Behind the produce stands at your favorite supermarket is a massive industry that is undergoing big changes. With global consolidation
radically reshaping the retail grocery industry, fewer and fewer major players are calling the shots. The need to be efficient is even more critical for the $200-billion global fresh produce market.
Buyproduce.com is a young company launched in late 1999 in California's rich
agricultural Central Valley. It has a registered user list that represents about 20 percent of all U.S. fresh produce companies. Buyproduce.com uses Windows Powered Pocket PC devices to expedite the delivery of highly perishable produce across the continental United States.
Automating the delivery cycle
Buyproduce.com uses the Internet to streamline and automate all the mundane activities such as inputting order numbers and quantities and
checking delivery times. The Buyproduce.com site offers an array of tools and services for buyers and sellers, including the ability to compare commodity prices, obtain quotes, create purchase orders, and manage and track orders and shipments. Buyproduce.com takes a small percentage of the value of transactions conducted on the site.
On average, the growth of produce involves a five-month production cycle, yet there are only 12 days between harvest and final sale before produce perishes and has to be thrown out. The Buyproduce.com site contains an automated, easily accessible process that improves the chances that suppliers and retailers can get fresh produce to market shelves.
Pocket PC provides key link in system
"In the evolution of this market, there are three stages: transactional, informational, and collaborative," says Jim Delurgio,
Buyproduce.com's Chief Information Officer. "We're moving into the collaborative environment and that's where the Pocket PC devices will be adding real value. The fast collection and distribution of information on perishable food is going to help all parties do a better job at serving customers."
The first application developed for the Pocket PC was shipping and receiving software. According to Delurgio, about 28 percent of all produce orders have some kind of discrepancy, with a significant number occurring at the point of shipping or receiving.
"For example, a truck containing 20 pallets of avocados arrives at a store where the retailer only ordered 10 pallets. Under the old systems, it would take an average of 10 man-hours to identify and resolve the
discrepancy with the supplier."
But a store employee on the dock equipped with a Pocket PC can note the discrepancy immediately and then send that information to the vendor using a CompactFlash modem, a wireless modem or by synchronizing with a desktop PC (see Screen 1).
Screen 1: Shown here is a typical shipping and receiving application displayed on a Pocket PC. A store employee on the dock equipped with a Pocket PC can note the discrepancy immediately and then send that information to the vendor quickly.
"By eliminating the paperwork and other inefficient processes," Delurgio says, "we estimate that the use of the Pocket PC devices in
conjunction with the Buyproduce.com system can shave two to three days off the distribution cycle. This leads to fresher produce on store shelves and less product that has to be discarded."
Deploying on Casio and Compaq Pocket PCs
As the shipping and receiving applications are rolled out, Delurgio says his company anticipates enormous demand because they will be provided free to registered users of the Buyproduce.com system who conduct large
volumes of business. The initial applications were compiled for use on Compaq iPAQ H3650 and Casio E115 Pocket PC devices. These units were chosen for the first-stage rollout due to their bright screens that easily can be read outdoors, Delurgio says, adding that Palm OS devices were considered but rejected because their screens were not readable enough.
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