West Bake is a leading Irish manufacturer of branded and non-branded sweet confectionery. Based in Glenamaddy in the West of Ireland, the company produces millions of delicious cakes and treats every year.
Speaker Information
- Manual, paper-based processes
- Siloed data and fragmented communication
- Difficulty maintaining quality and traceability
- Existing infrastructure struggled to support scaling business
- Improved production planning and inventory management with data-driven decision making
- Digitized quality records and serialized barcodes enabled instant traceability
- Streamlined employee communication and collaboration
- Established a strong digital core to support expanding operations
Challenge
West-Bake, based in Glenamaddy, County Galway, Ireland, is a leading bakery producing muffins, cookies, and cakes for major retailers across the UK and Ireland. With rapid growth – from 20 employees in 2007 to 150 today, and a turnover reaching €35 million – the company faced mounting operational complexity. Data silos, manual paper-based processes, and fragmented communication channels limited visibility, slowed decision-making, and made it difficult to maintain quality and traceability at scale.
West-Bake’s Managing Director Peadar Shanks described the challenge: “We had so many different data silos. Information was there, but it wasn’t collaborative. Real-time information is important to allow us to make strategic decisions to grow our business fast.”
IT Manager PJ Shanks added: “We operated well, but reached our limitations. There was too much paper – sales orders, delivery dockets, everything was manual. We needed a way to store and share data meaningfully across the business.”
As West-Bake prepared for ambitious expansion into Europe and the Middle East, the need for a scalable, integrated digital solution became urgent.
Solution
West-Bake partnered with Rockwell Automation and Cumulus Consulting to implement the Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform – a tightly integrated solution combining Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Quality Management System (QMS), and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) components.
The implementation was guided by a consultative approach: Rockwell’s team worked closely with West-Bake to understand their unique processes and challenges, ensuring buy-in from directors, management, and shop-floor operators. “It’s about making your job easier, more efficient, and growing the business,” said Peadar Shanks.
Key features of the solution included:
- Real-time visibility – providing insights into production, inventory, and quality data
- Digitization of manual processes – replacing paper and Excel sheets with a unified platform
- Enhanced traceability – serialized barcodes and batch management for instant product tracking
- Scalability – supporting West-Bake’s vision to triple in size over the next decade
- Empowerment of employees – training and intuitive dashboards enabled staff to make data-driven decisions
PJ Shanks noted, “With Plex, we get insight straight away into what we’re producing. Are we running ahead of schedule? Are we running behind? Everybody can see it. It flags up issues instantly, allowing us to respond quickly.”
Results
The transformation delivered measurable improvements across West-Bake’s operations:
- Efficiency & Agility: Real-time data enabled faster, more informed decision-making. Production planning improved, and inventory management became leaner, reducing excess stock and smoothing supply chain fluctuations.
- Quality & Traceability: Digitized quality records and serialized barcodes provided instant traceability, supporting compliance and building customer trust. “If we ever got a product recall, within an instant you can press a button and get all your traceability records,” said Peadar Shanks.
- Employee Empowerment: The workforce embraced the new system, with improved communication and collaboration. “Everyone is on the same journey together, so the results are more accurate and efficient,” said Peadar Shanks.
- Scalability for Growth: The Plex platform established a strong, scalable foundation for West-Bake’s expansion into new markets. “We have capacity within the building to double our throughput. With Plex, we’ll know straight away how to address new customers and opportunities,” said Peadar Shanks.
As PJ Shanks summarized, “By digitalizing our inventory and quality records, we anticipate significant time, effort, and cost savings. The ‘train the trainer’ approach means we can be self-sufficient as we grow.”
Published April 7, 2026
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