Redline Solutions recently announced the general availability of the third module in their Whole Chain Traceability Suite-RedLine Packing. RedLine Packing provides full traceability and physical inventory management from the time bulk product is received, through internal packing processes, to the point when pallets of packed product are delivered to the cooler.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based RedLine Solutions, which began in 1997, has been a leading systems integrator specializing in barcode, Radio Frequency (RFID) and Automated Data Capture (ADC) systems. They offer integration services to assist customers in implementing cost-effective solutions and specialize in solutions for warehousing, asset management, ERP, medical systems and more.
Redline CEO Todd Baggett says, "With the release of RedLine Packing, we can now provide our customers with a complete integrated traceability solution that operates in the field, packing shed and the cooler. All of their traceability information from harvest to shipment can now be stored and managed within our system."
RedLine Packing was developed in collaboration with leading packer shippers, representing a wide range of commodities including citrus, stone fruit, tomatoes, avocados and sweet potatoes. The system has been tested and improved based on the results of pilot projects. Multiple customers are using RedLine Packing in production environments today.
PTI Compliance in the packing shed drives traceability requirements in three areas: receiving and managing bulk product, packing product into cases and assembling cases into pallets.
RedLine Packing allows a packer to receive bulk product and print barcode labels for each bin or tote, capturing the source lot information: ranch, block/field and date. This allows the packer to track movement, treatments and storage locations of bulk product.
As the packing manager sets up a pack run in RedLine Packing, they enter information including source lot and the products/sizes they will be packing. The system allows for very fast pack-run setup using templates or a "copy pack-run" feature. Depending on the line used in the pack-run, the user can either print out batches of PTI labels to be manually applied or automatically identify and label each carton or RPC as it moves down the packing line.
As packed cases are assembled into pallets, the system captures the traceability information for all cases, connects this information with the pallet tag number and, if desired, prints a hybrid pallet tag.
At this point, the packer has electronic record of the complete traceability information from receipt of bulk product through packing to pallets. The system will also allow them to do an "auto-receipt" into the cooler. If a client is using RedLine Cooler, traceability information is extended to include which pallets were shipped to each specific customer location. On demand, the company can run reports showing the exact source for any case of product as well as trace forward all other cases of product from the same source.
"Every packing operation has unique line configurations, and therefore different traceability requirements. Even within a packing shed, each line may have different requirements," COO Chris Davis says. "We designed RedLine Packing to provide both complete flexibility and full traceability for our customers. They can deploy the system in whatever configuration is necessary to enable traceability for their specific operation."
Visit www.producetraceability.org and www.redlinesolutions.com.