UK firm RedBlack Software, which is headquartered in York, said it has collaborated with the Stevens Group to integrate its CyBake business management software with the Blackburn based company’s Vantage weighing, traceability and process control system so that purchase orders can now be linked to goods-in and ingredient costs are controlled.
Martin Coyle, a spokesperson for RedBlack, said teaming up with the Stevens Group made business sense in terms of speed to market of the new software and optimization of the capabilities of an existing industry tried and tested stock measuring and recipe weighing equipment.
He said that the new interface enables the two systems to communicate with each other resulting in the automated capture of accurate data on batch requirements and batch costs that is accurately linked to recipes, and means bakers no longer have to rely on guesswork or manual input.
“The operator at the Vantage weighing station can now check on CyBake for production requirements for a particular batch run in terms of the quantity of ingredients needed, and once they have weighed out the amounts and initiated the run they are now able to alert the back office through CyBake as to exactly how much has been used,” he said.
Coyle told BakeryandSnacks.com that CyBake then takes that product usage data and measures it against cost information on the raw materials already entered to give a baker the exact production outlay for a mix or a batch, thus allowing bread or cake manufacturers keep a tighter control of their expenditure and margins.
He explained that the new interface enables an additional advantage in terms of goods-inward processing in that the operator at that terminal can tally information with CyBake’s production data on goods-out to close the loop on stock control, and avoids the use of printed out data in the back office or the goods-in station.
The new software interface is targeted primarily at bakers who already use CyBake to control order and sales processing as well as purchase order processing and delivery management along with the Vantage system for tackling workflow on the plant floor.
“The cost of the new system will be around £1,500 to £2,000 (€1,705 to €2,273) a year in terms of licencing and support,” added Coyle.