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When the average person thinks of technology in the retail food sector, they’re likely to see images of QR codes, automated checkout lines, credit card terminals, and other useful tools that enhance the grocery shopping experience. Yet technology can offer many back-of-house benefits as well. ComplianceMate’s food safety management system is among the cutting-edge products that today’s grocery stores can’t do without.
Many grocery store owners hesitate to spend money on equipment purchases and upgrades that promise to enhance productivity and efficiency. Given the overall state of the economy, investment in technology might seem like an undertaking that should be delayed to a more favorable time. But this line of thought does not take into account the power of the data to help save money in the current environment.
Managers of brick-and-mortar stores that sell fresh and frozen food owe it to themselves to learn about the ways tools such as ComplianceMate can enhance the operations of their facilities. Let’s explore ComplianceMate and how its technology benefits grocery stores.
The Benefits of ComplianceMate in Grocery Stores
The patented food safety software offers a boost to your HACCP-compliance efforts as well as your back-of-house efficiency. Key features of ComplianceMate include the following:
Temperature sensors
Using ComplianceMate’s automated, cloud-based temperature sensors on all food storage units at your grocery store provides multiple benefits:
24/7 temperature tracking - Everything can be tracked—even a brief power outage will be automatically logged, and without the need for onsite personnel.
Instant alerting - When the system detects a problem, it immediately sends an alert to appropriate personnel. The recipient of the alert can be specified by each location and role. The system can be programmed to send a notification to any supervisor, a regional manager, a C-level executive, or any other onsite or offsite personnel. And the sensor can transmit these signals even through concrete and stainless steel.
Proactive monitoring - If something goes wrong in the in-store kitchen or food preparation areas, you’ll be notified immediately and will be able to proactively keep compromised food from being made available to customers.
Easy temperature range maintenance - ComplianceMate can track every unit in the grocery store to ensure that each is functioning properly. The system can easily accommodate the distinct temperature requirements of different types of storage units. Also, the sensors themselves have few maintenance requirements—their batteries last for up to five years.
ComplianceMate takes a lot of the legwork out of temperature monitoring. That alone can go a long way toward improving workplace efficiency at your store.
Reporting and Analysis
In addition, ComplianceMate includes digital checklists and other tools to help with food safety and quality assurance (FSQA) workflows. These features provide a wealth of operational benefits:
Quality consistency across all locations - ComplianceMate doesn’t just ensure that temperatures are correct throughout a single facility. Its cloud-based system can also provide the data you need to compare storage temperatures of one location to another. Because data can be uploaded to a single cloud environment under your control, it doesn’t matter if your brick-and-mortar locations are hundreds or even thousands of miles apart. All kinds of information, such as workflow checklist data, can also be compared in this manner.
Legal compliance - ComplianceMate can maintain a running log of data for months and even years. This gives you the tools to prove compliance with food storage laws and regulations in the event of an external audit.
Internal auditing - The data collected by ComplianceMate can give you suggestions on quality-control improvements. These upgrades may relate to equipment maintenance or employee and workflow performance.
Creating a safe, high-quality grocery store experience for your customers isn’t just about what’s happening at the checkout lines. Creating and maintaining a food safety management system with ComplianceMate will provide long-term, high-impact benefits that will be felt by your store patrons, store management, and all employees.
