Manufacturers everywhere have an extremely underutilized employee. This employee is a robust repository of institutional knowledge, facts, and random trivia. However, this employee is full of latent potential that hasn’t yet been tapped, and they are ready to do so much more.

Ok, so maybe this is a quirky metaphor, but—in case it wasn’t clear—this underutilized employee is your organization’s data. And Data could be doing so much more to help your human employees make better decisions.

For many manufacturers, the collected data is sitting in various databases and spreadsheets, waiting to be called upon, sorted, and analyzed to inform decisions across your organization.

At a recent Infor webinar they discussed the importance of new and revised products to a food company’s revenue and bottom-line growth. Successful product innovation, though, has never been more complex as consumers’, customers’ and regulators’ expectations continue to evolve and expand. And this is not just a challenge for your R&D department. It expands across all disciplines from procurement to production to marketing.

M3 Food & Beverage is a comprehensive ERP solution designed to help food and beverage companies respond to changes in customer demands, manage their global supply chains, plan for seasonality, and reduce waste. 

Infor M3 Food & Beverage is the industry's most complete solution dedicated to solving the unique challenges of the food industry, including shelf-life, yield; reverse bill of materials, attribute management, grower accounting, and comprehensive asset management.

Establish a foundation for digital transformation:

With the world changing faster than ever before, companies need to keep up by becoming more agile and adopting new technology to stay competitive and stand out from the competition. Moving to the cloud is one way that can help you stay ahead.

Infor M3 Cloud delivers software as a service, offering complete flexibility in operations, technology, and scale. As a multi-site, multi-country, and multi-company ERP solution, M3 Cloud empowers your organization to easily adapt to changing business needs.

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requires that food and beverage companies take a more proactive approach to food safety. This is a shift from the more reactive approach that food and beverage companies have historically followed. With FSMA in place, companies must identify risks, create procedures for mitigating hazards, and execute against those procedures to ensure all threats to the safety of the food supply chain are contained, as well as demonstrate that their programs are valid and that they are continually being improved upon.

Today's consumers are better informed than ever before. As a protein producer, you must make cost-effective decisions about how you offer quality food -- before the first cut is made. To meet consumer demands, you must process meat and poultry in a manner that is ethical, humane, and efficient. With Infor Food & Beverage for the meat and poultry industry, you get the most powerful, purpose-built, and complete suite of solutions developed specifically for meat and poultry manufacturers so you can do just that.

The last time you dipped your chip into the guacamole at your favorite Mexican restaurant, did it taste different? If it did, it could be because it wasn't made with avocado. Instead, what you might have actually been eating is calabacitas. 

Some Mexican restaurants have been using calabacitas, a small zucchini-like squash in place of avocados to make guacamole. Though the taste is reportedly very similar, guacamole made with calabacitas is thinner and more watery.

With last summer being the hottest on record for California, it affected the avocado crop, and this year avocado lovers are feeling the heat. The popular fruit has rocketed in price due to high popularity and low supply, leading some restaurants to find a substitute ingredient for guacamole.

I read this article last week and it got me thinking, besides guacamole, do we really know what we are eating? And not just at restaurants but in the food we buy at grocery stores, too. 

Independent Computer Consulting Group (ICCG) a Global Information Technology Solutions Provider for the Enterprise announced today that it has brought Michael Lea on board as General Manager for Americas focused on Process Manufacturing. Lea is a 25-year technology veteran who has demonstrated strong consultative sales management and leadership qualifications and has continued to remain a thought-leader about advanced software and business solutions designed to meet the diverse and rapidly evolving business demands of his clients.

Independent Computer Consulting Group (ICCG) a Global Information Technology Solutions Provider for the Enterprise today announced the appointment of John Greenaway as Chief Revenue Officer – EMEA, effective immediately. Greenaway previously served as a Channel Director at Infor for the last 10 years, where he was responsible for growing revenue across EMEA. As Chief Revenue Officer - EMEA, Greenaway will champion ICCG’s efforts to expand its software consulting and implementation footprint into Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Independent Computer Consulting Group (ICCG) a Global Information Technology Solutions Provider for the Enterprise today announced the appointment of Annette Cunningham as Chief Operating Officer – EMEA, effective immediately. Cunningham previously served for 4-1/2 years as a Regional Vice President of Sales at Infor managing a team of industry-leading sales people and channel partners. As COO, Cunningham will lead ICCG’s efforts to expand its software consulting and implementation footprint into Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.