Associated Food Stores Delivers On-Time Service, Fresher Food with Zebra’s WhereNet RTLS

Zebra Technologies WhereNet provided Associated Food Stores (AFS) with wireless, real-time applications for optimizing, locating, tracking, and managing assets across its 600-plus acre distribution center in Farr West, Utah.

AFS, a cooperatively-owned wholesale distributor based in Salt Lake City, provides complete warehouse facilities and services to nearly 600 grocers throughout an eight-state region.

The Challenge
WhereNet Optimizes Supply Chain Flow
The WhereNet system provides real-time location and telemetry information for each of the several hundred trailers and associated equipment AFS employs – eliminating manual yard inventory searches, speeding operations, and assuring the quality of refrigerated groceries stored on the site.

The Solution
AFS leveraged WhereNet’s Software Development Kit (SDK) to automatically provide real-time location information to the existing AFS Yard Management System (YMS).

By pinpointing the location of yard resources within 10 feet of accuracy, WhereNet’s system enables AFS to achieve an unprecedented level of efficiency and a dramatic return on investment for the time critical movement of trailers and products through its distribution center, which supports the shipment of 600 truckloads of groceries every week.

The AFS installation marks WhereNet’s first major deployment in the wholesale grocery industry, following extremely successful initiatives in the automotive, consumer goods, transportation, and health care markets. WhereTags have been permanently mounted on all AFSowned trailers, tractors and dollies, enabling the WhereNet system to track the tagged assets from the moment they enter the yard.

In addition, consumer goods manufacturers’ fleets are temporarily tagged upon entering the AFS distribution center, providing constant visibility and expediting the throughput of grocery goods. The WhereNet system enables AFS to take proactive, preventive measures to optimize its supply chain flow in the following three key areas, resulting in significant cost savings.

Results