Case study
Caito Foods
Farm-to-fork distributor achieves fast, flawless food traceability with RFgen Mobile Solutions for JD Edwards.
Results
- Established end-to-end food and ingredient traceability throughout operations, from suppliers to customers
- Achieved full compliance with government regulatory requirements
- Achieved a 77% reduction in training time
- Enhanced operations of U.S. distribution centers by optimizing pick, pack, and ship times
- Accurate, up-to-the-minute reports are created within minutes
Challenge
With new legislation such as the Food Safety Modernization Act and Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI), Caito Foods needed help providing complete produce traceability to ensure compliance with government regulations. More specifically, Caito Foods’ customers needed to identify the country of origin on their sales floor signage for the produce they sold. As a supplier, Caito Foods needed to be able to provide that information on demand at any time.
“As a distributor, our compliance requirements are different from the shippers,” explains Byron Swails, Director of Operations for Caito Foods. “We are finding that our customers need information such as country of origin for their own compliance. National accounts and more progressive retailers are all asking about SQF certification for safe food quality, third-party safety audits, and traceability processes.”
“As a distributor, our compliance requirements are different from the shippers. We are finding that our customers need information such as country of origin for their own compliance and in-store signage,” says, Byron Swails, Director of Operations, Caito Foods.
Results
- Established end-to-end food and ingredient traceability throughout operations, from suppliers to customers
- Achieved full compliance with government regulatory requirements
- Achieved a 77% reduction in training time
- Enhanced operations of U.S. distribution centers by optimizing pick, pack, and ship times
- Accurate, up-to-the-minute reports are created within minutes
As a distributor, our compliance requirements are different from the shippers. We are finding that our customers need information such as country of origin for their own compliance and in-store signage.
Byron Swails, Director of Operations
Caito FoodsSolution
After evaluating several advanced data collection (ADC) solutions, Caito Foods selected RFgen Mobile Foundations for Oracle’s JD Edwards (JDE). Included in this JDE integration suite of apps was RFgen Warehouse Director, RFgen’s warehouse management (WMS) “light” solution, License Plating for inventory batching, and RFgen-Vocollect Voice Picking that enables warehouse employees to operate hands-free during inbound and outbound inventory processes.
When asked why Caito Foods implemented RFgen’s mobile solutions, Swails quickly stated: “It’s all about traceability.” He went on to say: “We selected RFgen because of its ease of integrating with JD Edwards.”
RFgen extended Caito Foods’ existing JD Edwards functionality, providing the opportunity to integrate multiple systems into a single user-friendly interface. RFgen also creates a zero footprint on the JD Edwards server and is version independent, making it a hassle-free solution during an upgrade – a concern since Caito Foods was in the middle of upgrading their server to version 9.1.
“RFgen’s expertise is so valuable to us because they have already helped customers convert to the new version of JD Edwards multiple times. The value of that support is second to none,” Cindy Garrett, Director of IT, Caito Foods.
RFgen's expertise is so valuable to us because they have already helped customers convert to the new version of JD Edwards multiple times. The value of that support is second to none.
Cindy Garrett, Director of IT
Caito FoodsResults
Since the implementation, Caito Foods is achieving flawless field-to-fork traceability with 99% accuracy.
Other benefits include:
- Established end-to-end food and ingredient traceability throughout operations, from suppliers to customers.
- Achieved full compliance with government regulatory requirements.
- Achieved a 77% reduction in training time.
- Enhanced operations of U.S. distribution centers by optimizing pick, pack, and ship times.
- Accurate, up-to-the-minute reports are created within minutes.
Now with RFgen we can bring up the item number in the date range and create a report within minutes to show auditors the actual purchase order that it came in on.
Cindy Garrett, Director of IT
Caito FoodsAccelerating warehouse operations through improved receiving, picking processes, and inventory visibility
Caito Foods experienced noticeable improvements in picking processes through the RFgen-Vocollect Voice solution. Vocollect can increase productivity by up to 35% while reducing errors by up to 25%. Through automation that provides greater inventory visibility, Caito Foods can now better identify trends impacting their business and their team members are empowered to become more analytical and efficient.
“Now with RFgen we can bring up the item number in the date range and create a report within minutes to show auditors the actual purchase order that it came in on,” Cindy Garrett, Director of IT, Caito Foods.
Founded in 1965, Caito Foods operates four distribution centers that send fresh produce to multiple states in the Eastern, Midwest and Southeastern United States. As a distributor, the company must ensure it delivers safe, high-quality produce to its customers. That means being able to trace products through the supply chain from “farm to fork” and providing grocery retailers with the product information they need to sell produce to the public. Caito Foods is a subsidiary of SpartanNash.