Squeezing Hidden Value from Your Food Safety Data

Food and beverage producers have a long history of turning byproducts into profitable new lines — sometimes for consumption, and sometimes for entirely different applications.

So, if ever there was an industry primed to take maximum advantage of all its resources, it should be this one. 

Routine product testing and sanitation monitoring on a production line results in the accumulation of a lot of data. Surprisingly, it is still very common for this data to be buried in mountains of paper files or dumped in spread sheets that nobody reads. And there it sits, until it is eventually needed for an audit or if contamination is detected.

Neogen Product Specialist, Troy Gosetti says not putting this data to work is both a lost opportunity and a waste of valuable resources, with manual data retrieval taking key personnel away from more productive tasks. Just how much time it consumes was exposed when the question was put to participants during a recent webinar on environmental monitoring.

“We had over 150 people answer this question and nearly half of them told us they were spending more than two hours every day preparing data for senior management,” said Mr Gosetti. “That’s a lot of unproductive time, and to be honest, a waste of an asset that can actually help you streamline your processes to make your business more profitable.”

Mr Gosetti says your data has value and doesn’t have to lay dormant. It can be made to work for you to gain real-time insights, improve your responsiveness, simplify compliance, reduce risk, and increase your productivity.

Fully integrated food risk intelligence solutions, such as Neogen Analytics, are now available, and can unify the workflow and data generated within your environmental monitoring, product testing, and sanitation verification programs. By doing so, your data that is currently languishing in spread sheets and paper binders can be brought to life to improve quality and decrease risk, while simultaneously streamlining operations.

“One of the great features of Neogen Analytics is you don’t have to make substantive changes to what you are already doing to benefit,” said Mr Gosetti. “Of course, we have hardware that works seamlessly with the platform, but provided you can export your data, we can incorporate whatever you have available and transform it into actionable information.”

Data that is typically locked away in separate silos from testing, labs, LIMS and devices is integrated and managed within Neogen Analytics to give you a more complete picture of your operation. The platform is delivered with powerful reporting and analytic tools that provide always-on access to information that is more versatile, easier to understand, and allows you to be more responsive.

However, according to Mr Gosetti, Neogen Analytics offers much more than generic off-the-shelf software. It’s a dedicated food safety platform that can be tailored to your specific requirements.

“Neogen Analytics gives you the flexibility to apply your own policies and operating procedures,” said Mr Gosetti. “And it will keep your team on track by comparing what is included in the plan you develop to actual observed performance measures.”

By automating common processes such as scheduling tests or initiating corrective actions, Neogen Analytics can radically reduce the number of manual steps required for compliance. And with all your testing and corrective action data in one spot, you can filter and print what you need for any audit in minutes. Digitising and automating your testing program can also alert you to out-of-spec sanitation controls before they cause costly up-time issues, such as unplanned maintenance, tear-down cleaning and other measures that delay or stop production lines.

“Not only does this save time and effort,” explained Mr Gosetti. “It also makes sure you are consistently following your own policies and complying with all relevant regulations with fewer opportunities for human error.”

Another key feature of Neogen Analytics is the vastly improved visibility it provides for both people working on the factory floor and senior management. 

Colour-coded test points on your floor plan enable you to visually assess the state of your plant at a glance. Each test point is “active” — by clicking on a mapped test point, you can access the entire history of that location and assess its performance over time.  Dashboards give you an instant snapshot of the health and changing status of your sites, highlighting trends and hotspots. You can also set up automated workflows that notify stakeholders about next steps, and time-stamp corrective actions, to produce a complete audit trail as you progress.

Neogen Analytics brings your data to life by employing rules-based triggers to analyse diagnostic results and alert stakeholders to anything that requires their attention, allowing corrective actions to commence immediately, before more serious issues emerge. Wastage and downtime are reduced, and your team can identify the root causes and trends that lead to issues in the first place. 

“The faster you can react to an issue, the less it is going to cost you,” said Mr Gosetti. “And if you can actually get ahead of potentially expensive situations while you’re streamlining your processes, then you’re really going to improve your bottom line.”

In just a few years, Neogen Analytics has grown from a startup project to the established leader of a rapidly expanding category. Today companies around the world are putting their dormant data to use and realising the ROI benefits that come from the adoption of workflow automation, data gathering, and advanced analytics capabilities.

For Mr Gosetti, the expansion of a proven technology in this part of the world is a no-brainer.

“Australian and New Zealand businesses are already collecting this data,” said Mr Gosetti. “They might as well get something back in return.”

Neogen Analytics takes the headaches out of compliance activities and delivers real efficiency. Replace time-consuming, repetitive, error-prone food safety tasks with automated workflows, instant notifications, and unparalleled insight. Contact Neogen today and discover how to unlock the hidden value of your data.

To learn more visit neogenaustralia.com.au.