The Problem

Hazardous agricultural chemicals demand special care and treatment for many reasons, not the least of which are federal and state HazMat regulations. When Bayer’s agricultural division decided to track individual containers more effectively, it also decided to find a way to decrease expenditures and further ensure regulatory compliance. The solution involved enhancing an existing ADC system with a new client/server application and creating a multi-trip container tracking program.

Bayer’s Kansas City, MO, manufacturing plant produces crop protection products and specialty chemicals for controlling weeds, insects and diseases. Product distribution fits two categories: returnable and non- returnable containers. In turn, each of these categories can be broken down by size and other characteristics.

Accurately, tracking each container- both new and returned- is critical for several reasons. First, customers place a deposit on each container. They don’t want to pay for damage caused by someone else. Second, to increase the life cycle of each container, it is always refilled with the same product, so when a container is returned, the company has to know for certain what it held before. Lastly, government regulations have to be met.

Bayer was already using bar code scanning to track containers, but the use of that data was limited by a legacy system that maintained scanned information locally. Employees couldn’t easily review the data or quickly adapt the system to changing needs. These were seen as obstacles to building customer satisfaction.