Ireland’s Food & Beverage sector faces the twin pressures of increasing competition and heightened regulatory scrutiny, making efficiency, responsiveness, and customer experience more critical than ever. At LBSPartners, our team of digital experts combines over 20 years of industry knowledge with LEAN thinking, providing tailored solutions through the Microsoft 365 Power Suite to help businesses meet these demands. From factory-floor insights to customer interactions, we’re here to equip companies with tools to thrive in today’s fast-paced market.
Here’s how Power BI, Power Automate, Power Apps, and MS Bot address critical industry needs—and the custom-built, industry-focused solutions we create for each.
- Real-Time Performance Reporting with Power BI
Keeping an eye on performance metrics such as production speed, error rates, and equipment efficiency is crucial for consistent quality and output. Traditional reporting, often retrospective, limits a company’s ability to react to issues before they escalate. With Power BI, companies can access real-time dashboards, transforming data into actionable insights.
- Example in Action: A dairy company experiences fluctuating temperatures on its production line, affecting output. With Power BI dashboards tailored by LBSPartners, their managers are alerted instantly to temperature spikes, allowing maintenance teams to respond quickly and prevent quality issues.
- Custom Solution from LBSPartners: Our team designs Power BI dashboards that integrate factory-floor data sources, providing an all-in-one view of real-time KPIs. For a Food & Beverage client, we could create a customised “Performance Tracker” dashboard that includes alert systems for temperature, downtime, and stock levels. This enables a proactive approach to production efficiency, ultimately reducing wastage and downtime.
- Triggering Recall Workflows with Power Automate
When product recalls are necessary, a swift, well-coordinated response across multiple departments is essential to avoid risk, meet regulatory standards, and uphold brand reputation. Power Automate enables automated, cross-department workflows, alerting logistics, compliance, and quality control teams to take rapid action.
- Example in Action: During quality control checks, a beverage manufacturer identifies a defect in a batch. Power Automate triggers a recall workflow, notifying the Logistics Department to stop shipments and redirect the stock. Simultaneously, the compliance team is alerted, allowing the entire organisation to respond quickly and effectively.
- Custom Solution from LBSPartners: With our deep industry expertise, we can build custom Power Automate workflows for precise recall management. For instance, we could develop an automated “Recall Response System” that sends real-time notifications to designated teams, initiates inventory adjustments, and tracks responses until the issue is resolved. This solution ensures that recalls are handled swiftly and minimises the risk of faulty products reaching customers.
- Real-Time Health & Safety Data Capture with Power Apps
Health & safety (H&S) compliance is foundational to Food & Beverage operations, where contamination risks are high. Using Power Apps, companies can set up mobile-friendly solutions for real-time H&S data capture, enabling on-the-spot reporting and swift responses to hazards.
- Example in Action: When an employee notices a hazard on the production line, they can use Power Apps on a tablet or mobile device to report it immediately, which then triggers an alert to the H&S team. This speeds up the response to potential safety risks, ensuring compliance and a safe work environment.
- Custom Solution from LBSPartners: We can create custom Power Apps solutions that streamline H&S processes to fit your specific requirements. One solution for this could be a “Safety Tracker” app that can be customised to capture incident reports, near-miss tracking, and safety inspections with real-time alerts. This solution provides robust documentation and enables quick responses, helping businesses maintain regulatory compliance and foster a safe workplace.
- Enhanced Customer Experience with MS Bot
In today’s market, a quick, seamless customer experience is essential. Customers expect real-time answers regarding order status, product availability, and delivery times. MS Bot can be integrated to handle these queries 24/7, improving customer satisfaction and easing the load on support teams.
- Example in Action: A catering company orders from a supplier and needs to confirm stock availability and estimated delivery times for an upcoming event. MS Bot provides real-time answers, allowing the customer to track their order status and receive updates on delivery, creating a smooth, responsive experience.
- Custom Solution from LBSPartners: With a tailored MS Bot solution, we can enable real-time, interactive customer support. We could create a “Customer Order Assistant” bot that integrates with inventory systems to provide customers with instant product information, order updates, and delivery estimates. This digital assistant ensures customers stay informed, supporting customer loyalty and improving overall satisfaction.
Why Choose LBSPartners?
At LBSPartners, our approach combines decades of Food & Beverage sector knowledge with the transformative capabilities of Microsoft’s Power Suite. We’re dedicated to designing customised, LEAN-aligned digital solutions that address the real-time challenges unique to your business. From production performance to customer experience, our tailored solutions empower companies to operate efficiently, stay compliant, and meet the demands of modern consumers.
Our custom-built solutions are designed not just to solve problems but to position businesses for long-term success. Connect with us to learn how we can help your team maximise productivity, improve safety, and enhance customer experience in 2024 and beyond.