Moving from PIF V5 to PIF V6 will make life much, much easier – once the initial set up work is done. This can seem daunting, especially if you have thousands of PIFs to load up, convert, update and send.
Here at Bizcaps we are living and breathing PIFs. As the only Australian-based company licensed to provide a V6 PIF portal we are working with ingredient, flavour and food manufacturers to transition to PIF V6.
So here are Six Simple Steps to make your conversion process go smoothly.
1. Ensure you have selected the right portal provider who can:
i. cope with your volume of PIFs: the last thing you want is to be slowed down due to the number of PIFs you have
ii. be on hand if you hit any snags. A local person to answer the phone can solve any snags, quickly enabling you to maintain your momentum
2. Decide the best order to update your PIFs. Create a priority list so you can break them into groups. Some ideas are:
i. Your most popular products first
ii. By customer: update all PIFs provided to a customer, then move to the next customer, and so on
iii. As your customers request them
iv. All products sold within the last 2 years
v. As PIFs need to be changed or updated, load them and update as you go.
3. Collate your V5 PIFs, ensuring they are the latest versions, and get ready to load.
4. Assess how long it takes to complete a V6 PIF once you have loaded the V5. This will help you understand the time required so that you can plan and advise your customers.
5. Schedule in the updating. For example:
i. ½ a day, once a week
ii. 3 hours a day, 3 days a week
iii. Half the team on alternative days
Once your PIFs are updated to PIF V6, future updates will be a breeze.
6. Run a report listing all PIFs expiring in 3 months’ time, then slowly update them over the next 3 months. Updating them will simply require that you open the PIF, make your changes, and save. Bizcaps PIF Manager’s sophisticated audit tracking system will automatically save the details on who made what change and when, and automatically archive the old version so you can check it anytime. That’s right: no more manual version controlling.