The Kroger Bakery in Layton, Utah was looking for a way to more efficiently keep track of baking supplies used throughout the day. The bakery would take raw materials from the warehouse (such as flour, sugar, eggs, etc) and then use these supplies to complete their orders and bakery items. Kroger Bakery was currently tracking their materials by paper records so they could allocate inventory to the bakery and tie it to the finished product. They were looking for a solution to update their lot tracking of raw materials to a more accurate and less time consuming electronic method with the help of a handheld inventory scanner.
Case Studies
Improving Material Tracking and Allocation Process
Objective
Solution
The Kroger Bakery was hoping to find a solution that would be easy to track supplies, eliminate wasted down-time with manual records, and reduce manual errors or mishandling of the paper records. The LDX10 Batch Handheld Computer was just the solution for their application. The mixer operators now use the LDX10 and DC Suite Software to scan the lot number of the product that was brought to their line from the warehouse. With the custom DC Suite program generated on the LDX10, the raw materials are now tied to this particular product being produced. The LDX10 is a handheld lightweight device designed for inventory scanning that is easy to implement and function with little to no set-up required. By moving to a barcode data collection system and digital records, Kroger Bakery was able to reduce the chance of papers being lost or misfiled, which is vital to keeping the integrity of their quality system.
Summary
The efficiency and satisfaction of the bakery team members was an important consideration when deciding on a product to implement in this environment. Kristopher Sheikh, the QA Resource Leader for the Layton Bakery, remarked, “The LDX10 is easy to use and the program offers a wide range of functions and flexibility that is required in a fast paced work environment. AML has been very helpful with meeting the demands of our company. AML was able to meet our request for a custom job and our employees are very happy with the results!”
About AML LDX10
The LDX10 is a batch data collection solution comprised of the LDX10 handheld computer, DC Suite collection of common barcode-centric applications, and the DC Console program generator. The LDX10 is specifically designed for light-duty commercial applications where acquisiton cost is a driving factor when selecting a data collection device.
About Kroger
Kroger is one of the largest supermarket chains in the United States, located mainly in the Midwestern and Southern states. Kroger maintains and operates several manufacturing facilities, including the Kroger Bakery in Layton, UT. The Layton Bakery concentrates mainly on dough and materials for the bakery items sold in stores.
