Technology Snapshot: Nate Brown, CEO, EVS, Westminster, CO, notes that mobe3 Warehouse Live, which is currently in beta testing and expected to release in the third quarter of 2021, is new mobe3 WMS functionality that uses Apple Indoor positioning—a cost-effective and accurate technology, he suggests—for locating people and assets indoors. “By enabling indoor positioning, Warehouse Live removes the preverbal blinders, and allows food companies to solve operational problems by showing them where people and assets are inside their warehouse- right now and in the past. This allows them to avoid wasted time looking for things and people and making sure that people are where they need to be.

Technology Snapshot: “FlexiBake was built to make bakery businesses run the best they can,” says Erica Visser, implementation specialist. Every instance of inefficiency in a bakery is an opportunity to improve—and gain an edge on the competition. “With FlexiBake, the possibilities for improvement and efficiency are endless,” she says. “Some prime focus areas of the software are: raw material/recipe/product movement and lot tracking, warehouse tracking, detailed shipping, and integrating with accounting software.”

With FlexiBake, bakeries can track raw materials coming in, and every step of the way thereafter, says Visser. “Simple tools help assign lot numbers, move ingredients into recipes, move recipes into products, and track products all the way to shipment.” She notes customers can choose how much detail they need. “Do you want to hand-pick your lot numbers, or do you rely on FIFO? Choose one or the other, or use a mix of both methods,” she says. “With FlexiBake’s detailed shipping option, bakeries get to choose which workflow works best for their unique business. Do you manage your own trucks, or use third-party? You can do both!”

Technology Snapshot: Derek Curtis, vice president of sales, Kӧrber Business Area Supply Chain, notes that an example of product freshness is a great example of how expanding best-of-breed technology into multiple functional areas of a snack or bakery operation. “Traditional code/lot/expiration information has long been a driver of FIFO/FEFO logic, necessary for any perishable, but particularly sensitive here,” he says. “Körber’s tier 1 solution, K.Motion.Warehouse Advantage, addresses all permutations of stock rotation and inventory management techniques to ensure the freshest product possible.”

This is only the first half the product journey to the consumer, though, notes Curtis. “Managing inventory in the trade is equally—if not more—important to get fresh product into the consumers’ hands. With Körber’s Retail Execution solution, K.Motion.OmniTech, field users extend those same types of business requirements to manage code dates, product expiration, or lot numbers outside of the four walls and into the trade on an easy-to-use, device-agnostic mobile application.