‘Improving traceability systems for our clients is one of things we do best at Piroto. The success of this project had wide reaching benefits for our client; taking their business to a higher level of efficiency and ensuring their future as a supplier to the major retailers.’
Seafood Supplier increases traceability to 100%
The Customer
Our customer is a national company with a long history of supplying a wide portfolio of fresh and frozen, premium quality seafood products to major retailers throughout the UK. As such, their relationship with key customers is paramount and the integrity of the entire operation across multiple sites, vital.
The Customer’s Challenge
With a large quantity of incoming fish across the network of sites, our client found daily recording and traceability a challenge. Their customers, in turn, demanded accountability; requiring an accurate audit trail to the source of each and every fish. Ultimately consumer confidence in the end product was at stake.
The seafood supplier needed a simple and effective labelling system that could guarantee them the accuracy they sought. They approached Piroto, confident that we would have the know-how to come up with a bespoke solution.
Our Approach
We initially visited one of the sites and followed the fish processing through from goods-in to final despatch to the retailer.
During our visit we noted that legibility of the labels throughout the whole chain was an important factor. Simple visual clues would also help operators with quick and easy identification of fish stocks and would speed the handling across the facility.
Drawing on our experience of working across the food sector we were able to recommend a total traceability solution that would meet the customer’s challenge.
What we delivered
First, Piroto specified, supplied, installed and tested a standalone label printer in the goods inwards area which allowed all operators to print accurate and legible information onto specially designed fish loop tags.
The self-tie tags were produced in different colours, each colour denoting a day of the week, to give a further visual reference for operators. These tags were then attached securely to the fish trays which followed the seafood through its entire processing journey around the site.
The result was a simple, traceable system that was only completed when the order was packed and shipped to the retailer.
Having successfully tested the system on one site, it was rolled out to two further sites for bedding in, and then across the remaining network. Having a staged implementation meant that there was minimum disruption, and maximum efficiency was soon being experienced by all facilities.
The impact on the customer’s business
Through working in partnership with Piroto the customers end goal, total traceability of fish throughout the operation, was achieved with a simple, yet effective, system of tags and printers. In particular, the customer was able to:
- increase traceability to 100% to meet their customer’s requirements
- provide a consistent system for tracking across all sites
- experience a reduction in labour costs due to the smooth running of the operation
- consider an application for BRCGS accreditation to further strengthen trust and credibility with their customers and the end consumer.