Advanced Software for Food Processing Quality Control, Safety and Traceability

Phil Black - PII Editor 30/06/2015

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Leading meat processor Mischau GmbH & Co.KG of Spandau, Germany is using CSB-System’s advanced software to provide essential quality control, food safety and traceability across its wide range of products, including salami, paté and pastrami and its renowned currywurst, supplied to both retailers and caterers throughout Germany and many other parts of Europe.

End-to-end processing and documentation of all relevant data in CSB-System’s industry-specific software ensures seamless traceability for the approximately 225 tons of meat and sausage produced by Mischau every month.

Every stage of production can be traced and accounted for; from the procurement of raw materials through to processing and final customer dispatch. Upon the initial receipt of goods, quality tests are carried out aided by the IT system and labels are then attached indicating an item’s name, vendor and unique lot number. This data is passed on to CSB input stations in batch processing as well as other downstream production stages up to weigh labelling In order picking, mobile capture devices are used to register the items and automatically post them in the ERP system, including details relevant for traceability. Mixed boxes with different products are assigned a dedicated lot number that includes the lot numbers of all the items in the box.

Thanks to this precise documentation, Mischau can quickly find out which goods were delivered to which customer, allowing a fast recall in the event of any problems Another benefit of the system is that it is future-proof, providing the flexibility to enable the company to adopt new ideas or respond to market demands. For example, Mischau was able to cope easily with the implementation of the recent EC Food Information Regulation.

Food safety management is further enhanced by the CSB-System nutritional value calculation and identification modules which are able to automatically identify ingredients, nutritional values, allergens and GMOs and transfer this data to the weigh labeller to be printed onto labels. In addition, operators are always aware of whether processed raw materials include allergens and whether therefore they need to clean machines prior to a product changeover to eliminate the possibility of allergen residues being present in other produce.

The CSB-System also enables electronic order processing via EDI, which is increasingly being required by caterers and hospitals as well as retailers. Thanks to the high speed of electronic transmission, combined with error prevention, this can save enterprises around two thirds of the costs compared to order handling on paper.

Mischau was one of the first companies in Germany to be awarded ISO 9001 certification and has recently been recertified to the even higher level IFS 6. The company’s IT traceability system was recognised as a contributing factor to the recertification.

“In terms of technology, we are well prepared for the future with this industry-specific software,” comments joint managing director Richard Mischau. “It helped us manoeuvre our business safely and with foresight past all challenges presented by the industry.”