Perceptions of Mobile Computing Technology at SJFA

This video is an EDUC 5400 class presentation that discusses the results of my micro-research project.

Baldwin Foods Looks at Quality with Rugged Mobile Computing with LXE

Baldwin Richardson Foods, headquartered in Frankfort, Illinois, with manufacturing facility in Macedon, New York, produces bakery fillings, syrups, sauces, toppings, beverage mixes, condiments packets, and other food products. “Our operations were all manual. We wanted to automate and had looked into different bar coding systems over the years, but nothing was the right fit,” says Craig Czajka, the IT manager at Baldwin Richardson Foods.

 

Mobile data collection systems provide real-time visibility for batch traceability, raw materials levels, and finished goods inventory.  Innovative vehicle-mounted, hand-held, and wearable mobile computers must be dependable, tough, and reliable. Wireless computers extend corporate networks to mobile workers in demanding conditions and only rugged mobile computers drive down costs and improve customer satisfaction.

 

 

Based in Norcross, Georgia, LXE offered Baldwin Richardson Foods a full range of turnkey services, including radio integration, project and installation management, network design, technical support, and repair services. LXE helped the company transition to real-time visibility and gain control over raw materials, production status, and inventory transfers, warehousing, and distribution to customers. “Bar coding doesn’t fix things, it just makes things faster,” says Czajka. “We had to fix our processes first. The knowledge LXE had about working with our Ross ERP system was very valuable to us. Some of the other vendors we looked at had started to support Ross, but they weren’t there yet.”

 

LXE helped Baldwin Richardson Foods design a wireless network and mobile data collection systems to support new processes that provide real-time visibility for batch traceability, raw materials levels, and finished goods inventory.

 

Previously, production was carefully controlled, but the handling and storage of finished products relied on fork-truck drivers using paperwork. Raw materials were delivered to “cook decks” where cooks manually recorded the contents and amounts of each ingredient used in a batch. Completed products were stacked in cases on pallets at the end of the production lines. Fork-truck drivers cruised among any of the five to seven lines running that day, looking for full pallets, which they would pick up and deliver to a staging area for transfer to Baldwin Richardson Foods’ distribution facility. Paper order tickets informed drivers of the truck bay to deliver each pallet. Some production runs last for three days; others are completed in a shift. During production runs there were very few updates to the ERP system when drivers relied on paperwork. Backlogs developed and jobs often were not closed until three to six days after the actual production run ended. Because there were very few updates during production, data in the ERP system was often several days behind, making it difficult to accurately manage inventory.

 

According to Wayne Baxter, of BaxTek Solutions, in Snellville, Georgia, a leading systems integrator that works closely with LXE in the quality PartnerPass program, “The increasingly significant role of food traceability makes the value of collecting real-time data less of an option and more of a necessity. Finding vendors with rugged data collection products is absolutely essential. We found that in cold-storage food plants and other food processing and warehousing situations, LXE has a vital role in HACCP [Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points].”

 

BaxTek Solutions (www.baxtek.com) is one of the leading Systems Integrators in the barcode verification, data collection, and supply chain industry that offers a diverse suite of products including RFID, RF Terminals, Printers, Wireless Access Points, Software, Remote Portable Terminal and Printer Management and Repair Services.  The company specializes in traceability and tracking solutions for the food industry from “farm to fork.” 

 

 

 

 

BaxTek Solutions

www.baxtek.com

Tina Nagaitis

Marketing Manager

Solutions@BaxTek.com

866 722 9835

Wireless POS & Wireless Mobile Computing

In today’s highly competitive market, it’s not surprising that those who have ventured in the hospitality industry are relying heavily on advances in technology to boost their profits. The advent of wireless local-area-network technology has made it possible for wireless point of sale (POS) applications and wireless mobile computing to be used in cafes, restaurants, hotels, and other food service facilities.

Closed circuit TVs will allow you to keep an eye on your business operations 24/7. Once incorporated to your POS system, it will enable you to monitor who sold what, when and at what price. Wireless POS handheld units are similar to automated waiter pads. They are very convenient and highly efficient as they will help you sell more on the floor. For instance, your serving staff can take orders instantly and they no longer have to line up at a POS terminal just to place orders. Therefore, they become more productive as they can serve more customers. On your part, this would mean reduced labor costs and increased table turnover.

The capability of taking orders tableside can ensure that the orders are evenly spaced so that the kitchen staff does not get overwhelmed, such as what happens to stationary POS terminals where the serving staff typically place several orders at the same time. Moreover, order taking is more precise when orders are placed tableside, thereby minimizing communication errors between servers and the kitchen that can lead to food-waste and customer dissatisfaction issues. Your serving staff can also allot more time serving customers, conveying a sense of quality service while boosting up-sell opportunities. As a business owner, you must have experienced the hassle of manual order taking, passing the orders to the kitchen and then bringing the food to the table. Wireless POS and wireless mobile computing have made this a relatively easy task. You can now have remote ordering and automated billing right at your fingertips.

Utilizing wireless POS and wireless mobile computing in a hospitality setting has also empowered managers and business owners to manage their staff in a more efficient and cost effective manner. You can hire fewer staff instead of employing a large number of serving crew to handle order taking and food delivery. You can assign larger sections to each staff member and make them focus on greeting customers, taking orders and up selling. The non-serving staff can then be given the task of dispatching food from the kitchen and cleaning sections of your establishment. As your serving staff spends more time on the floor, the result is a positive, enhanced guest experience and increased sales through up selling and faster order-throughput.

The success of the hospitality industry throughout the world in the present time is largely based on wireless POS and wireless mobile computing. Most hotel food and beverage services are now taking advantage of these technologies. They are also widely used at resorts and beach bars because of the long distances that the serving staff needs to cover. Wireless POS and wireless mobile computing have certainly enabled the hospitality industry to delve into the 21st century, providing an extra edge in a fiercely competitive market.