Arena Products Finds Banana Tracking Solution Extremely A-peeling

About Arena Products

New York-based Arena Products specializes in providing sustainable packaging and transportation solutions for the food & beverage and personal care markets – and relies on TrackAbout’s asset management software to optimize the use and management of its returnable containers.

With its headquarters in Rochester and four wash centers across the nation, the family-owned business has been delivering products to customers for more than four decades. Arena Products supplies reusable plastic containers for three different product lines: 80-gallon cheese crates; 3,000lb industrial-sized totes or liquid boxes used for shipping dairy, chocolate, and creams; as well as innovative Reusable Produce Containers (RPCs) for transporting bananas.

The Problem

“We’d been tracking our containers for many years, but used a couple of different systems before TrackAbout,” says Tom Bell, Asset Manager at Arena Products. “But we’d started to outgrow them, and as new technology became available, we found we could do everything more efficiently and with better results.”

“The previous software was pretty challenging,” he continues. “A remote depot would email us files of the assets it had just scanned, and then my staff here at our headquarters would have to upload those records.”

Not only was it a time-consuming process that invited errors to creep into the system, but it took people away from working on other tasks, he says. “Mistakes were made, and files were missed,” states Bell. “We were spending maybe 5-10 hours every week to do that process. With TrackAbout it’s now pretty much instantaneous because it's all cloud-based and easy to use.”

The Solution

Initially, Arena Products used TrackAbout to monitor only its liquid boxes, but it later expanded the system to cover its banana-carrying RPCs when that business launched in 2023. Partial implementation of the software started in 2022 with a pilot program, he says.

“We had one particular customer who owned their own fleet, but paid us to wash and repair for them. We started using TrackAbout with them in mid-2022, and it went well, so we spent the rest of the year planning full implementation, ready to go-live at the beginning of 2023.”

Arena Products currently owns a large fleet of RPCs and, although smaller in size and lower cost than its cheese crates and liquid boxes, the large volumes shipped each year make the fleet a prized asset that needs to be protected. TrackAbout has become an essential tool for Arena Products that monitors the precise journey of each RPC and helps to manage deliveries, boost efficiency, and improve customer satisfaction.

“TrackAbout is really important for the protection of our fixed assets – our large fleet of boxes that are going in and out of other locations that we don't manage,” says Bell. “From our perspective, the main thing is that we don't want to lose them, and they should be used as efficiently as possible, improving cycle times. Although we can't necessarily control damage, we can measure, monitor, and report it.”

Bananas need to be packed and stored more carefully than other fruits and vegetables, due to their ripening and the delicate handling that's required, says Bell. Arena Products’ RPCs offer optimal protection, ensuring the product arrives at the customer in the best possible condition.

These robust banana boxes are sent to a grower, who packs them and then ships them to their customers, the retailer. After the RPC is emptied, they are collapsed and returned to be washed and put back into circulation. Each of the containers is engineered in such a way that they're collapsible and can be folded down to less than two inches in height. That means easy stacking, more efficient returns, and convenient storage after cleaning. A special side door also provides access for product testing.

The Results

Not only has the business benefited from significant time savings with the data upload, but TrackAbout has helped Arena Products keep a closer eye on the quality of the containers themselves – identifying where and when issues arise, and adapting or charging accordingly.

“In terms of the reporting and having better, more accurate data, we are now able to identify possible reasons our containers are being damaged or getting lost,” says Bell, pointing specifically to TrackAbout’s Photo Capture feature, which provides a quick and easy way to store images and document any issues, avoiding potential disputes.

“We scan outbound loads, returns, washing, and damage,” he says, “but switching to TrackAbout has also enabled us to ask our customers to send us information themselves to help with return logistics.”

“They can download the TrackAbout app onto one of their devices and tell us how many totes they’ve sent and where they have sent them to. Our team now knows when the customer's customer has enough boxes to make a return worthwhile – either a full truckload or enough to make the transportation financially viable on a per-unit basis. This makes everything far more efficient.”

Bell has been particularly impressed by the amount of data that’s being captured by the system, which provides invaluable insight about its customers, the assets, and deliveries. This data can also easily be extracted and manipulated as the business requires.

“The open data concept is huge for us,” says Bell. “Now that we have access to all that information, we can download and export it to Excel and run our own business intelligence reporting on inventories, cycle times, damage, and customer performance. All those things can be done very easily. It's a big plus for us.”

From the very outset, the support offered by TrackAbout has been exemplary, continues Bell. The implementation process was simple, with TrackAbout offering advice and guidance throughout.

“We did have some requirements and custom forms to implement, but the team was fantastic; they've always been very quick to help us out, as needed,” he says. “Even now, we still have weekly or bi-weekly calls, where our point of contact is ready to help with questions or help with any changes we need.”

For others considering asset management software for the food and beverage sector, Bell thinks TrackAbout is the right choice. “I’d definitely recommend it – first and foremost, because of TrackAbout’s team, their willingness to work with us, and the support we've had. They’re really responsive whenever we’ve needed help,” he says. “The system itself is flexible, easy to use, and really customer-friendly.”

Find out how our software solution can help you achieve greater container visibility and utilization. Schedule a free consultation with TrackAbout today.