REPCO®, a provider of standard-setting flour oxidation and maturing services, vitamin and mineral premixes, micro-ingredient dispensing systems and on-site field servicing, wanted to improve the following:
- feeder inventory
- documentation of batch recipes
- accuracy of inventory levels
- data tracking to meet FDA regulations and improve food safety
Problems with RS Batch
REPCO® was using RS Batch, an industry-standard batching and material tracking software. Within the batching system, pre-programmed recipes were stored and the material tracking software, using the recipe information, assigned the appropriate material to the feeders. Many of the recipes were pre-programmed and were easy to run. However, recipes were not easy to build on-the-fly, so new or different recipes were typically manually controlled with handwritten documentation.
Another challenge with the existing batching system was a requirement by the system to assign amounts to all fifteen feeders, even when they were not used in that recipe.
Additionally, some recipes required hand-adds of ingredients or multiple ingredients in one feeder and their existing system was not dynamic enough for this process.
As a result, the accumulation of these challenges led to the following:
- constant inventory reconciliation
- excessive manual documentation and data re-entry
- time-consuming data retrieval
- data tracking capability was limited
Replacement of RS Batch & RS View
Kasa Controls & Automation developed a new batching system interface that allows the plant operators to:
- monitor and view the whole plant floor with one screen instead of six
- see exact amounts of each ingredient feeder at any time
- correct any errors in inventory immediately upon recognition
- track inventory levels minute by minute
- have complete flexibility to run batches out of one feeder
- reduce the number of steps (clicks) between screens to get to data
- any feeder can dose any ingredient
REPCO® processes were streamlined and they were able to:
- eliminate hand-written documentation
- add new formulas without any re-programming
- receive work order data, which also includes the recipes, from the ERP system
- send data from batching and MES system to ERP system to more closely manage inventory
Today, the Supervisor enters jobs into the system and Production is able to see it in real time. They know as soon as it’s keyed in to the system what recipes to run, what material is needed, how much is available, the amount that is needed and the batch size.
A batch delivery dashboard now gives them more visibility into what is going on. Previously, it took a lot of clicks and drilling down into the system to get that information and detail. Now, REPCO® is assured they are feeding the right amounts of ingredients.
Kasa software tracks and ensures every ingredient is accounted for before allowing a “good” entry in status column of ingredients, and they no longer have to jump back and forth between screens of two systems.
REPCO® General Manager, Justin Hartman states, “I couldn’t ask for a better team to work with than the one at Kasa. They met the agreed-upon deadlines, followed up quickly on questions and most importantly delivered a finished product that has saved a tremendous amount of time across our organization by automating a number of our processes.”
Time Savings and Improved Accuracy
Ultimately, Kasa was able to save REPCO® approximately sixteen hours a week of manual tracking and documentation, while improving the accuracy of their inventory.
To learn more about how Kasa might be able to elevate your operations, contact us today.