Automatic identification and, in recent years, Mobile Computing are cutting edge technologies in the logistics of the agri-food and, above all, beverages industries.

Compliance with the laws due to the introduction in Italy of (EC) N.178/2002 and N.1935/2004 regulations referring to the trackability of finished products (FP) and raw materials (RM) and primary packaging have sped up the introduction of computerized logistics systems.

Ever since the year 2000, ESSEDI has designed both complex projects for individual corporations, such as SB, as well as a specialized software product, for middle-sized firms with standardized corporate procedures.

The entire material flow, including raw materials(RM) , unfinished and finished products (FP) is managed and tracked using the above mentioned technologies and application software.

The different phases of the production process for a beverages/food company are analyzed in order to highlight some peculiarities of the solutions adopted:

1. RECEPTION OF RAW MATERIALS AND PRIMARY PACKAGING


2. USE OF RAW MATERIALS AND PRIMARY PACKAGING


3. PREPARATIONS OF SYRUPS FOR BEVERAGES


4. EXITING OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT FROM THE END-OF-LINE OF THE PRODUCTION PROCESS


5. LOADING AND SHIPPING


6. SERVICES FUNCTIONS

The numerous automated production phases enable data acquisition directly from automation systems. The simplest phases are on-line automatic labelling for bundles and cartons; end-of-line for pallets, where it is possible to acquire information about the finished product.

In more advanced cases, the presence of mixers for salts, syrups, etc., enables information retrieving from automation software, regarding the raw materials in expressly prepared batches.