instore - February 2018 - 44

Technology:

Simplifying inventory
management
by Ryan Atkinson

ommissaries, food processors, distribution centers and more typically
need to store products in a warehouse
before shipping them to customers. These
facilities also typically carry ingredients,
supplies and food items in bulk while they
wait to be utilized.

These large numbers of stored products
make inventory management an important
step in food processing and distribution.
Companies like Apex Supply Chain are helping production facilities make inventory
management easier and more efficient for
their employees.
"It's easy to devote too much time and resources to manually managing their mobile
devices, or not managing them at all, which
decreases productivity while increasing
costs," says Kent Savage, founder and CEO
of Apex, based in Mason, Ohio. "Similarly
centralizing this equipment also leads to lost
productivity."
Apex provides self-serve, automated locker
solutions for mobile asset management. Employees scan their badge to access a mobile
inventory device in seconds. This helps facility managers track, control and manage mobile devices, including handheld scanners.
Savage says this solution provides many
benefits, including the ability to establish
accountability.
"By assigning each device to a locker, management knows who's checked out what
device," he says. "They can even assign devices to different employees across shifts. If
an employee doesn't return a device after a
shift, managers are automatically notified."
Having inventory tools ready and waiting can
also help eliminate downtime from misplaced
equipment and automating these tasks typi-

44 * FEBRUARY 2018 * commissary INSIDER

cally brings a 40 percent reduction in repair
and replacement costs, according to Apex.
"And instead of centralizing management
of the equipment in a single location within
warehouses with several hundred thousand
square feet of space, Apex lockers can easily
be deployed across a facility to eliminate the
downtime required to visit a centralized tool
crib to check a device out and back in at the
end of a shift," Savage says.
Savage says employees will routinely hide
their favorite inventory devices to ensure
they can use them the next day. If a device
is broken or lost, employees do not always
tell management, making it difficult to ensure every employee can access a device as
needed. This also requires companies to buy
a surplus of devices, which makes costs add
up quickly.
"Our customers initially wonder if automating this manual process can have a big impact on their operations," Savage says. "But
the high costs of mobile devices warrant
this technology to ensure a proper return on
this investment is realized. And while adding minutes to an employee's shift may seem
minor, consider these minutes across every
employee, shift and location. The productivity increases are impressive."
Apex customers include Casey's General
Store, Kraft Foods, Little Caesar's and other foodservice companies. Savage says the
self-serve solution can work in central kitchens, production facilities and even retailers
with front-of-house needs.
"Self-serve automation can assist in frontof-house as well as back-of-house," he says.
"Consider how any technology investment
will impact your entire facility - employees, customer and operations - to ensure
you do not create new problems with new
technology."

APEX SUPPLY CHAIN'S SOLUTION FOR SPEEDING UP AND
SIMPLIFYING INVENTORY IS A SELF-SERVE, AUTOMATED
LOCKER TO HOUSE MOBILE INVENTORY DEVICES.
PHOTOS: APEX SUPPLY CHAIN TECHNOLOGIES

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of instore - February 2018