Orca Bay Foods, Inc. processes a full line of frozen seafood that is sold to food service, grocery stores, fish markets, and club stores throughout the United States. Two partners started this Washington-based business in 1985 and have since retired.
Orca Bay and MASI established an IT partnership in 1989 with the purchase of AddonSoftware accounting and distribution modules as well as MASI FishMaster software for lotted seafood inventory and work orders.
"MASI has done a consistent job of satisfying our objectives,” said Pam Vessey, Controller of Orca Bay. “When I run up against an obstacle, I throw them a curve and they always figure it out."
The problem:
1) The RF (radio frequency) warehouse management system was outdated and needed to be replaced.
2) The FDA passed a law requiring heavier labeling requirements.
The solution:
The latest large project undertaken at Orca Bay was the implementation of a new RF system. Troy Roy, Orca Bay Warehouse Manager, and Ron Fox, MASI Senior Systems Engineer, went to a RF software show and then Ron helped Troy with the basis for integrating the new system with AddonSoftware. The new Windows CE units are mounted on the company’s forklifts. They work in the freezer and each unit has a heater imbedded in the screen. Soon the forklift units will have all the same capabilities as Orca Bay’s terminals.
"I’ve managed many warehouses including Associated Grocers and Seattle Cold Storage and none has a warehouse system that fits as well as ours," explained Troy. "We have a stable environment and the system runs great. Ron’s been a savior…and he usually answers the phone when I call!"
Orca Bay has 30,000 square feet of freezer space that holds 2.5 million pounds of fish. They ship 600,000 pounds a week and bring in the same amount. The number of SKUs has tripled in the last ten years and sales have more than doubled.
Reliance on AddonSoftware in this growing environment is extreme. The FDA recently passed a law requiring packaging labels to include the country of origin. MASI programmers wrote a program that assigns the country of origin to the product when it is received and that information follows the product through the system until its sale.
"I know others were spending millions on COOL [country of origin labeling] and MASI did ours for a fraction of that cost," said Pam.
"And it’s working excellently," added Trish Haaker, Orca Bay Senior Vice President.