Brand protected through packaging coding system
management system (PCMS) in order to increase packaging and coding
accuracy and protect its lucrative brand name.
The business, which specialises in savoury products such as pies, pasties and sausage rolls, has managed to capitalise on the current consumer trend towards quick-style food, with sales doubling from £100 million to over £200 million in recent years. But as with other food manufacturers, the firm is increasingly aware that its brand name is something that needs to be protected.
This is a definitive trend in food manufacturing. In the past, customers have been seen as being primarily concerned about price, quality and customer service, but now you retailers are catching on that brand protection is a key concern.
Ginsters has identified accurate product and package coding as being essential to ensuring product quality and product safety. The Claricom system that Ginsters has installed is designed to provide the business with the necessary high level control of coding information, enabling it to meet the demands of leading retailers and protect the Ginsters brand image.
The Claricom PCMS suite comprises software modules to automate each aspect of Package Coding Management from the origination of coding information to barcode packaging validation and the automatic communication of coding information to the on-line coding equipment.
The system uses a combination of portable and fixed position unattended barcode reading equipment, to provide automatic network set up of the on-line ink jet coding equipment and 100 per cent barcode validation of individual cartons to ensure each individual pack is correct.
In effect, the software removes manual operations, and consequently, any possibility of human error. Claricom claims that its PCMS typically pays for itself within 12 months through improved accuracy and efficiency.
"The benefit of the Claricom approach is that, as an independent supplier, it can provide a proven solution that will work with our continuous inkjet printers, thermal inkjet printers and thermal transfer label printers, regardless of make or model," said Jason Davis, Ginsters engineering manager.
The drive towards ensuring complete supply chain traceability is inexorable. Retail giants are rolling out traceability mandates to all their suppliers, and the biggest of them all, Wal-Mart, is currently working out traceability standards for all fresh products.
As far as these retail giants are concerned, their primary motivation is building customer loyalty and trust. In driving through these traceability measures down the supply chain, they are putting into place guarantees that if there is ever a recall, then any problem could be contained quickly without losing credibility.
For manufacturers such as Ginsters, this provides an opportunity. By ensuring the quality and safety of their brand, the company can present itself to both retailers and customers as a product they can implicitly trust.
Ginsters is the latest member of the Samworth Brothers group to purchase a Claricom PCMS.
"Claricom has a wealth of experience including the supply of proven systems to other companies within the Samworth Brothers Group," said David Ion, technical manager. "With increasing demands on food traceability more information is needed on pack and the Claricom Package Coding Management System will ensure accurate information, right first time."
