Kiwifruit operator no longer green on EPC/RFID

EPC/RFID is no longer greenfields technology for kiwifruit company EastPack. The post-harvest operator has just come through its second export season with a fully operational EPC/RFID system (radio frequency identification using Electronic Product Code), and the benefits are now well embedded in this Bay of Plenty-based business.

EastPack grabbed the lead with EPC/RFID in New Zealand, and perhaps in the Southern Hemisphere, after committing to a whole-of-operation design and implementation back in 2007. The innovative system in the company’s 50 cool stores incorporates EPC/RFID tags on every pallet of fruit, forklift-mounted RFID readers, and wireless connectivity to a constantly-updated database on the inventories and their exact location. It was rolled out and tested in time for the 2008 export season, with close project management support from GS1 New Zealand.

With the 2009 export season ended in late November, it is too soon for hard numbers on the outcome for EastPack or others in the kiwifruit industry. But first indications are that the system performed again for the company, even more so that in the 2008 season when it delivered positive return on investment within the first year. It seems that EPC/RFID has further strengthened EastPack’s ability to store, retrieve and move pallets on-time and to-specification. Instead of paying international marketer Zespri penalties for missed shipments – a common feature of the high-pressure kiwifruit industry – the company earned premiums in 2009 for plugging shipment gaps that suddenly opened from non-delivery by others. That was an exciting turnaround for EastPack, which is seeing plenty of other operational benefits as well.

The system has become a powerful tool for cool store managers and staff to locate particular lots of fruit when needed and to limit pallet movements. Morale is up as people work in a more organised, less stressful environment, and working capital is down as EastPack reduces its usage of leased forklifts. The system is also promoting inroads into reduction of fruit loss, a real bugbear of this industry.

EastPack clearly has a growing level of confidence with the technology and its potential to deliver ongoing benefit. This season, the company began modifying some of the hardware for tough cool store conditions, and analysing the accumulated data on pallet and forklift movements, order flow, fruit condition and so on. It will all feed through to new ways for optimising operations. The company was also ready to let others in the kiwifruit industry see first-hand how EPC/RFID can make such a difference. EastPack opened its Te Puke complex (the industry’s biggest cool store) for a day in August. It was further confirmation that this innovative company has put EPC/RFID beyond greenfields status – and it was a further wake-up call for other companies and industries to get moving on the technology themselves.

Gary Hartley
GS1