Download the MES Traceability Case Study
See how a multi-site snack food bakery achieved 40% faster recall response and 24/7 audit readiness by unifying ERP, MES, and shop-floor traceability.
What This Case Study Shows
A leading snack food bakery supplying major retailers was under increasing FSMA and customer pressure to trace every ingredient and batch quickly and accurately.
This case study shows how Rain Engineering transformed their manual, spreadsheet-based tracking into an integrated MES traceability solution that protects customers and brand reputation.
What’s Inside
In this case study, you’ll see how the bakery:
- Started with manual, error-prone tracking across five bakeries that took days to complete a recall investigation.
- Faced serious risk from siloed ERP, MES, and shop-floor data, plus teams overwhelmed by compliance and audit demands.
- Worked with Rain Engineering to map ingredient and batch flows across plants through deep process alignment workshops.
- Connected ERP, MES, and production data using automated digital batch records and standardized traceability templates.
- Orchestrated IT/OT so real-time production data flowed into compliance dashboards, backed by hands-on training and change management.
You’ll also see the measured outcomes:
- 40% faster recall response, with investigations now done in hours instead of days.
- 24/7 audit readiness, with all compliance data available at a click.
- Reduced risk: no missing records, no lost batches, and no failed audits since go-live.
- Empowered teams who now spend more time on quality and production, not paperwork.
Who This Guide Is For
This case study is ideal for operations, quality, and food safety leaders in food and beverage, snack, and other regulated industries who need to strengthen recall readiness.
It’s especially useful if you’re still relying on spreadsheets, manual logs, or disconnected systems and want to understand what a modern MES traceability solution looks like in practice.
How To Use It (In 3 Steps)
- Share the case study with your quality, food safety, and operations leaders to build urgency and alignment around traceability gaps.
- Benchmark your current recall and audit processes against the bakery’s “before” and “after” state to identify improvement opportunities.
- Use the results and approach as a conversation starter for an MES or traceability strategy session with Rain Engineering.
Key Success Factors
Traceability success depends on more than software—it requires deep process alignment, integrated ERP/MES/shop-floor data, and real change management on the plant floor.
When those pieces come together, you gain faster recalls, round-the-clock audit readiness, and teams who trust the data instead of fighting spreadsheets.
Ready to see similar results in your facility? Download our MES Implementation Guide or schedule a free consultation with Rain Engineering.
Have a question? Reach out to us at (833) 972-4626 or info@raineng.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much faster did the bakery handle recalls after MES traceability?
With integrated MES traceability, recall investigations dropped from days of manual detective work to just hours, delivering roughly a 40% improvement in response time.
Does this approach only apply to snack food, or other regulated industries too?
While this case focuses on a snack food bakery, the same MES traceability approach applies to any regulated food, beverage, or process manufacturer facing FSMA or customer audit pressure.
What were the biggest changes for the bakery’s teams?
Teams moved from spreadsheets and paper logs to automated digital batch records and real-time dashboards, spending less time on paperwork and more on quality and production.