Datex WMS Helps Cold Storage Warehouse Operators Facilitate Food Recalls

Recent food product recalls have made consumers uneasy and decreased public confidence in the recall process. In 2009, the USDA issued 69 voluntary food recalls, but 57 were not successful in fully recovering the contaminated products. The lack of standardized product tracking, antiquated accounting systems and paper-based systems often used by warehouse operators makes food product recalls challenging at best. When food products are recalled, it is necessary to trace the food from production to consumer, known as from “farm to fork”. Award winning warehouse management solution provider, Datex Corporation specializes in cold storage warehouse management systems which can track inventory to the SKU level and by lot, dramatically reducing the cost of food recalls for warehouse operators. Cold storage facilities are used to warehouse produce, meats, seafood and other products requiring refrigeration prior to distribution to retailers and other outlets.

The use of technology to track products from food processors and producers to the consumers is becoming increasingly popular. Warehouses and distributors that use warehouse management solutions typically use bar codes to track inventory, increasing inventory visibility, information control and reporting ability. With this type of digital system, warehouse operators can locate inventory readily, saving time and money. This allows warehouse operators to locate the food product specified in the recall. Often food products not affected by the recall are destroyed as paper records and inefficient tracking methods make warehouse operators overly cautious. The result is additional lost inventory dollars, costly wasted labor and time. By using Datex’s system of state-of-the-art technology such as mobile computers, barcode scanners and Microsoft .NET platform based software, cold storage warehouses are able to identify, locate and track inventory throughout the warehouse, simplifying the food recall process.

“Our clients rely on us to make the food recall process simple and effective,” explained Michael Armanious, President of Datex Corporation. “We developed our cold storage software solution by working closely with the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW) and are confident of its ability to meet the expectations of cold storage professionals. The simple fact is that identifying contaminated food and keeping it from reaching consumers saves lives. Our software plays a vital role in that process.”