Case Study

Gilbert Orchards Improves Inventory Accuracy & Workforce Efficiency with RedLine Cooler

Customer ProfileGilbert Orchards

LocationHeadquarters: Yakima, WA

IndustryFruit Grower Packer Shipper

Hardware productsHandheld wireless scannersWireless LANBarcode printers

ApplicationRedLine Cooler

Benefits• Improved inventory accuracy

• Higher workforce productivity

• Lower labor costs

“This was the smoothest software project we’ve ever

completed. We started out with clear dates and

objectives that were all met.”

-Sean Gilbert

Warehouse Manager, Gilbert Orchards

1 CASE STUDY: Gilbert Orchards Improves Inventory Accuracy & Workforce Efficiency with RedLine Cooler

Organizational Overview

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 with a harvest season lasting 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.

“RedLine’s technical support is by far the most

comprehensive of any company we’ve ever worked with.“

-Jorge Borunda

Project Manager, Gilbert Orchards

2 CASE STUDY: Gilbert Orchards Improves Inventory Accuracy & Workforce Efficiency with RedLine Cooler

Business Challenge

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

required by our customers

this past year, combined with

increased volume, we were

getting overwhelmed by the

increasing complexity.”

- Sean Gilbert

Warehouse Manager

Errors & Delays

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, their locations were 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.

High Cost of Labor

Like many grower shippers, Gilbert Orchards also faced long hours and high labor costs. Manual processes hampered productivity, so as business expanded, it took more and more workers to handle the picking and shipping volumes. In 2011, 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.

Solution: RedLine Cooler

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 solutions.

RedLine implemented one of its core solutions, RedLine Cooler™, to address the challenges that Gilbert Orchards faced. RedLine Cooler is an inventory and traceability solution that records

3 CASE STUDY: Gilbert Orchards Improves Inventory Accuracy & Workforce Efficiency with RedLine Cooler

and updates information in real-time, including product location, pallet movements, and validated order staging and shipping. The RedLine Cooler system allowed Gilbert Orchards to reduce errors, improve inventory accuracy, and ship more trucks per day.

Benefits

Since implementing RedLine Cooler in February of 2012, Gilbert Orchards has seen rapid improvement in inventory accuracy, reduction in order staging time, and increased worker productivity.

Increased Inventory Accuracy

With RedLine Cooler’s location tracking, system inventory now matches the stock available in the warehouse. Jorge Borunda, Gilbert Orchards’ Project Manager, reports that they have 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 come down 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 Cooler, 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.

Additional Resources

For more information visit www.redlineforproduce.com

RedLine Solutions2000 Wyatt Drive, Suite 11Santa Clara, CA 95054

PH: 408.562.1700Toll Free: 800.801.2039info@redlineforproduce.com

4 CASE STUDY: Gilbert Orchards Improves Inventory Accuracy & Workforce Efficiency with RedLine Cooler

Lower Labor Costs

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 RedLine Cooler, 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, leading to savings of 2.5 cents per box on shipping labor. This translated to approximately $70,000 in labor savings in the first year of deploying RedLine Cooler.

Overall, the strategic combination of improved inventory accuracy, higher workforce productivity, and lower labor costs has helped Gilbert Orchards scale their growing business and achieve cost-saving operational efficiencies.

About RedLine Solutions

RedLine Solutions works with leading produce companies to implement inventory and traceability compliance solutions that also drive internal operating efficiencies. Our complete solutions include 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 install – training (on-site and 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.