Founded in Pennsylvania in 1913, Rice Fruit Company carries a rich history of merging tradition and innovation, growing over the generations to unite over 40 family farms in the heart of Pennsylvania apple country. Handling produce from seed to shipment, the expansion of their operations became a great opportunity to implement digital tools for food safety documentation and more.
Process
Grower, packer, marketer
Headquarters
Gardners, PA
Certifications
SQF & USDA GAP
Facility Size
285,000 square feet
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Eric Kinley and the maintenance team at Rice Fruit Company had gotten used to wading through manual processes to manage the equipment at their main packing facility. From work orders to maintenance records and every task in-between, having processes bogged down by disconnected spreadsheets, paper copies, and overflowing inboxes was slowing the maintenance team down and leaving little time for Eric to work on other tasks. When Provision came onto the scene to help with food safety documentation, Eric saw an opportunity for change.
By implementing Provision, Rice Fruit was aiming to have better insight into trends and analytics, streamline tasks and work orders for teams, and free up management time for continuous improvement projects. With a full suite of smart tools and reporting at their fingertips, Eric and the rest of his maintenance team were able to hit the ground running and see immediate improvements.
Photos in Records Give Better Context to Managers
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Organize one or many photos in one clean tab inside records
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Easily upload existing photos or take photos in real-time inside records
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Automatically prompt photos to open or resolve findings in inspections
Reports Uncover Clear Equipment Trends
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Automatically summarize real-time data from maintenance records
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Customize report contents to see exactly the data you want to review
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Easily search, sort, or filter data to indentify trends or hotspots
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Export spreadsheets in one tap for further analytics
Flag Findings to Kickstart Work Orders
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Set rules and parameters in records to automatically identify findings
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Automatically guide multi-step corrective action workflows with linked work orders
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Easily unify all findings and resolution data for future traceability and follow-ups
Improvements to Benefit the Future
With the unnecessary burden of manual inputs, isolated spreadsheets, and paper-locked data behind them, Eric and the maintenance team at Rice Fruit Company are well-equipped for the future. Improvements in efficiency and time-savings have a direct correlation with ditching the old manual processes, making more time available for new projects and continuous improvement. The increased visibility of trends across the facility's teams have likewise helped clarify areas of greatest risk, allowing Eric to address problems before they escalate. After rolling out Provision to the maintenance department, management found the new software so helpful that usage has been expanded across departments to encompass the entirety of their food safety program - with great results.
While the legacy at Rice continues to grow, the maintenance department will continue to be ready for whatever arises - from audits to new equipment installs.
