Gilbert Orchards is a family-owned business that has been growing and shipping fruit since 1897. The Yakima Valley-based operation specializes in apples, pears, and soft fruit, and the harvest season lasts from June through November. They ship an average of 55,000 wholesale cases per week domestically and internationally through Oneonta/Starr Ranch Growers and CF Fresh and have experienced rapid growth over the past three years.
“This was the smoothest software project we’ve ever completed. We started with clear dates and objectives that were all met.” -Sean Gilbert, Warehouse Manager, Gilbert Orchards. “RedLine’s technical support is by far the most comprehensive of any company we’ve ever worked with. “-Jorge Borunda, Project Manager, Gilbert Orchards
Gilbert Orchards’ shipment volumes increased by over 20% in 2011, and their existing manual processes simply could not keep up. They needed to address two main issues—errors and delays in fulfilling orders and high labor costs. With over 3700 SKUs requested by customers in the year, combined with increased volume, the increasing complexity was impacting the Gilbert team’s productivity.
Gilbert Orchards’ original process of picking orders was manual and time-consuming. Their forklift drivers would write down pallet numbers and locations for orders that they needed to fill. Since the pallets were stored in long rows, not only was it hard to keep track of them, but their locations were also often incorrect.
Another complication was that location updates in Famous were only submitted when a paper form was full, which meant information delays that could span hours or an entire day. With an average order completion time of one hour and increasing shipment volumes, it quickly became clear that a manual system would not suffice.
Like many grower-shippers, Gilbert Orchards also faced long work hours and high labor costs. Manual processes hampered productivity, so as the business expanded, it took more workers to handle the picking and shipping volumes.
At the start of the implementation, Gilbert Orchards employed seven full-time order fillers and two truck loaders. Without adjustments to their system, Gilbert Orchards realized that they would need to hire more workers and increase overtime hours.
When Gilbert Orchards decided to move to a more efficient way of pulling and fulfilling orders, they looked to RedLine Solutions, the industry leader in inventory management and traceability solutions for the produce industry.
RedLine implemented its complete inventory management and electronic data system, including software, in addition to handheld wireless scanners, wireless LAN, barcode printers, and handheld wireless scanners, to address the challenges that Gilbert Orchards faced.
Gilbert Orchards improved inventory accuracy and workforce efficiency with RedLine Solutions, which included updated real-time information for product location and pallet movements and validated order staging and shipping.
The RedLine system allowed Gilbert Orchards to reduce errors, improve inventory accuracy, and ship more trucks per day. Since implementing RedLine Solutions in February of 2012, Gilbert Orchards has seen rapid improvement in inventory accuracy, reduction in order staging time, and increased worker productivity.
With RedLine cooler location tracking, system inventory now matches the stock available in the warehouse, and as a result, Gilbert Orchards has effectively eliminated negative pallet tags, reflecting this high inventory accuracy at the pallet level.
“We’ve greatly improved the warehouse’s ability to get orders out error-free.”- Jorge Borunda Project Manager
Increased inventory accuracy also means that workers have been able to reduce order fulfillment time. The time to retrieve a pallet has decreased from 10 minutes to 2-3 minutes because of better warehouse visibility and a dramatic increase in picking efficiency. The significant reduction in order setup time has also led to a 10-minute decrease in wait time for an average order.
Another benefit that Gilber Orchards has experienced is reduced shipping time. With RedLine Solutions, orders are shipped directly from the dock using scanners, eliminating the delays involved in keying in tag numbers in the shipping office. This improvement, along with reduced pallet retrieval and order setup time, has enabled Gilbert Orchards to ship more trucks per day.
Automation has enabled Gilbert Orchards to do more with less. Their order volume continues to increase – up 36% over the last two years – but they have been able to reduce their workforce.
Borunda estimates that without the efficiencies brought about by implementing RedLine Solutions, they would have had to hire two more workers to keep up with orders. Instead, they have reduced their order filler positions from six to four people, saving 2.5 cents per box on shipping labor. This translated to approximately $70,000 in labor savings in the first year of deploying RedLine Solutions. Overall, the strategic combination of improved inventory accuracy, higher workforce productivity, and lower labor costs has helped Gilbert Orchards scale its growing business and achieve cost-saving operational efficiencies.
RedLine Solutions works with leading produce companies to implement inventory and traceability compliance solutions that drive internal operating efficiencies. Our solutions include any combination of software, hardware, and professional services. RedLine’s experienced team will help you plan, install, and launch your new system. The support does not end with installation – training, whether on-site or online, is provided, and our team of professionals can support your label and hardware maintenance needs. Partner with RedLine for inventory and traceability so you can focus on what you do best: growing, packing, and shipping great produce for your customers.
For more information, visit www.redlineforproduce.com, contact the office by phone at 408.562.1700 (Toll-Free: 800.801.2039), or email info@redlineforproduce.com.
For 27 years, RedLine Solutions has been the trusted partner in inventory and traceability for fresh produce stakeholders across North America. Serving a myriad of commodities, we tailor solutions to your workflow. Our offerings, from hardware to software, coupled with deep expertise, ensure your produce operations management is in the best hands.
