Meridian Awards 2010

Coles’ Mussel Farms was in need of a system that would help manage their 2000+ mussel lines, tens of thousands of socks, and ten million pounds of mussels annually. 

Previously, this information was collected using a note pad and pencil and periodically entered into a spreadsheet.  Management had no way of knowing what was happening in the water and captains on the water had no way of knowing what work was being performed by other crews. 

In this business, forgetting to harvest a single line could cost up to $8,000 or being late to add buoys to a line could reduce the yield by up to 30 percent.  Having tools to allow management to monitor and manage the inventory has an almost immediate return on investment.  The rough seas the crews often work in meant the solution must be easy to use in those conditions.

Baseline Business Geographics Inc., a Pitney Bowes Business Insights partner, was able to assist us in reaching a viable and unique solution.  Using a GPS-enabled PDA equipped with GBM Mobile software, we are now able to collect information in the field and send this data back to the office via a wireless network where the data can be quickly accessed through MapInfo Professional and GBM Pro.  Maps and attribute tables were created and a number of queries developed to track the various stages of production and current status of each mussel line.  Tasks can now be assigned to the right crew at the right time which allows for the traceability of the product and improved yields and productivity.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency implemented strict food traceability measures to ensure all foods on grocery shelves can be traced back to where they were produced.  This solution allows us to easily meet or exceed those food safety requirements.

We now have the ability to track the productivity of every boat on the water and work with crews to improve processes.  Coles’ Mussel Farms are quite possibly the only mussel farm in the world to have employed this level of technology.