data, it’s clear that food tends to be the context for Mother’s Day commemorations.
We have one crucial piece of technology to thank for the scrumptious feasts that will take place this year. Indeed, many of our Mother’s Day celebrations would be impossible without the help of MOM – that is, a manufacturing operations management (MOM) platform.
MOM powers the food manufacturing industry
MOM software is a key player in food manufacturers’ continued success. A powerful player in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), MOM empowers manufacturers to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible. In practical terms, MOM helps manufacturers be the best they can be.
MOM platforms provide numerous benefits to the food manufacturers who use them, including:
- Reliability: Today’s MOM solutions are incredibly reliable; once installation and initial setup is complete, they simply work. Food manufacturers rely on their MOM platforms to provide consistent insights into their operations without skipping a beat. When so much of manufacturing is beyond our control – material costs, supply chain disruption, availability of raw ingredients – it’s incredibly helpful (and relieving) to be able to count on such powerful tools.
- Adaptability: Food manufacturers know all too well that their business is ever-evolving. Whether they’re pivoting their production to accommodate an ingredient swap, cutting back their operations due to a downturn, or scaling up amid continued success, manufacturers need tools that adapt in lockstep with their business. As such, today’s preeminent MOM platforms are designed to meet manufacturers where they are, making it possible to address their needs of the moment and those of the future.
- Visibility: The beauty of solutions—like MOM—that facilitate interoperability is how they provide users with vital, contextualized, real-time insight into their operations. Insight into things like production statuses, asset performance, SPC, and downtime, to name a few. This at-a-glance visibility is essential not only from an operational standpoint, but from a regulation standpoint as well. The food & beverage industry is highly regulated, and food manufacturers need in-the-moment visibility into every step of their production.
- Efficiency: MOM’s detailed insights into variables like machinery downtime and factory emissions help food manufacturers better allocate resources and reduce waste. Armed with a quantitative analysis of their operations, shop managers can easily identify areas for improvement so they can boost profitability, increase productivity, and drive their business forward.
- Accessibility: While MOM platforms are incredibly powerful and advanced, leading providers have optimized the user experience by creating intuitive, easily navigable interfaces and dashboards. On a technical level, platforms are even being designed to facilitate low-code/no-code deployments.
You can’t have Mother’s Day without MOM
For some, brunch is already a do-or-die event. But on Mother’s Day, restaurants tend to pull out all the stops with celebratory menus and special dishes. These occasions often require months of advance planning for restaurant managers, which means working with food manufacturers to ensure they have everything they need for a successful day. Grocery store managers also tend to feel the pressure ahead of Mother’s Day and must ensure they’re stocked up on specialty items like decorated baked goods and decadent dinner ingredients.
Advanced technology like MOM helps food manufacturers ensure they can meet (or exceed) customer expectations. From the English muffins in our Eggs Benedict, to the orange juice in our mimosas, to the surprise box of chocolates at the end of a meal—MOM-powered insights enable food manufacturers to create the goods that make Mother’s Day a success.
As we all celebrate the maternal figures in our life on May 14, let’s remember to raise a glass to the MOMs that make it all possible.
