The dairy industry must meet the challenge of improving the quality of its products and services while cutting costs and increasing profits to survive in today’s competitive market place. Controlling product losses (commonly referred to as “shrinkage”) is essential to profitability, regardless of the type of plant (fluid milk, ice cream, cheese or butter and powder).
Although controlling shrinkage is important in all dairy operations, it receives more attention in Grade A fluid plants. This is due to the monthly accounting required by the Federal Milk Market Administration. FMMA requires an accurate accounting of all milk received, processed and sold. Consequently, the FMMA report is an overall review of the efficiency of a plant’s operation and one of the first documents to review when investigating possible causes of product losses.