With a reliable and capable business innovation partner like FUJIFILM Business Innovation Hong Kong, we are in a much better position to take advantage of data and information to realize its growth potential.
Ms. Marine Lai
General Manager
Delicious Chef King Catering Limited
For more than 20 years Delicious Chef King Catering Limited (DCK) has been providing catering meals for government departments, organizations, and schools. Producing nearly 30,000 meals per day, the company prides itself on production efficiency, food safety governance, and continuous innovation. Despite having a small and modest operation, DCK has also recently ventured into the pre-packaged gourmet business.
Aiming to be a competitive catering service provider, DCK is always looking for ways to improve its operations. As part of its expansion plan, the company acquired a location a few years ago and invested more than HK$15 million to refurbish its kitchen with state-of-the-art food manufacturing equipment. But DCK quickly understood its investment in hardware was not enough.
“The full potential of our investment in the equipment can only be realized with the complementary of process transformation and data visibility,” said Marine Lai, General Manager, Delicious Chef King Catering Limited (DCK).
To better utilize its kitchenware investment for more efficient production, Marine said DCK also introduced automation and re-engineered its manufacturing process. Along with these new processes is the capturing and management of data. She added data is the foundation for DCK’s expansion and production. “Only with data, the company can make a better forecast over the cost of ingredients, labor, and logistics. Without data, we can never bid for new businesses and achieve viable growth,” said Marine.
On the production side, to ensure meals are prepared with accuracy and food safety, the company is controlling the use of paper by installing digital monitors. But data capturing, storage, and visibility across the manufacturing process remain a challenge in DCK’s unique environment of a manufacturing kitchen.
Not only is the kitchen crowded with equipment for setting up IT hardware, but the hot and humid environment also required additional protection to ensure real-time data is captured between the kitchen and the office. As a result, DCK turned to its long-term partner FUJIFILM Business Innovation Hong Kong (FUJIFILM BI Hong Kong) for advice.
As an expert in Information Management, FUJIFILM BI Hong Kong extended its support for DCK from being one of its multifunction printer (MFP) providers into a business innovation and IT implementation partner.
Through consolidating DCK’s printers, FUJIFILM BI Hong Kong becomes the company’s sole MFP provider, offering a comprehensive view of its paper usage. DCK can enjoy better control of printer utilization as well as monitor its environmental impact to enhance sustainability and audit tracing.
In addition, FUJIFILM BI Hong Kong supports DCK with IT equipment consultancy service to design the network and IT infrastructure arrangement. The service includes providing rack coolers and heavy-duty industrial grade monitors catered for the kitchen environment. The cabling design and server arrangement are also critical to ensure updated data is captured and available across the kitchen and the office.
This extended relationship with FUJIFILM BI Hong Kong from being a MFP provider to an IT infrastructure partner yields a great return for DCK. The value continues to reveal even after the project.
Through empowering information management within DCK, the company is able to accurately procure the right amount of ingredients to reduce food wastage and improve food safety. The enhanced data and information management also complement the company’s re-engineered production process, empowering efficient operations.
Marine said the kitchen can speed up its production time, allowing DCK to start its daily production schedule from 1am to 3am. “The difference between cutting two hours of production time is day-and-night. By starting our production at a more decent hour, it is much easier for us to hire and retain talents, which is critical to ensure our food quality and safety standard remain high.”
Marine added with a reliable and capable business innovation partner like FUJIFILM BI Hong Kong, DCK is in a much better position to take advantage of data and information to realize its growth potential.