Bakkavör Cucina Sano

Manufacturing Execution System specialists Marco

have installed a ground breaking factory wide

MES solution at Bakkavor’s Cucina Sano plant

in Lincolnshire, which produces high

quality, hand-crafted salads, deli products,

and ready meals for Marks & Spencer.

Marco’s Trac-IT system provides complete

control and management for the

manufacturing site, controlling and tracking

the complex ingredient routings in real time,

thereby optimising quality, productivity,

profitability and traceability.

“Our working environment is dynamic to say the least and requirements can change

rapidly. Marco and Trac-IT have been able to respond to this in a timely and efficient

manner. This now enables us to use real time data to aid the management decision

making process.

In addition, the LOT traceability function means we

can confidently identify the exact stock movement

for any item through the factory, from Goods

In to the final packed product. As an added

control, our QA team can now create user

defined checks at any part of the process via a

PDA linked into the overall system. For instance

authorised personnel can accept/reject/

quarantine deliveries at Goods In for specified

reasons, posting comments as appropriate.”

Jon Norman - Cucina Sano IT/IS Manager

Factory Solution

All the Cucina Sano factory operations are driven and controlled by Marco Trac-IT.

As soon as a finished product order hits the Trac-IT system, a complete BOM (Bill of

Materials) requisition ‘explodes’ backwards, taking into account:

• which products are needed (including packaging)

• the related processes they need to go through, together with

• when and where they are required on the factory floor, and

• who carried out specific tasks

Weighing plays a pivotal role throughout the process and the capture of real time weight

data is used to maximum effect by the Marco Trac-IT system, whether it is weighing in-

coming goods, calculating cooking losses, optimising portion control during assembly

or check-weighing at the end of the lines.

Benefits of using Marco Trac-IT

• Minimised giveaway (< 0.5%) - optimised meal composition

• Accurate real-time stock management avoiding ‘unaccountable losses’

• Excellent use-by-date management, minimising wastage

• Improved productivity

• Operator performance monitoring

• Label verification avoiding unwanted EPW

• System is ‘language transparent’ making it ideal for multinational operators

• Rapid return on investment

Controlled Production

There are currently five meal assembly lines, fitted with 40 LineMaster portion control

scales operating in ‘takeaway’ mode and connected via secure RF links to the

central Editor PC. The LineMaster has been specifically developed for high speed

manual assembly of meals and its simple, yet highly effective, 16 segment coloured

bar graph immediately gives a clear indication of whether the amount of

product added to the tray is over, under or within weight tolerance.

The operators soon ‘tune in’ to such visual systems and simply pack

to the ‘green light’ without having to think about the actual

weights. This system is ‘language transparent’ making it ideal for

multinational operators.

After sealing and labelling, the finished products come out of

high care into the despatch and collation area. During this

transition, label verifier scanners check finished barcodes to

ensure that the correct product is in the pack. Prior to palletising,

products are now loaded into dedicated Marks & Spencer trays

fitted with Intellident RFID tags. Marco Trac-IT interface with the

Intellident system giving information regarding the UPC, description,

destination depot and how many units should make up the order.

To learn more about Cucina Sano click here

United Kingdom

NetherlandsMarco - Sprendlingenpark 23 - 5061 JT OisterwijkTelephone: +31 (0) 13 522 0435E-mail: info@marco.co.uk- Website: www.marco.co.uk/nl

Marco - Enterprise Way - Edenbridge - Kent - TN8 6HFTelephone - +44 (0) 1732 782380E-mail: info@marco.co.uk - Website: www.marco.co.uk