Kansas Cold Storage. Automating the Supply Chain.
A solid solution for a longstanding industry
KCS has old roots, but it needed brand new organizational capabilities. The company’s cold storage warehouse was originally built in 1937 to house fruits and vegetables from local farmers, and to churn out ice blocks for homes and businesses across the region. The five-story facility is honeycombed with thickly insulated cells connected by a maze of hallways and elevators. Finding the right system to organize the labyrinthine structure was a challenge. Jones reviewed his options and quickly decided that Macs provided the most reliable and flexible solution. “Our slogan is ‘Cold Rooms, Cool Thinking, Hot Service,’” he says. “The Macs fit right in with that image. Interface-wise, they can do anything.”
When it came time to choose an inventory system, Jones had many options, because his Macs could run any software. In the end, the COO picked Cadre, a flexible warehousing system that can tackle even the most technically demanding warehouses.
Inventory efficiency
The KCS Cadre system runs on a Mac Pro server, which is wired to two office iMacs and another iMac doing inventory duty at the loading dock. Jones runs a MacBook Pro, which he can use to check in on KCS when he’s away from the office. The Mac Pro server also does double duty as a secondary office computer when needed. The KCS team uses Parallels Desktop for Mac to access its Windows-based inventory tracking system and Mac OS X for everything else—email, Internet access, instant messaging, tracking contacts, composing correspondence and spreadsheets, and organizing and adjusting photos.
“We have tremendous flexibility with the Mac systems,” says Jones. “I have everything I need in my MacBook Pro, and it’s with me all the time. The office machines and the loading dock computer have the same capabilities—they can run whatever we need them to.”
With the Mac, KCS has created an efficient inventory system that lets both staff and outside clients see exactly where any product is located in the vast facility. Goods are bar-coded and scanned at the loading dock using Xerox wireless scanners and Loftware, a bar-coding system that runs on Windows via Parallels Desktop for Mac, on the loading dock iMac. The information is automatically streamed into Cadre, and is available for viewing on any of the office Macs, and soon through a web browser.
“Cadre includes a web ordering system, so our clients will be able to log in and see exactly where their products are in our warehouse,” says Jones. “They used to call us to check in on things, but now they can do it themselves, which saves us a lot of time.”
An eye toward the future
Jones found the perfect Mac-based systems and Apple software for KCS, which allow the company to stay in control and informed in the most stressful situations. It’s a far cry from the default pen-and-paper system that Jones faced when he arrived at KCS—and a quantum leap in cold storage organization. Says Jones, “For business productivity in a warehouse situation, we’ve found that nothing outpaces the Mac.”
