Ensuring optimal quality through digitization

Sabert is a leading global manufacturer of innovative food packaging products and solutions for food distributors, restaurants and caterers, grocery stores, national food chains, and consumer entertaining.

When it comes to food packaging, quality control is essential. Sabert wanted to replace its legacy and Excel-based SPC systems with a fully integrated solution that would run on its existing SAP® Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence (SAP MII) platform.

“Our quality control process requires quality technicians and line operators to perform product specific quality checks multiple times per hour, per line, per plant. We had a variety of Excel-based and legacy SPC systems at the plants without a common database and disconnected from our ERP system. The frequency, magnitude, and manual process of quality checks required process improvement,”
explains Bob Busch, Director of IT Manufacturing Systems at Sabert.

Sabert reached out to four vendors for a proposal and was impressed by Fujitsu’s response: a simple, intuitive SPC platform. Fujitsu and Sabert then worked together to custom modify the Fujitsu SPC portal for data entry and analysis on the plant floor using the SAP MII platform.

Now, operators can quickly check production output and enter quality data into a standardized, consolidated database. Reports using both variable and attribute data can be automatically extracted in real-time at the touch of a button, which is so much easier and eliminates all paper systems entirely. In the event of any defective output, it can be identified and addressed with corrective actions.

“Fujitsu took its existing solution and modified it according to our own specifications so all inspection plans and measures could be quickly deployed on the plant floor by line for the product being produced,” continues Busch. “Now, SAP MII quality checks are coordinated for a product running on the product line. Users are navigated to the lines they are working on.”

By embarking on this journey of digital transformation, Sabert has reduced costs, increased the speed of quality checks, and introduced a new level of business analytics. All while ensuring product quality and industry compliance is never compromised. Moreover, the sheer velocity of the data enables it to react more quickly to conditions on the floor.

Furthermore, Fujitsu’s flexible pricing model, unlike other quality control systems, enables Sabert to extend the solution to many more operators and technicians. That means more quality control at every line. The platform has now been rolled out to all existing plants.

“Fujitsu’s custom SPC solution has been a home run for us – it is easy-to-use and can be quickly deployed on the plant floor with no user licensing restrictions. Our plant floor users are immediately more productive,” concludes Busch. “Now, our SPC process in the plant is centrally controlled yet locally executed. Our quality data is more accurate, timely, and actionable. Fujitsu has proven itself to be a dependable, long-term partner – responsive, knowledgeable, and efficient.”