Intermec Inc. on April 15 announced that Mission Foods, one of the nation’s largest tortilla manufacturers, has deployed Intermec RFID technology to improve its warehouse operations. To enhance the tracking of its reusable containers, Mission Foods’ pilot consisted of deploying Intermec IF61 readers, along with Intermec antennas, labels and PM4i printers across three plants, with each plant processing 20,000 containers daily.
“Intermec solutions have increased the level of visibility into our supply chain, enabling our organization to improve profitability by eliminating unnecessary costs,” said Eduardo J. Valdes, vice president of Mission Foods. “By not having to worry about missing assets, we can focus our attention on additional ways to better our warehouse operations to improve the customer experience.”
Prior to deploying Intermec RFID, Mission Foods replaced nearly all of its carton boxes and returnable plastics containers (RPCs), resulting in added direct costs. With Intermec RFID, packaged products are picked and loaded onto RFID-labeled RPCs. The RPCs are loaded onto pallets and an RFID label is encoded by the Intermec PM4i printer and applied to the pallet. Intermec IF61 readers record the pallets and associated RPCs as a forklift drives though an outbound portal prior to loading the route trucks bound for distribution centers. When the trucks return, they are processed through an inbound portal to reconcile the RPCs per route.
“This a prime example of the quick and measurable impact RFID solutions can have for any customer with returnable transport items,” said Phyllis Turner-Brim, director of RFID Strategy and Licensing at Intermec. “Intermec RFID solutions consistently provide the insight and intelligence for simple and complex applications that enable businesses to transform their business processes and improve their bottom line.”
About Intermec
Intermec Inc. develops and integrates products, services and technologies that identify, track and manage supply chain assets and information. Core technologies include rugged mobile computing and data collection systems, bar code printers, label media and RFID. The company’s products and services are used by customers in many industries worldwide to improve the productivity, quality and responsiveness of business operations.
About Mission Foods
Mission Foods, headquartered in Irving, Texas, is one of the largest tortilla manufacturers in the United States. Gruma S.A. de C.V. is the parent company of Mission Foods (Gruma Corporation) was founded in 1949 and is a leading Mexican producer of corn masa flour and tortilla products. It has operations in Mexico, the United States, Central and South America, Europe and Asia.
