Mowi ASA
Mowi ASA is one of the largest seafood companies in the world, and the world’s largest producer of Atlantic salmon. The company employs 12,200 people, and is represented in 25 countries around the world.
Problem to be solved
As a high-quality food processing factory, Mowi performs frequent inspections on many aspects of the processing procedure, such as portion weights and fish quality. These inspections generate reports which are filled out, by hand, on paper. These paper reports are then transcribed into a digital spreadsheet, which are then copied into a combined spreadsheet.
This process is time consuming, labour intensive and subject to human error. Additionally, these paper reports have to be stored for traceability and inspection purposes, resulting in large amounts of paper filling.
WiSAR Solution
Mowi collaborated with WiSAR Lab to develop a technical solution to the limitations of the inspection reporting system. Firstly, a rugged tablet was sourced, suitable for use on the floor of a fish processing factory, which can be high in humidity and salinity. In addition, a bespoke app was developed by WiSAR researchers for each tablet.
Two differing types of Mowi paper reports were chosen for the pilot and an app developed to replicate these as closely as possible.
The app included the functionally to create multiple differing reports upon request which could then be emailed to the office, in separate Excel spreadsheet formats. To reduce the potential for human error, the app minimises the use of text inputs, instead focusing heavily on buttons and selection boxes, which then collate the information needed to generate the differing reports.
Impact & Benefits
The technology solution adopted by WiSAR researchers, eradicates the need for large amounts of paper-based filling, allows for much faster reporting functionality and generates automatic transcription. This system is much less labour intensive, less time consuming and less prone to human error. Furthermore, the reports are also available in the office as soon as the inspection is complete, eradicating the delays experienced with the manual transcription process.
By replacing the paper-based filing system with digital copies of the reports, the need for physical storage is also eliminated. Archived reports can be located by Mowi employees much faster with digital reporting functionality.
