London, UK – October 20, 2015 – Bakers Basco, providers and controllers of an industry standard bread basket and dolly solution, has implemented a GPS tracking device into its equipment, as part of the company’s latest effort to combat the unauthorised use of its equipment.
Bakers Basco has partnered with GPS tracking service provider Bluetrack to incorporate the new technology into its fleet. The supporting software allows Bakers Basco to track the movements of its equipment via a mobile app and internet portal, which can be monitored over a set period. Automatic updates can also be configured to track the whereabouts of the equipment at any given time.
“This initiative has been introduced to help reduce the possibility of baskets and dollies not being returned to their legitimate users,” says Steve Millward, General Manager, Bakers Basco. “We’re confident that by using this new technology we can more efficiently crack down on the loss of returnable transit packaging in the supply chain.”
The GPS tracker-ready equipment is being covertly deployed in locations where it is suspected that equipment abuse is taking place. In the result of any equipment being tracked outside of its authorised supply chain, Bakers Basco is then able to deploy its dedicated recovery team to carry out further investigations.
Thus far, Bakers Basco is using the technology for the recovery of equipment but, in time, the technology will likely lend itself to the operations side of the business to help improve the logistics model.
“Attrition has been a tremendous issue in the industry for many years, incurring considerable costs for all bakers,” adds Millward. “Although tough measures are already being taken by our recovery team against anyone found with unauthorised bread baskets and other equipment, this latest step marks our commitment to reducing the amount of losses within the industry as a whole.”
Keith Walker, Support Manager at Bluetrack, adds: “GPS Trackers are ideal to monitor or locate any asset, whether it be a valuable, tools of a trade, or something of low value but costly to replace over and over again. As our first client in the bakery sector, we look forward to working with Bakers Basco to tackle such an important issue that seems to plague the industry. We wish Basco every success in their venture which shows initiative, commitment and industry knowledge.”