5 Best CMMS Software Tools for Pet Food Manufacturing (2026 Review)

Pet Food manufacturing is a high-volume, high-regulation industry.

Whether you are producing dry kibble, wet canning, or freeze-dried treats, you are operating under the microscope of the FDA (FSMA) and demanding consumers.

OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) in pet food is driven by the Extruder and the Packaging Line.

If the extruder goes down, you lose the batch. If the packaging line jams (a common issue with heavy bags), you lose throughput.

Standard maintenance tools often fail here because they don't understand the specific needs of Meat Processing (rendering) combined with Baking/Drying.

Here are the 5 best CMMS software tools specifically suited for Pet Food Manufacturing.

1. Fabrico (Best for Extruder Reliability & Sanitation)

Fabrico excels in the Pet Food environment because it connects Mechanical Reliability with Food Safety.

In a kibble plant, the extruder and dryer are critical control points. Fabrico uses data to keep them running and compliant.

Key Features for Pet Food:

• Extruder Health Monitoring: Connects to the extruder motor amps and vibration sensors. Detects screw wear or gearbox issues before they cause a catastrophic jam.

• Sanitation (MST) Logging: Digitizes the Master Sanitation Schedule. Operators use tablets to verify cleaning of the "Bypass" lines and coating drums, ensuring no Salmonella risk.

• Dust Collector Maintenance: Automates the inspection of baghouses and cyclones. Essential for preventing cross-contamination and managing combustible dust risks.

• Packaging Micro-Stops: Uses Computer Vision to detect jams on high-speed bagging lines (20lb+ bags), helping maintenance tune the robotic palletizers.

Best For: Dry Kibble and Treat manufacturers focused on reliability and hygiene.

2. Aptean (Tabware / Process ERP) (Best for Recipe & Costing)

Aptean is a giant in the food ERP space.

Their software understands the "Recipe." It tracks ingredients from the receiving dock to the extruder.

It excels at Recall Management. If a batch of chicken meal is contaminated, Aptean can trace exactly which bags of dog food it went into.

Its maintenance module allows you to track the cost of maintenance per ton of finished product, which is vital for high-volume, low-margin producers.

Best For: Large corporate pet food groups needing deep ERP/Financial integration.

3. SafetyChain (Best for Quality & FSQA)

SafetyChain focuses on Food Safety and Quality Assurance (FSQA).

In Pet Food, the "Kill Step" (cooking/drying) is critical. SafetyChain automates the data collection from the dryer temperatures.

It ensures that every batch meets the critical limits for safety. While not a full maintenance system for fixing motors, it is the best tool for managing the Compliance OEE (Quality Losses).

It links the machine data directly to the regulatory report.

Best For: Quality Managers focused on FSMA compliance and Kill Step validation.

4. PLEX (Best for End-to-End Smart Manufacturing)

PLEX (by Rockwell Automation) is a cloud-native Smart Manufacturing Platform.

It is strong in Traceability and Inventory.

For wet pet food (canning), PLEX manages the complex retort (sterilization) process. It connects the production schedule to the maintenance schedule, ensuring you don't shut down a critical retort for PMs when a rush order is due.

It provides a single source of truth for Operations, Quality, and Maintenance.

Best For: Large-scale wet or dry pet food plants requiring a full MES/ERP stack.

5. Maintenance Connection (Best for Audit Readiness)

Maintenance Connection (by Accruent) is a strong choice for the "Audit-Heavy" plant.

If your biggest headache is preparing for BRCGS or SQF audits, this tool simplifies the document management.

It organizes all maintenance activities, training records, and calibration certs into a searchable portal.

It ensures that you can prove "The metal detector was tested at 8:00 AM" with a digital signature.

Best For: Plants where Audit Compliance is the primary driver for software.

Comparison: The Kibble Line

Which tool fits your process?

Conclusion: Keep the Bowl Full

Pet Food manufacturing is no longer "rendering." It is sophisticated food processing.

If your focus is Financial Traceability, Aptean or PLEX are the enterprise standards.
If your focus is Quality Control, SafetyChain is the leader.

But if your focus is keeping the Extruders Running and the Bagging Lines Moving by integrating mechanical health with sanitation workflows, Fabrico is the unified solution that keeps your plant productive and safe.

Ready to optimize your extrusion line?

See how Fabrico handles extruder maintenance and sanitation logs.

Book a Demo with Fabrico Today