Most intriguing to Clark’s team was the
stand-alone nature of Intermec PM4i
industrial smart printers; the printer didn’t
require an additional computer to print labels,
which minimized the cost of the solution.
The system was also easy to use, which
simplified and sped up worker adoption.
“We always look at simple as being the
best solution,” Clark said. “With the
[Intermec] Smart Printers, all you need
is a small area on a desk or a rolling
cart to make this system functional. It
seems to be a very cost-effective, simple
solution to satisfying the requirements
that are being requested of us today.”
Workers are able to scan a FoodLogiQgenerated
bar-code using an Intermec SR30
handheld scanner, which tells the Intermec
PM4i industrial printer what label to print.
The worker uses the PM4i printer’s keypad to
select a quantity on the display. Because the
printer isn’t tethered to a computer, workers
can move the cart on which it is stationed
directly to the boxes that require the tags.
Once the boxes are wrapped, the workers use
an Intermec PB50 mobile printer to generate
a pallet tag. The box labels from the PM4i and
pallet labels from the PB50 include a bar-code
that identifies the kind of orange, ship date,
destination, farm source, and even the farm
lot. This is a powerful tool should the company
need to trace a shipment back to its origin.
“At any given moment, if we were to have
a trace-back for some reason, it’s simply
a matter of getting notification from the
consumer or buyer, and instantaneousa“The whole process with FoodLogiQ was
hands-on,” Clark said. “We didn’t have to
go out and try to piece together our own
system. FoodLogiQ has been able to integrate
the whole package of requirements that we
need beyond just the G10 code identification
number. They’ve incorporated food-safety
programs, and you can actually keep your
food-safety documentation in their system.”y,
we can pull up all information associated
to a certain lot,” Clark said.