[Technology Watch] Off-The-Shelf Software System Provides Process Flexibility

To provide a forum for a discussion of off-the-shelf food-safety and quality assurance software solutions, we spoke with the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Jed Alldredge and Vice President of Industry Solutions Jason Callahan, for Steton, a company which specializes in mobile data collection and reporting software for professionals responsible for managing quality, safety, regulatory and social compliance and risk.
Today’s off-the-shelf software systems offer plants a total system with a flexibility which enables plant-to-plant customization. “We acknowledge that food safety systems are all unique to their business, so we have built a system that is adaptable to each unique business need,” Callahan says.
The plant food-safety application is actually built as a shell, he explains. When a Steton representative meets with the plant manager who has a need for automation, the first thing they do is discuss the plant’s current program, including the current means of collecting data and the reports being used — which are generally paper forms. Next they will inspect the plant itself to gain a full understanding of the process and critical control points. Once all the information has been gathered, he says, “We come up with a strategy for implementing a program based on this data-construction process.”
Implementing a computerized program is advantageous for a plant, Alldredge says, because you gain the ability to identify trends in minutes rather than the hours — or days — associated with less automated systems. “There’s a huge difference in turn-around time,” he explains. Prior to deployment of the automated system in one plant, it had taken three weeks for the plant to collect data and build reports. “We basically turned that three weeks into three minutes.” In addition, when systems are tracked on paper, they are often just stored in a cabinet with no one except the manager working with that system having access to the data and no ability to track trends.
“Having the data automated is just the first step,” Callahan explains. “The second step is to have reports that help set the direction and change course if need be.” The ability to have immediate audit feedback and access to analytical reports with real-time information ensures processes related to HACCP systems, regulatory compliance, product specification, facility management, employee hygiene, process control, animal welfare, pest control, food security, sanitation, GMPs, etc. are operating within an organization’s established guidelines.
Two aspects that plants should consider when thinking about quality assurance software are Internet integration with encrypted security and the software’s ability to be used on multiple platforms. “We believe that being web-based is absolutely critical,” Callahan says. Such integration enables a plant to connect with suppliers or even third-party auditors without a custom interface, he explains. “Because it is web-based, information can be shared and exchanged.” Some of its customers have even required that suppliers use the system, “so they know even before the product is shipped that it is in compliance.” 
Multiple platform capabilities are important so that a food processor can acquire data as best meets its business needs. For example, Callahan says, “the majority of our clients conduct their audits using our software installed on a variety of mobile handheld computers such as PDAs or tablet PCs.”  This option allows for data to be collected while disconnected from the network. Immediately after completing the audit, the collected information can be uploaded to the web-based reporting module of the software for analysis.

SYSTEM ADVANTAGES. Callahan and Alldredge believe that off-the-shelf systems do have some advantages over customized solutions, primarily in speed to deployment, cost and expansion capability:

• deployment speed – creating an in-house, custom software program generally means hiring a development team, bringing them up to speed on the company’s processes as well as HACCP and operational and inter-departmental dynamics, designing the system, working through flaws and enhancements, then rolling it out — a process which can take months or even years, Callahan says, noting this contrast to the ability to customize and deploy an off-the-shelf system in less than 30 days.

• expansion capability – “There is more functionality in the application than any one company uses,” Callahan says. A plant may start out with a basic program, then decide to expand its strategy and increase the function and capabilities of the system. With an in-house-developed program, the plant would need to pull a team together and build that, he says, but with a pre-developed, customizable program, the functionalities can be simply “turned on” and incorporated into the plant’s program. Steton generally has two or three new releases each year, Alldredge adds, with the upgrades based on customer input and needs. “We’re almost constantly engaged in talking to our customers about status — how they are doing, what can be done to improve, what new processes are needed. Nearly everything comes from our customers.”

• cost – The ability to customize an existing program rather than build new reduces initial costs, and the ability to expand a program without paying for full development keeps costs low.

With more than 200 different critical control processes built into their food-safety software system, programs have almost limitless variations for customization to a plant’s processes, which Alldredge and Callahan believe, provide customers with the best of both worlds — an off-the-shelf system that is highly customizable and brings the experience of multiple plants into play. “That’s the cool thing,” Callahan says. “It represents the knowledge and experience of all our customers. That’s a lot of experience!”