How can the food production facility best implement technologies to improve their pest management programs? Best practice in putting "smart" tools and technologies in place includes:

1. Deploy Connected Remote Monitoring Technologies. Because traditional manual processes of data collection can impact both the quantity and quality, leading food and beverage production facilities are implementing on-site, real-time connected remote monitoring technologies like Ecolab's Intelligent Rodent Monitoring System for pest management. Not only do these technologies enable prediction, prevention, detection, and response, they put the facility on the road to FDA's New Era of Smarter Food Safety blueprint compliance.

2. Digitize IPM Service Reporting. Service reports are critical for successful pest management and regulatory compliance, and the electronic reports of today’s leading PMPs have made both management and compliance more efficient. Beyond simple electronic, however, is the fully digitized report that integrates remote monitoring data with detailed activities that can be mined to extract trends and patterns for actionable insights on emerging risks and improvement opportunities – and fulfill the New Era digitization focus. 

3. Leverage a Digital Portal for On-Demand Reporting. Having a digitized, automated pest management reporting system, like Ecolab's eLogbook, not only better protects your facilities against pests, it also better prepares facilities for federal inspections and customer audits. Through highly automated reporting, facility compliance officers can generate on-demand reports that demonstrate a proactive, risk-based pest management program that complies with regulations and standards.

4. Implement Analytics Tools to Enable Data-Driven Pest Risk Mitigation. Written pest management service reports are a FSMA requirement for F&B facilities, but it is the assessment of the accumulated data of those reports that ensures a successful pest management program. Not only is it critical to mine the data to map trends, determine risks, and set actionable insights for proactive implementation, but future FDA guidance will likely make such an analytics-powered approach the default standard for preventive pest management. 

5. Choose an IPM Partner that’s Leading in the New Era. FSMA brought in new regulations for preventive controls to include pest management. With the FDA’s New Era blueprint taking that to the next step in its focus on tech-driven risk identification and remediation, F&B facilities will need to re-evaluate their IPM partner. Can they deliver on the needed technology, and also provide the consultative expertise to navigate the evolving New Era compliance requirements?