Business Radios Key Part of Food Manufacturer's Operation

A vegan food manufacturer is relying on Midland's business radios to improve efficiency across the entire operation.

Midland spoke to Jonathan Hines of Atlantic Natural Foods about the impact of business radios. 

About Atlantic Natural Foods

Atlantic Natural Foods is one of the largest manufacturers of shelf-stable plant based proteins in the United States. According to Hines, it's also the last that is privately owned. 

While the parent company is Atlantic Natural Foods, the brand is Loma Linda. It was developed in the late 1800's by Harvey Kellogg for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 

“They have dietary restrictions based off religious beliefs that they have to eat a plant based diet," Hines said. 

The brand makes 50 items in total. Each is soy and gluten based. Loma Linda has the number 1 selling hot dog on Amazon, Big Franks. It's 6 vegan hot dogs in a can. 

About the operation 

The operation is based in Nashville, North Carolina.

Hines was brought in about 10 years ago as his dad runs the company. 

“Our daily operations- There’s people working almost around the clock. We do run one shift as far as production goes. We have people from sanitation all the way to quality assurance coming in at midnight to make sure that is all taken care of.”

Typically, there are 85 employees working at the same time and they run 4, 10-hour days with production. 

Using business radios for efficiency

Between each part of the operation, it's crucial communication is at the forefront.

“Communication is absolutely key. When you look at all the moving parts of what we are doing, at any given time, something can go wrong in the kitchen, immediately the supervisor has to contact maintenance, and it has to be someone that’s a subject matter expert on that machine," Hines said. 

Atlantic Natural Foods began using business radios about 10 years ago. About 3 years ago, they started using Midland's MB400 BizTalk® Business Band Two-Way Radio. - MB400.  HInes said instant, push-to-talk communication keeps things moving smoothly. 

“It’s instant, but everyone in the operation knows what’s going on at the same time. It’s a wide open line of communication.”

With about 85 people working at the same time, management and supervisors can keep track of their employees and respond to issues in a timely manner. 

“It allows us to know who is moving where and where people need to be. With mechanics, we have issues daily and if that’s not resolved immediately, it creates downtime. Downtime is the biggest battle in manufacturing.”

Hines said the durability of the MB400 business radio's heavy-duty design makes a difference for an operation like theirs. 

“They’ve held up very well and we’re in harsh environments. Where we’re cooking these cans is called the retort area- 25-foot-talll pressure cookers. There’s a lot of heat. There’s a lot of steam. There’s a lot of different environmental changes.”

Beyond that, the MB400 business radio is easy to use. 

“I just really like the ease of use. There’s 2 dials on it and I feel like anyone can operate it. You’ve got the banks of chargers all over the place so you always know where you’re at," he said. 

Hines said he would recommend Midland's business radios to other manufacturers, saying he has never experience and issue with the radios.