An Integrated WES continued from page 25
•
•
How many minutes the product
was on the vehicle and at what
temperature it was stored.
What time the product reached its
destination.
Tracking products during the delivery
phase is important to not only ensure
products are delivered on time, but
tracing these additional variables helps
eliminate potential product damage or
food spoilage in transit—preventing
recalls and lost revenue.
At the Checkout Counter
In order for complete end-to-end
traceability, ERP and WES solutions
must be paired with supply chain man-
agement (SCM) systems downstream,
including retail store systems. These
systems keep track of on-shelf avail-
ability and point-of-sales (POS) data,
which not only offer real-time insight
into inventory but also into consumer
demand.
With an integrated WES, a cloud-
based SCM system that is keeping
track of inventory on the store level
can trigger replenishment events at
the warehouse. Moreover, by tying
manufacturing data to a retailer’s POS
system, a recall might just entail an
automated phone call to everyone who
purchased an item, requesting it be
returned to the store. While the delivery destination is not
a brick and mortar store, these inte-
grated systems allow manufacturers to
continue to trace products all the way
through to the consumer.
Online and Door-to-Door In the future, we will continue to see
an increase in the number of product
offerings in terms of flavors and pack-
age sizing as well as greater demand
for organic, gluten-free, vegan and
locally-grown products. With more
products on the market, it is impera-
tive that manufacturers take food and
beverage traceability matters into their
own hands by investing in automa-
tion technology to help manage their
inventories and keep consumers safe.
As e-commerce continues to grow and
selling centers change from brick-and-
mortar stores to having a product de-
livered to the consumer’s door, track-
ing and tracing products through to
the consumer is even more important.
While there are always some products
that are sold at super high volumes,
such as coffee, most of the items at
these retail distribution centers will
not be high volume. In addition, the
retail distributer is buying from hun-
dreds of manufacturers. An integrated
WES can help manage the inventory
and as well as confirm that orders had
been picked and upload the data into
an ERP system. The ERP then might
directly communicate with customers
and print out the label for shipment.
www.WestfaliaUSA.com
The Future of Traceability
By implementing a tightly integrated
WES into the supply chain process,
manufacturers will be able to imple-
ment traceability and control require-
ments throughout their supply chains
to respond quickly to issues both
upstream and downstream—saving
time, money and, in some cases, their
reputation.
The Satellite Review
29