Hand-held PDAs (personal digital assistant)
with scanners
The other was the need for better inventory control
and updated tracking software. "Our old software system
just told us what was in the inventory, and that's the only
thing it told us," explains Martin Miller, president of
the Black River Cheese Company's board of directors. To compound
the problem, it had become outdated, and technical support was
no longer available.
The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and
Rural Affairs' Traceability Pilot Project offered a solution
to both issues. Through the program, the company implemented
eQ Trace, a traceability business management software system
compatible with their existing QuickBooks financial package.
Next, Black River Cheese Company began assigning
lot numbers to incoming supplies, so it could track exactly
what goes into each block of cheese. The product is then bar
coded and scanned at key steps throughout the manufacturing
process.
As a result, cheese packages can be traced back
to the batch of milk received from the Dairy Farmers of Ontario,
and individual bars on a store shelf a hundred kilometres away
can be linked to a precise production batch.
While the implementation and training took longer
than expected, the end result was well worth the time and effort
involved. "When I see it running, it's a hundred percent
what we wanted," Miller says. He lists off all the benefits,
starting with better inventory control.
When the company's salesman calls in an order
for 20 blocks of mozzarella, for example, the cut room manager
no longer has to go back and count the blocks to make sure the
order can be filled - a few keystrokes call up that information.
Under the old system, he knew whether that particular cheese
was in stock, but not where it was or how much was available.
"Now he knows," Miller explains. "He
can tell you exactly how many blocks he has, and he can tell
you how much he's using in a day. It's made their life a whole
lot easier."
Ditto for employees who need to pull a particular
cheese out of the cold room. Instead of hunting through each
pallet of cheese, their hand-held scanners give them the precise
location, saving time and boosting efficiency.
When it comes to production, the new system helps
Black River's cheesemaker plan out a schedule instead of dealing
with urgent demands for more Monterey Jack, for example, when
someone discovers there are only two blocks left. Now the new
system automatically brings up a warning when inventory levels
drop below a certain level.
Perhaps most importantly, the new system offers
greater recall ability, enhancing their food safety system.
Today, should the Black River Cheese Company ever need to recall
a product, the staff can identify which stores carry that cheese
in a matter of minutes. Mock recalls have proved the system
works perfectly.
That new capability has proved to be a big plus
for customers. "We can go to all the big food store chains
and show that we can trace everything back," says Miller.
"That's a key issue, and it's becoming more of a key issue
all the time."
Traceability brings benefits:
By implementing a traceability system, the Black
River Cheese Company:
- Reduced their inventory levels
- Boosted plant efficiency
- Improved the speed and accuracy of invoicing
- Gained sales reporting functionality
"We can go to all the big food store chains
and show that we can trace everything back."
Figure 1: Martin Miller,
President of the Black River Cheese Company's Board of Directors.
