The shelf-life agreement sits in an e-mail.
Or in a specification file, far from the people running the line. On the floor, the date is copied over or worked out.
One calculation error ends up on an entire production run.
A wrong date on the box means a complaint, or a return.
The shelf life is stored on the item.
The recipe and the shelf life belong to the item. Production works with those same item details, not with an e-mail.
When it is produced, the finished product receives a batch and a best-before date from the system.
Nobody works out the date any more. The new batch appears in stock straight away, with its best-before date.
Every stock line carries a batch and a date.
What comes off the line can be found by batch, with the best-before date the system calculated.
Less chance of a wrong date on the box.
Do you recognise this in your production?
"What we promise the retailer today has to come off our line without errors three months from now."
Shelf life on the item; when it is produced, the finished product receives a batch and a best-before date from the system (demo environment).
Software for food manufacturers: batch, best-before date and checks in the system that runs your production.