Bob’s Red Mill is a natural foods manufacturer located in Milwaukie, Oregon. You have probably seen their products in the whole grain, organic or gluten free section of the grocery store. They make, mix, mill, process and ship all out of their warehouse in Milwaukie.
We have been working with Bob’s Red Mill for several years on building custom tools to improve their warehouse processes. We sat down with their IT Director, Bryan Emerson, to talk about why and how they use WiSys. Here’s what he had to say.
Challenges
Our biggest challenge was not having information in real-time coupled with growth. The employees here are very savvy and came up with their own systems. I needed a tool where I could take the old processes and recreate them in real-time and collect the information so we could use it for better reporting, inventory management and process flow.
Flexibility
The best part of WiSys is the flexibility to create anything to help the employees with their jobs. The flexibility to build custom tools gives us the ability to implement ideas from employees on how things could run more smoothly.
Real-Time Information
The next best thing about WiSys is the real-time statistics that we are able to gather from the gun. Prior to WiSys, we were back-flushing a lot and it was very difficult to figure out what was where and when. Now things are reported in real-time. As soon as it leaves our warehouse, it is accounted for. WiSys enabled us to redo our serial lotting, and now Serial Lots are right there in the system. It is an incredible difference and has relieved a lot of stress. We could not have done these things without the ability to process and report in real-time.
What’s Next
We are putting together a pick, pack and ship program that is custom built to fit Bob’s Red Mill perfectly. Our processes are different from any other place. We have a unique way of doing things that really works for us. A lot of people have put a lot of time into these processes, so I wanted to build something that adapted to our way of thinking, rather than having to adapt to someone else’s way of thinking.
Right now we are building a Warehouse Management System that will help us become even more efficient using these well-developed processes. Thanks to WiSys, we are able to use our established methods to build this custom solution.
“There are not many things you can’t do with the product. It is amazing.”
Watch the full interview in the video below.
