Reeling in transformation: How Yalelo Zambia made waves by implementing automation in their processing plant
We have also been able to catch issues much faster because the data is shared across our organization in real-time; which has saved us thousands of dollars.” – Head of IT and Data Analytics
Why we do what we do.
The organization was using completely manual weighing and data management process, creating gaps in the data, time-consuming data entries, reweighing and reworking on the same material. These manual processes resulted in untrustworthy data, lack of transparency and inefficient use of manpower. With the implementation of weighing automation using Bluetooth based mobile application, the team was able to achieve record low turnaround time in weighing and further processing for the supply chain.
Clear data for clear and fresh produce
The entire supply chain depends on fresh produce and accurate weighment of the same. The manual processes were causing a number of challenges;
- Untrustworthy and inaccurate data
- Lack of clear reporting and transparency
- Manhours spent behind data entries and data rework
- Time-consuming weighing and data management causing delays in supply chain and affecting the freshness of the produce.
Accelerating lowest level operations is the simplest way to transform business processes
After understanding the gaps in the existing system, we were able to curate a solution that fits all their requirements, along with providing additional consolidated reporting and dashboards.
- Automated weighment capturing using Bluetooth-based android application, to maintain data integrity
- Hardware agnostic to allow to connect any Bluetooth scale, and install on any android device
- Capturing low-level downstream data to provide the foundation of the supply chain.
- Unique user roles to maintain organizational structure and data security, limiting the chances of tampering of information
- Custom dashboard for a birds-eye view of complete production environment
- Scalable application to build modules on top of existing system, integrate with 3rd party applications and systems.
- Architecture and workflow created to fit the existing production environment
Traction boosting results
Having good quality data, ensuring no errors/fabrication due to automatic weights entering the system directly has resulted in much more trustworthy data across the business.” Head of IT and Data Analytics
With real-time data comes faster and better decision making
Almost immediately after training and implementation, the operations team as well as the management team was able to see actionable and tangible results from the application.
Operation team includes the users who are physically using the application to enter the weighing data;
- Simplified operations- efficient process for weighing the produce and entering the data. Reduced chances of errors and reweighing and repacking.
- Reduced manual effort- straightforward UI allows for quick data entries, without any paper trail that needs to be manually digitized
- Daily summary- automatically generated daily summaries for individual members and complete teams
- Access to trustworthy and tamper-free data in real-time
- Real-time data monitoring helps in recognising anomalies and trends, allowing quick changes in operations as required
- These changes and decisions allow for efficient production, reducing waste
- This success has now been expanded to other departments, driving further efficiencies in the broader operations.
- Planning the supply chain logistics on the basis of the downstream data has contributed heavily to record low wastage and disposal, and achieving record high sales due to the fresher produce.
