Weigh-Rite Scale has been providing sales and service to Best Maid Cookie Company in River Falls, Wisconsin for almost 20 years. Best Maid Cookie recently expanded their facility and wanted to track the waste that was generated throughout the cookie process. Isaac Theilman, Production Director at Best Maid Cookie, contacted Weigh-Rite Scale’s Sales Engineer, Steve Pitschneider to see what options were available. Initially, Steve thought a programmable indicator with all the process weighing locations programmed in would be a good fit, but Isaac was looking for a different option that would fit in their budget.
Steve knew Rice Lake Weighing made a great check-weigher that would be able to handle the wet environment at Best Maid Cookie; however, that particular scale was not programmable. To solve the problem, Steve thought outside the box and figured out a way to track the waste at each process location using Weigh Vault software from Rice Lake Weighing. They could use a product look up number (PLU) as a location for waste. Using the CW-90X check-weighers at various locations throughout the bakery the operator would go to any of the scales and enter in a PLU that would be associated with a location and weigh the waste. The weight data would then be recorded in the software on their server via Ethernet. Steve demonstrated the scales and software to Isaac and Isaac immediately saw the potential. The production reports and the productivity reports in this software were just what he was looking for, and would be doable within their budget. They ordered 8 scales and the software.
At installation, Isaac told Steve he now was thinking of many other uses for these scales and software. Their old process was to weigh cookies throughout the day to make sure they were within the correct weight tolerance, record only some of these weights, and then transfer the weight data to a spread sheet for use in quality control. Now using the new software, the way it was designed, they enter in a PLU number and the software gets the information for that PLU and sends it to the CW-90X and the check-weigh graph shows if the cookie is within the correct weight-range and records the weight each time with a time and date stamp. The new process ensures that all weight data – not just some – is recorded for use.
Thinking outside the box sometimes provides greater solutions and creates new possibilities. Contact Weigh-Rite Scale and see what they can do for you and your company!
