Constant Operation at Ralph's Food Warehouse
Many of us are on a constant search for new technology. At its best, technology can make our lives easier and, when properly used, it can even save us money. People are willing to endure the longest lines and the busiest press conferences for a glimpse of the latest iSomething. However, for residents of Puerto Rico, a trip to the local supermarket is all it takes to be surrounded by tech goodies.
Ralph’s Food Warehouse started in the clothing industry. The founder, Rafael Soto, decided to expand his business in 1993 by purchasing surrounding real estate—which happened to include a supermarket. The plan was to repurpose the space into a rental property, but Rafael was told if he wanted to buy the supermarket, he would get everything in it from boxes of Twinkies® to Carlos, the cashier. Since that first supermarket 19 years ago, Ralph’s has expanded to 12 stores sprinkled throughout the 3500-square-mile island.
In 2010, José Soto, vice president of Ralph’s and son of its founder, saw a need for store-wide technology upgrades. Hoping an influx of cutting-edge equipment would improve his already solid bottom line, José contacted José Vazquez at Multi-Business Systems (MBS). Vazquez, who specialized in point-of-sale equipment, was thinking about entering the scale industry. “We already had MBS’ system for the cashiers,” José Soto explains. “I told José Vazquez we need to get rid of our current scales.The main reason was service.”
José Vazquez agreed. “I already had technicians at the store for our point-of-sale system, but any time there was a problem with a scale, we didn’t receive very good customer service. While we were waiting for the company’s service technician, I realized my guy was already working at the store on something else. If he could service the scales while he was there, it would kill two birds with one stone.” So, the two Josés went to the annual FMI food retail exhibition.
They were inundated with information from multiple manufacturers providing similar solutions to their problem. Although the Josés went to the show to see a competitor’s equipment, the Rice Lake/Ishida® booth caught their eye. Ishida, the retail industry partner of Rice Lake Weighing Systems, delivers quality retail products to U.S. markets. “The quality of the scale is really important, and Ishida’s quality provided a good option for my customers,” José Vazquez explained. “I could service the scales myself and it was easy to get any parts I needed from Rice Lake.” From the deli to the produce section, the meat room to the receiving department, Ishida scales steadily began replacing the aging scales in Ralph’s Food Warehouse.
