Improving Operationally with MES
One of the biggest improvements Chocolate Shoppe has experienced is the availability and the use of production data. The ability to dive into data—from production, to inventory, to finance—has changed the game for the ice cream manufacturer. The company has been amazed not only by the sheer amount of information that is available via Plex technology, but also how readily available the data can be accessed—it's instant and cloud-based.
Plex’s Batch Management functionality organizes and tracks groups of products with shared characteristics, a feature attractive to food and beverage manufacturers due to the consistency and product standard maintenance it offers. With Batch Management, Chocolate Shoppe can now see product loss and waste factors. As a result of this newfound insight, the company has increased its production yield.
“We’ve got now eyes on [production] throughout the building at any time of day to notice if an operator is running or if a machine is down. It can trigger somebody immediately to be like, ‘Let’s get down there, let’s fix this problem,’” states Khathy Thach, SQF Internal Auditor & Facility Manager, Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream.
A Culture of Quality
Leveraging Plex QMS has allowed Chocolate Shoppe to better comply with industry regulations, meet customer-specific needs, and prepare for audits. Previously, quality was tracked manually and on paper. With Plex, quality documentation is stored digitally and accessed in one place—operating from a single source of truth has given Chocolate Shoppe peace of mind when audited. Additionally, the ice cream manufacturer can better communicate with customers about quality checks during product runs. The switch to Plex has also impacted traceability, which once took hours but is now able to be done instantly.
“For document control, now we have all our SOPs and programs right in Plex. It tells us if something is needing to be approved or reviewed... A big one, for me, for quality, is just that centralization so that we’re not relying on a million different places to find our information,” shares Alyssa Roesing, Food & Safety Quality Manager, Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream.
Achieving Inventory Accuracy
Chocolate Shoppe points to inventory management as one of the most impactful areas of improvement since implementing Plex. With Plex, Chocolate Shoppe has achieved 95% inventory accuracy, marking a 27% improvement. Previously, inventory was tracked on multiple systems and relied on inherent knowledge among employees. Time would be spent searching the building for materials, causing production delays. Now that process is digitized and readily available in the Plex system, saving the Chocolate Shoppe team over three hours daily. With quality management under control, shipping has improved and customer satisfaction has increased.
