Montagu Foods, a Libstar group company, produces and markets a wide range of wet condiments, including chutney, sweet-chilli sauce and salad dressing, under private label for all major retailers.

Montagu previously implemented TransLution™ Software to trace stock through jobs. Now Montagu has extended their TransLution™ implementation, using TransLution™ to integrate to IoT hardware on the shop floor using TransLution™’s Adam Unit.

Montagu has installed an Adam unit and a counter at the end of a bottling line, using TransLution™ to count each bottle as it comes off the line. TransLution is also linked to SYSPRO and can read information about the production job. Using this information, TransLution™ is able to show production counts against each active production job. To make the information even more usable, TransLution™ reads Unit of Measure (UOM) information from SYSPRO and does the required conversions to present the data in the pack sizes used by the specific product being counted. As in most production environments, production is not measured in individual counts but by a most common pack or tray size and TransLution™ allows users to see the counts in way that makes sense to them.

Production receipts are done by scanning full pallets and the information presented by the counters is used to validate the scanned production numbers against the counted numbers.

The initial pilot was done on a single line but after the success of the pilot the implementation will be extended to other lines. Other enhancements may include extending the counting process to include counting bottles that failed the quality check, thereby enabling a mass balance on the production process.

Measuring equipment performance in this way is a key component to measuring Overall Equipment Effectiveness (or OEE).

About Montagu Foods

Based in picturesque Montagu in the hot, dry fruit-growing region of the Little Karoo, Montagu Foods evolved from an established family farming business. It now produces and markets a wide range of wet condiments, including chutney, sweet-chilli sauce and salad dressing, under private label for all major retailers.

https://www.libstar.co.za/companies/montagu-foods/

About TransLution™ Software

TransLution™ Software was developed to assist manufacturing, warehousing and distribution companies to better manage their business processes and stock handling. The TransLution™ product is particularly focused on robust integration to customers’ existing ERP, accounting and stock management software for a wide range of transactions. TransLution™ is distributed in Africa by Afrisoft Africa (Pty) Ltd and in Europe by K3 SYSPRO.