Keeping an Eye on EPC
Managers at Quantum Foods Inc. were facing two key challenges: improve inventory control as the business continued to grow dramatically, and meet increasingly stringent government and industry regulations regarding food safety. The solution was to implement warehouse management software that not only provides immediate process improvements, but supports a potential deployment of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology for even greater supply chain management capabilities.
The company, which supplies frozen custom meat products to food service companies and retailers, and is the largest producer of portion-control steaks in the United States, in February began using a warehouse management system from RedPrairie Corp.
Gaining Control
The software, called DLx Warehouse, will help Quantum gain greater control of its product inventory and accommodate the rapid growth of the business, says Scott Pace, vice president of supply chain at Quantum. The company recently opened a new 290,000-square-foot distribution center in Bolingbrook, Illinois, to help support growth and customer service demands, and senior managers knew Quantum would need an automated warehouse management system to ensure optimum use of the new facility.
A team of six people from the company set out to evaluate software products available in the market. After reviewing products from five vendors, the team selected the RedPrairie software because it is Windows-based, user friendly and is capable of handling data from both bar codes and RFID tags, Pace says.
In addition, he says RedPrairie's product is suitable for the food processing industry and the vendor has expertise in the industry. Furthermore, Quantum was looking for a quick implementation of the new system and RedPrairie was capable of delivering that. "We felt they had the most experience with [warehouse management] implementation and RFID" among the vendors under consideration, says Pace.
Before Quantum installed the RedPrairie software, the company was using a largely manual process of logging and tracking warehouse inventory records. "That was very effective, but we've outgrown the ability to do things with pen and paper," says Pace.
WMS Benefits
Among the major benefits of the warehouse management software are improved inventory accuracy, and reduced labor and equipment costs, Pace says. He says it's too early in the software implementation to determine how much money Quantum will save. By automating processes, the company has been able to cut the amount of time associated with inventory management. For example, prior to the implementation it took an average of three hours to process a typical truckload of frozen meats, says Pace. That same process now takes about 22 minutes.
The improved warehouse management will also enable Quantum to better serve its customers, which include national restaurant chains, food service distributors, major airlines, cruise ships, supermarkets, non-commercial feeders, and U.S. military and general merchandisers.
Quantum provides highly customized products, with each meat order cut to a precise size, shape, weight, texture and flavor that a customer requests. The made-to-order products must be tracked throughout the supply chain to ensure they are shipped to the correct customer. With the RedPrairie software, Quantum will be able to track each product by catch weight to ensure that each order reaches the right customer on time, Pace says.
Meeting Regulation
The inventory management and visibility capabilities provided by the software will also help Quantum comply with regulations in the meat industry. U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations require food processors to track and trace products as they move through the supply chain. Quantum is required to track products in a temperature controlled environment for food safety reasons. The RedPrairie software provides location, expiration date, lot and other information all the way down to the product level.
Quantum is in the final stages of rolling out the RedPrairie software, which include the appointment scheduling, yard management, visibility, Commander/recall and additional key capabilities.
By late summer or early fall of this year the company will begin evaluating whether it will deploy RFID technology and to what extent, says Pace. "We're still looking for what the expectations and standards are going to be for RFID," Pace says. "We want to be on board" with the technology at some point.
The Potential of RFID
The company sees RFID as having the potential for storing much more information about products and easing the process of managing product data. Quantum might use the technology to track the location of products as they move through the supply chain, but will likely continue to use bar codes to locate products within its warehouse. One consideration is how RFID tags will be able to withstand the somewhat severe conditions at Quantum's facilities. The temperature in the meat storage areas averages about 10 degrees below zero and can get as low as 30 degrees below zero, says Pace.
Quantum will also consider using the EPCglobal Network, a standards-based network that will provide a means of sharing data via the Internet about products equipped with RFID tags that contain an Electronic Product Code. In the meantime, Quantum will work to optimize the benefits of its new automated warehouse.