Happy New Year!

From all of us at ADC, we'd like to wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.  We're looking forward to the start of a new year and the excitement that comes with the beginning of a new trade show season. 

We currently are exhibiting at 8 trade shows in 2012 and will be adding more shows to our schedule.  We will keep you posted on the dates, locations and booth numbers of all of the shows!

As we continue to grow our blog, please send your thoughts and ideas. We will see you in 2012!

Want more information? Click here to contact ADC today.

Get into the Grind: Meat Grind Traceability

ADC’s Meat Grind Traceability Manager software module provides a record for all meat that is ground in a meat department. By scanning and recording the different suppliers of ground meat, accurate labels are generated to provide easy traceability and reporting to stores if and when a contamination occurs. 

The Meat Grind Management Traceability software allows companies to quickly and accurately respond to recalls when they happen. Centrally logging records of every lug of meat that is ground allows for reports to be pulled with ease and can ensure grocery stores are in compliance with USDA Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) Directives.

Current meat logging records are typically kept by hand on a clipboard and have to be filed away at the end of each day.  The opportunity for human error is high and if a recall occurs, response time is slow and costly because if no record is available, all meat in a meat case must be disposed of.

With the software, meat cutters scan the barcodes on primals to record the name of the supplying establishment(s), supplier lot number(s), production date and name of supplied material(s).  This information is embedded into the GS1-128 bar-code that is on each label. Therefore, when a contamination occurs, grocery stores can quickly pull the P-Cubed Grinding Log Report to assess what portion of their meat is part of the recall.

Want to learn more? Contact ADC today or fill out the following form to have an ADC representative contact you: http://ad-c.com/collateral-request.php.

Want more information? Click here to contact ADC today.

P-Cubed Shrink Management Software

Did you know that ADC’s P-Cubed Shrink Management software creates IRS compliant food donation reports that help grocery/supermarket retailers receive increased tax deductions? 

During the holiday seasons, grocery stores and supermarket chains prepare for increased volumes of customers.  This can lead to a significant amount of leftover food on the shelves that is close to it's sell by date.  Grocer’s and food service retailers that donate unsold product to charitable organizations are now able to receive increased tax deductions for their donations with ADC’s P-Cubed Shrink Management module.  

The Shrink Management module generates accurate food donation reports, which allows client’s to view reports of food donated by stores, including a complete history of each item donated, the amount and cost.  


The report meets the specifications set by the IRS for reporting food donations, which helps grocers to receive the maximum tax deductions based on a percentage of their stores food donations.  As a module within ADC’s P-Cubed, Shrink Management helps to set a foundation for ADC’s Production Planning module.  The Shrink Management module tracks products being donated at the item level and can identify items that are over produced.  


The Shrink Management module helps clients yield a significant return on investment, in a short amount of time due to the increased tax deductions they receive.  The P-Cubed suite is modular in design, to allow clients to install the modules that address their FIM needs.  Over time, more modules can be activated as their FIM needs evolve, which can result in further savings.

Want more information? Click here to contact ADC today.

ADC's 2012 Industry Trade Shows

ADC is gearing up for the quickly approaching 2012 trade show season and wanted to give you an update on where to find ADC in Q1 of 2012. 

Our first show of the year is Retail’s Big Show, NRF Convention and Expo, January 15-18 (Expo January 16-17) at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City.  You can find ADC in the ARTS Pavilion, Booth #1951, and with Zebra Technologies, Booth #2205.  In both locations, you will be able to see demonstrations of InterStore.Net, our integrated Fresh Item Management software suite. 

We will also be exhibiting at the 2012 Meat Conference in Orlando, FL from February 19-21.  We are participating in the Innovative Technology Solutions Exhibit in Booth #517.  We will be showing or P-Cubed, Production Management system, which assists in meat department operations by:

•         Standardizing primal cuts through cutting templates
•         Identifying the true cost of saleable cuts from meat cutting tests
•         Meeting traceability mandates for grind management
•         Capturing and reporting perishable item shrink
•         Generating production plans based on historical demand
•         …and more!

If you’d like to set up time to meet with an ADC representative at the NRF Expo or the Meat Conference, please contact us at +1.813.849.1818.

Check our Coming Events page to see what other shows we will be out throughout 2012.

We look forward to seeing you at the 2012 trade shows!

Want more information? Click here to contact ADC today.

'2012 Food Trends to Watch'

With 2011 coming to a quick end, people have started to make predictions for what to expect in 2012.  This is no different in the grocery/supermarket industry. 

Supermarket News just released an article, written by Phil Lempert, that highlighted what some are predicting as the ‘2012 Food Trends to Watch,’ including higher food prices, increased interest among shoppers for knowing where their food came from, a growing number of male shoppers taking over grocery shopping and consumers still opting to eat at home instead of dining out. 

To read the complete article, visit http://supermarketnews.com/Grocery_Center_Store_Brands/2012_food_trends_1205/index2.html.

Do you predict any additional trends that didn’t make the list? 

At ADC, we expect to see an increase in technology solutions providing new ways to streamline efficiencies for grocery store/supermarket chain.  You can be ahead of the curve by contacting ADC today to see how our Fresh Item Management software can help to increase your fresh department profitability. 

Want more information? Click here to contact ADC today.

"Make the Most of the New Meat Labeling Law"

In today's FMI dailyLead, Matt Enis wrote an interesting article discussing the potential positive impacts of the new meat labeling laws, set to go in effect on March 1, 2012.  Some of the positive impacts included increased beef sales and a more positive view of beef from the consumer perspective.  Read the article at: http://supermarketnews.com/viewpoints/meat_labeling_laws_1128/ and let us know what you think.

Effective Date for Meat Nutrition Labeling Delayed

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety (USDA) and Inspection Service (FSIS) have recently announced that the effective date for the mandatory nutrition labeling requirements for single-ingredient and ground/chopped meat and poultry products in the USA has been delayed until March 1, 2012.  The previous effective date was January 1, 2012. 

The delayed effective date allows retailers more time to prepare for the upcoming legislation.  ADC has been following this legislation closely since it was announced in December 2010.  At that time, the FSIS mandated that the 40 most popular cuts of meat must have nutritional labeling on the pack or at the point of purchase. Additionally, single-ingredient ground meat must have the meat nutritional facts on the package.¹

The nutrition facts panels are expected to include the number of calories and the grams of total fat and saturated fat a product contains.  Additionally, any product that lists a lean percentage statement, such as "76%" lean on its label, will also list its fat percentage, which is intended to make it easier for consumers to understand the amounts of lean protein and fat in their purchase.

Looking for a Solution?  ADC's InterStore.Net Fresh Item Management (FIM) suite of software provides readily available solutions to supermarket chains for the upcoming meat nutritional labeling requirements.

InterScale, ADC's brand-neutral scales management system, hosts nutrifacts to the barcode labeling scales in meat departments, regardless of manufacturer, from one centralized H.Q. system. InterScale supports different nutrifacts by vendor/supplier for the same item/PLU across stores. Nutrifacts information must be presented on labels in a rigorous and standardized format. InterScale now hosts these label formats to scales and printers from the major manufacturers, allowing the retailer large savings by avoiding expensive hands-on service calls by the scale provider.

NutriGen, ADC's Recipe Management software, calculates nutritional labeling information from a recipe's sub-recipes and raw ingredients, allowing InterScale to send this data to the in-store barcode labeling scales and label printers.

"ADC is continually working with our clients and the scale manufacturers to provide a solution that will exceed the mandate set forth by the FSIS for meat nutritional labeling," said Steve Loveridge, President of ADC. "Currently, we have some clients who are ahead of the legislation deadline by already hosting nutrifacts to their barcode labeling scales and providing this information on meat packages. We hope to see this number increase as the sunrise date approaches."

 

¹http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/RDAD/FRPubs/2005-0018F.pdf

ADC Unveils New Product and Software Suite Logos

Recently, ADC unveiled our new product and software suite logos to ReFresh 2011 attendees and we’d like to share them on our blog as well.  The InterStore.Net suite, InterScale Scales Manager and P-Cubed Production Manager (formerly Perishable Production Planner) logos were completely redesigned, while the NutriGen logo received minor edits for logo family consistency, but maintains most of its original design.

We regularly asses our branding to determine if any changes are needed to improve our product image and marketing message. This year, we decided to revamp our product logos, as the previous logos individually evolved over time. We wanted to create a family of logos that visually defined our products within their product suite.

The basis for the new logo designs came from the colors in ADC’s existing company logo designed to illustrate that our software is for all of the fresh areas in the grocery store: green for the fruits and vegetables in the produce department, light-orange for bread in the bakery and cheese in the deli departments and the deep red for the meat department.

Our new logos have a fresh, modern look to them, but still identify functional aspects of the software modules they represent.  As the rebranding process evolved, we noticed that we needed to address the ‘P-Cubed Perishable Production Planning’ system name. The system now encompasses more modules than just Production Planning; therefore, it has been rebranded as the ‘P-Cubed In-Store Food Production’ system.”

Below is a comparison of the old and new logos, as well as the new overall suite logo.  To see larger versions of each of the logos, please click here.

Another Great Day at ReFresh 2011!

Day two of ReFresh is ended and was another successful day.  Our keynote speaker, Harold Lloyd, started the day with an entertaining and educational, presentation on “Merchandising Magic” or, as he more accurately described it as “Merchandising Logic.”  Harold presented five key strategies to help increase the overall purchase total of customer’s in grocery stores.  His presentation included visual examples from grocery stores, results from research he conducted over the past couple of years and a great deal of humor. 

Following Harold’s presentation attendees started their second roundtable session, focused on NutriGen.  Three roundtable chairs led discussions on their experiences with NutriGen, sharing their successes, challenges and implementation strategies.

After lunch, attendees enjoyed our third retailer presentation, which highlighted how ADC’s shrink management module can be used to receive increased tax deductions that boost your bottom line.  The afternoon agenda, also included a partner presentation by BRdata and a presentation by Steve Loveridge, ADC President.

The day ended with a fresh food safety panel, moderated by Harold Lloyd.  Four ADC retailers shared their company’s approach to handling fresh food safety and the current fresh food safety challenges that they face.  Each retailer also shared their insights on what future challenges they foresee in food safety.

Our dinner on the beach was a great hit and the entertainment provided by ADC’s band was a huge success.

We’re looking forward to ReFresh 2012 and have already started the planning!

Day One of ReFresh 2011

The first day of ReFresh is winding down and it’s been a great success.  The conference started this morning with introductions and a brief conference overview, followed by an interactive demonstration of new features available in ADC’s InterStore.Net Fresh Item Management software suite (version 6.4.2) for both in-store and central users.  Rob Appell and Mark Molter showed attendees the new web-based software and additional functionality, designed to make the software easier to use for end users.

ADC’s presentation was followed by a retailer presentation by Jonathan Key of Brookshire Grocery Company, who discussed the significance of a Fresh Item Management (FIM) Coordinator in the overall FIM process, specifically during implementation.  His presentation created a lot of interaction among attendees, who were able to ask questions throughout.

After the lunch break, sessions started again with a second retailer presentation from Lon Herget of Associated Food Stores discussing how they are using InterScale, NutriGen, Shrink Management and Markdown Management as a wholesaler.  Lon outlined how Associated Food Stores is working towards having their banners use standardized recipe formats to streamline their NutriGen use. 

Lon’s presentation was followed by a presentation from ADC’s Implementation Services Manager, John Hall, who presented on what retailers can expect throughout the implementation experience, including setting expectations for implementation and tips on how to streamline the process.  John also went over the savings or increased profits that can be expected from each module.

The day ended with the favored roundtable discussions where three ADC users led discussions on their FIM / implementation experience.  Each of the chairs spoke on a different software system/module, including InterScale, Production Planning and Shrink Management. 

We’re looking forward to a poolside dinner tonight and another great day tomorrow that kicks off with our keynote speaker, Harold Lloyd. 

Training Courses Offered at ADC's Office

ADC now offers training courses for all modules within InterStore.Net at our offices in Tampa, Florida.

The training courses are designed for FIM Project Managers, IT Directors, end users and others who are involved with implementing, operating and maintaining InterStore.Net. 

They provide a great opportunity for clients to receive training on the new software versions, to provide refresher training to existing users, as well as to train new users. 

Courses offered include structured introductions to the three systems within InterStore.Net suite: InterScale Scales Management, NutriGen Recipe Management and P-Cubed In-Store Food Production Planning, with detailed training on the operational and administrative functions within each software modules.  There are 29 courses and some classes do have prerequisites.

Ranging in length from one to four hours, courses can be scheduled in half or full day sessions, either at our office in Tampa or on-site at the retailers location, based on the number of people needing training. 

To review the course catalog, for pricing information, or to learn more about the training courses offered, please contact your sales representative or Jamie Dedel at +1.813.849.1818 ext. 221.

Are you Attending the Industry Event of the Year?

ADC is gearing up for our annual ReFresh 2011 Fresh Item Management (FIM) Conference and User Group.  We are now three weeks away from this year’s event, which is being held at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort from October 26^th-28^th, 2011. 

Attendees at ReFresh 2011 will spend two full days immersed in fresh item management discussions and networking opportunities.  The agenda features retailer presentations that explore FIM technology benefits and implementation experiences, software application updates to help client’s maximize their current/future FIM investments and engaging roundtable discussions to share information on fresh food applications and operating environments.

The keynote speaker for ReFresh 2011 is Harold Lloyd, who will be presenting on “Fresh Merchandising Magic.”  Harold will outline research from a customer traffic study, from which he has discovered merchandising strategies/tactics that can impact how customers move through grocery stores and what they buy.

Retailer attendees will also have the opportunity to travel to ADC’s headquarters in Tampa, Florida on Friday, October 28^th for a tour and training sessions.  The training sessions are designed to be interactive and attendees are encouraged to bring their FIM questions with them.

To learn more about ReFresh or to register, please visit, www.AppliedDataCorp.com/refresh/refresh2011.php.  You can also contact Jamie Dedel at jamiededel@ad-c.com or at 1.813.849.1818 ext. 221 for more information.

We hope to see you at the show!

Welcome to ADC's Fresh Features Blog!

To keep you informed of the latest news in Fresh Item Management (FIM), ADC is pleased to announce our official company blog.  Our blog will feature industry news updates, partner updates, software announcements, client highlights, ADC event updates and more.

We hope that our clients, partners and potential clients find this blog informative.  Look for more posts soon.

Please send any comments or contributions to: jamiededel@ad-c.com.