Competition, fluctuating demand, and changing regulations are constantly challenging Food & Beverage manufacturers to look for ways to differentiate themselves while remaining compliant. Look to Western Computer for proven industry solutions that will empower you to increase profitability and grow your business.
Growth & Profitability
Optimizing platforms and processes to promote efficiency and innovation today and down the road
Customer Experience
Providing a consistent, convenient, quality ordering and delivery experience across multiple channels
Quality & Regulatory Compliance
Keeping up with changing regulations to avoid costly recalls, fines, or damage to the brand
Retail Compliance
EDI integration and managing trade and promotions with big-box retailers, grocery stores, and e-commerce platform
Integrated, Real-time Data
Visibility across departments and sources to gain insights, make faster decisions, and optimize every aspect of the business
While other solutions offer food & beverage features, Microsoft offers benefits they cannot. Microsoft’s robust, fully integrated cloud ecosystem—or “One Microsoft”—rings data, systems, and processes together, providing you with the tools and power you need to increase productivity and efficiency, ensure compliance, innovate continuously, and expand and grow to meet demands in a highly competitive and rapidly changing industry:
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a robust Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution that integrates essential business and process manufacturing functions crucial for managing supply chains, production, safety, quality, and compliance. With Dynamics 365, you get real-time insights into inventory, demand forecasting, resource utilization, and supplier performance to reduce waste, avoid stockouts or overstocking and manage costs. This helps you gain control over commissions and discounting so you can optimize profit margins.
Microsoft Azure offers a robust, flexible, scalable cloud infrastructure, providing the ability to scale storage, computing power, and data according to business needs, which is especially important for manufacturers dealing with fluctuating demand and seasonal production cycles. Azure enables you to utilize advanced data analytics and AI tools for predictive demand forecasting, quality control, and operational efficiency.
Dynamics on Azure is one of the most compliant platforms available today, helping you ensure you’re meeting stringent food safety regulations (e.g., FDA, HACCP, GFSI). The ability to track every ingredient through the production process and maintain comprehensive records is critical for audits and recalls, which is why Dynamics 365 and Azure offer full ingredient and product traceability/lot tracking, helping you trace food safety issues to their origin quickly and efficiently.
Microsoft 365 offers powerful collaboration tools that help you improve internal communication and streamline workflows. With tools like Teams, Outlook, OneDrive, and SharePoint, employees can communicate and collaborate in real time across different locations, ensuring everyone from the production floor to management has access to the same information. Microsoft 365 also offers integrated document management and version control to help with managing compliance documentation, product specs, and recipes.
"In the Food and Beverage industry, success hinges on more than just meeting regulatory requirements—it's about leveraging technology to streamline operations and enhance customer experiences in a competitive landscape. With Western Computer’s expertise and the power of Microsoft Dynamics 365, we provide scalable solutions tailored to the unique challenges of this industry, from EDI integration with major retailers to data democratization for better decision-making. Our goal is to help our customers achieve growth while staying ahead of industry demands."
– Jim Harris, Account Executive
The AI capabilities in Dynamics 365 and Azure enable you to innovate faster. AI tools can be used for optimizing recipes, improving production efficiency, and reducing waste. Machine learning models can predict equipment failures, enabling preventive maintenance that reduces downtime.
A fully integrated platform gives you full visibility into operations. From ingredient sourcing and production processes to distribution and customer feedback, you get real-time data and analytics to make informed decisions. With Power BI, you get customizable dashboards that provide insights into key performance indicators (KPIs), helping you stay agile and responsive to market changes.
Dynamics 365’s EDI capabilities help you automate and streamline the process, improving efficiency, reducing errors, and maintaining compliance with industry standards. This enhances supply chain visibility and responsiveness, crucial for managing perishable products.
Through Azure and the entire platform, Microsoft offers robust security features and services that most companies could not afford or manage on their own. Data encryption, compliance with industry regulations, advanced threat protection, disaster recovery, and more help you protect sensitive data, ensure the continuity of operations, and meet stringent food safety and cybersecurity standards.
Your partner is as important as your technology. With Western Computer, you get a respected, seasoned partner—a Microsoft Partner of the Year Finalist and Inner Circle Member (the top 1% of partners worldwide). We have decades of Microsoft and Food & Beverage experience along with unique products we have developed for the industry. We are also experts at moving companies from legacy systems to the cloud. We take an industry approach, collaborating with you to deliver a modern, comprehensive solution that will help you tackle your challenges, meet your strategic goals, and scale with you as your business changes and grows.
Contact Us Today to Learn More About Our Food and Beverage ERP Services