Palumbo Foods replaced outdated radios with Relay, enabling clear, reliable communication across loud, cold storage areas. The upgrade improved operational speed, reduced errors, and gave leadership the flexibility to stay connected while working remotely.
PALUMBO FOODS
Mushroom Distributor Speeds Up Operations with Relay
USE CASES
For Palumbo Foods, communication is the thing that keeps customer orders running smoothly and efficiently. Traditional walkie talkies, with their dead spots, range restrictions, and interference, were too unreliable for the mushroom distributor’s fast-paced operations. Switching to Relay not only removed these issues, but also allowed management to spend more time at home with their families.
Short Shelf Life Requires Quick, Reliable Communication
Palumbo Foods is a multi-generational, family-owned and operated mushroom grower, processor, seller, and distributor, located just outside of “Mushroom Capital of the World” Kennett Square, PA. Their customer-first mindset and competitive drive has quickly allowed them to become one of the fastest growing fresh mushroom distributors in the US. Palumbo Foods currently sells mushrooms nationwide to retail stores, produce distributors, and well-known fast food chains.
Mushrooms are an incredibly difficult type of produce to work with. From the unique indoor growing process to keeping them fresh during transportation due to their extremely short shelf life, being a successful mushroom distributor requires exceptional care and speed. That’s why Palumbo Foods is determined to make team communication as efficient as possible.
“Communication is key from start to finish. Whether it’s the amount of product that’s coming in, the amount of product that’s needed, or when a truck gets here, it’s a constantly moving industry. For us, communication is important because one little hiccup can mess up the whole process.”
– Kimiko Palumbo, Director of Sales at Palumbo Foods
Traditional Walkie Talkies Weren’t Suited for the Production Floor
Prior to Relay, Palumbo Foods tried everything to make communication more efficient, including three different types of walkie talkies. “Those had battery issues, signal issues, if you weren’t directly staring at the person 30 feet away it didn’t work,” shared Palumbo Foods’s Operations Manager, John Tonsil Jr. As the Operations Manager, he also saw how many times messages went unheard or unreceived from the various walkie talkie issues they were facing, including fast-dying devices and lack of connectivity.
The team at Palumbo Foods also tried text messages, WhatsApp, and emails. Unfortunately, with spotty cell service and people not always answering their phones, these didn’t provide the speed they needed to efficiently communicate last-minute order add-ons or transportation time adjustments.
Sending Several Hundreds Messages Per Day with Relay
The team at Palumbo Foods needed a solution that could thrive amongst the facility’s loud, industrial equipment, constant flow of messages, and even the cold, with storage rooms kept as low as 34 degrees.
When John discovered Relay being used by doctors and nurses in a hospital, he figured, “if doctors were using it for emergency situations, that it would work here.” He assumed the cost of a device with all of Relay’s capabilities was unobtainable. Yet, when he reached out he was pleasantly surprised to find Relay’s costs comparable to traditional walkie talkies. “The price was much lower than anyone anticipated, it was a no-brainer for us,” he shared.
That was over three years ago. Since then, there’s barely a minute that goes by that the team at Palumbo Foods isn’t communicating over their Relays. “With Relay, no matter where we are, the communication will happen with the Relay device”, shared John.
Long-Range Communication Means More Time at Home for CEO
Relay’s impact on Palumbo Food’s operations has been undeniable. Common walkie talkie issues like range, interference, and poor audio are all things of the past, allowing the team to get things done faster. Palumbo’s CEO, Shawn Palmubo shared, “There’s no interference, it literally sounds like we’re talking in person, like it’s so clear.” Relay has given them more assurance and flexibility, that they can pass along to their customers. They’re able to communicate things like mushroom add ons to an existing order instantly, getting product onto the right pallet within minutes. The team also shared that Relay’s durability has been impressive and its battery life has lasted as long as 2.5 days.
Most importantly of all, Relay’s nationwide connectivity has allowed Shawn Palumbo to spend more time at home with his family. He shared that, “Prior to Relay, I was onsite almost 7 days a week, now I can take the weekends, work from home and be able to answer their questions.” The person who’s seen the greatest impact of this is Shawn’s wife and Director of Sales, Kimiko Palumbo. She shared that Relay has transformed their family life, allowing Shawn to do more of what he loves on the weekends, including spending time with their son and coaching football. “He’s been able to be connected, but also disconnect.” She continued, “Having the communication through Relay, he’s been able to be home but also be here at the same time.”
“I wouldn’t be as happy at work without Relay”
– Shawn Palumbo, CEO at Palumbo Foods
- Over 75,000 square feet of refrigerated and production space
- Full-scale mushroom growing, processing, packing, and distribution under one roof
- Cold storage areas as low as 34°F
- Multi-department team managing harvesting, packing, logistics, and sales
INDUSTRY
OBJECTIVE
Modernize communication across Palumbo Foods’ high-volume mushroom distribution operations to eliminate inefficiencies from outdated walkie talkies, streamline logistics, and enable leadership to stay connected while offsite.
RESULT
