Nestlé Wagner digitises frozen pizza production

Nestlé Wagner GmbH is one of the largest manufacturers of frozen pizzas in Europe, producing around 350 million frozen food products annually. The company chose the Getac A140 fully rugged tablet to digitise workflows, increase productivity and efficiency, and allow greater flexibility in day-to-day operations at its headquarters in Nonnweiler, Germany.

The decision to use the technology was prompted by its quality assurance and the ability to roll it out quickly to employees at the site, where it will complement existing laptops and special industrial computers already in use.

“The Getac A140 is extremely robust and reliable due to its outstanding build quality,” said Christian Joseph, Team Leader Operational Excellence at Nestlé Wagner. “Its rugged design and impressive performance make it ideally suited to everyday use on the production floor.”

In food manufacturing, it’s critical that no contaminants enter the food at any point. The deployment of the Getac A140 means that if a tablet is accidentally dropped, it won’t break apart, ensuring production quality is maintained.

The tablet is also user-friendly, and the 14″ screen clearly displays key software applications. For example, all standard SAP information can be displayed on-screen and transactions can be carried out quickly using the A140’s stylus. Its high degree of tolerance to temperature fluctuations means it can be used in a variety of different temperature zones.

Rowina Lee, Getac Technology Corporation’s Vice President of Global Sales & Business Development Centre, said the A140 is the company’s largest and most powerful tablet, and offers a high level of safety and reliability.

With the Getac A140, Nestlé Wagner can quickly and easily access information and gather data directly on-site, which Joseph explained updated the company’s predominantly paper-based system.

“For example, each change to the documentation of the numerous standards which food production requires had to be printed out and specially filed in a folder,” he said. “With the new digital workflows, employees on the production line can easily access and make changes to the documents directly on the tablet if required.”

The integrated cameras can help Nestlé Wagner employees take photographs or record videos directly on-site, allowing them to document any potential difficulties occurring on the production line in real time and resolve them quickly.

Referring to the ability to digitise processes on-site where events occur, Joseph said, “This way we can ensure continuous compliance to the latest quality standards. New opportunities have opened up for our employees to extend their level of competence and media usage, which is a key factor for us in developing the digital factory of the future.”