MARCO have gained a second significant order from leading British ingredients specialist Beacon Foods for further expansion of its production and packing systems. A family business established in 1993, Beacon Foods employs around 100 people and is the UK’s leading specialist producer of roasted and char grilled vegetables and fruit ranges, relishes, chutneys and compotes.
Manufacturing a variety of food products can lead to complexities in the production process and increase downtime when multiple products need to be weighed, mixed and packed within the same manufacturing facility.
“Fresh food companies around the world are under increasing pressures to improve profitability at a time when margins are being squeezed and capital expenditure is under close scrutiny. The continued trust placed by Beacon in our capabilities clearly demonstrates that our profitability systems do make a significant difference, whilst providing a measurable return on investment.” MARCO CEO, Murray Hilborne
The existing Trac-IT system was installed in 2007 and has brought important improvements to the Beacon manufacturing process. Beacons Foods opted to originally install a Trac-IT Recipe Formulation Module (RFM) to assist with their recipe and stock control. The system guides operators through the mixing and formulation processes whilst monitoring and updated stock levels in real-time. Integrated with their Sage management system, it ensures complete traceability from goods-in through to final dispatch.
A roll-out of further Trac-IT modules will now control the complete process from the initial order and the amount of raw materials required, through to labelling, warehouse management, transport and invoicing. These further installations will increase Beacon Foods’s traceability and also increase productivity by streamlining all operations. Drivers will have portable handheld devices in their lorries to update delivery information and the system can also manage critical vehicle fleet attributes. Further stock control and warehouse management capabilities will bring additional process control advantages.
“MARCO Trac-IT Recipe Formulation Module (RFM) ensures your staff consistently adheres to a template of how to handle and mix recipe ingredients within the production facility. RFM controls the ingredient/lot picking and codifies all the manufacturing instructions to increase operational speed and efficiency – James White Director Select Equip, exclusive distributor of MARCO in Australia”.