ParityFactory customer Westward Seafoods has been a premier provider of Alaska’s finest seafood since 1991. Since then, they’ve grown in their partnerships, and are dedicated to the continued sustainability of fisheries in Alaska and around the world. Whether it’s through their state-of-the-art plants or involvement with The Marine Stewardship Council, they are committed to providing the best the oceans have to offer.
Many of the systems and processes for packaging and shipping product at Westward’s plant used to be manual. Westward used labor-intensive processes to form boxes, pack cases, and ultimately stack pallets for shipment. The system strained under higher volumes and a faster pace. It was expensive and open to errors, and relied heavily on an often unpredictable workforce.
Westward decided to initiate a major capital investment to automate the packaging of their finished good product. The project started with removing the physical processes for case creation and pallet stacking. Part of this large initiative was to validate labels being applied to each case and maintain an inventory count so that a pallet tag could be generated once a full pallet was completed.
In order to achieve Westward’s desired outcome, ParityFactory partnered with Cognex, the world’s leading provider of advanced machine vision and industrial barcode reader systems. Their systems deliver instant improvements to any manufacturing process, enabling products to be made at higher speeds, without defects, and at lower cost.
ParityFactory and Cognex were able to automate Westward’s labeling and inventory tracking process with the use of KUKA robots, Cognex visual systems, and ParityFactory’s inventory tracing and quality tracking functionality.
Cognex systems capture data from ParityFactory’s printed labels as they move under their special barcode reader systems. Cognex readers make sure that each label’s barcode and print are legible, ensuring elimination of errors. Inventory is counted by another Cognex reader as pallets are stacked. Cognex and ParityFactory software integrate seamlessly, enabling ParityFactory’s system to generate a pallet label encoded with the information from the Cognex reader. The Cognex and ParityFactory integration allows for the maintenance of inventory count without any room for manual errors.
ParityFactory and Cognex provided a solution that addressed all of the concerns of the team at Westward. Inventory is now instantly traceable, shipping and labeling errors are eliminated, and the entire packaging and palletizing operation is automated. Westward is serious about seafood safety, and with this system they can ensure the quality and accuracy of their shipments, while saving money.
If you’re interested in learning more about the exciting partnerships at ParityFactory and what we can do for you, please contact us. We’d love to help you meet your goals.
