Coca-Cola Bottling Consolidated Has High Standards For Its Route

At the turn of the 20th century, Coca-Cola Consolidated founder J. B. Harrison introduced to consumers in North Carolina's Piedmont region the then-radical idea of drinking this widely beloved fountain drink from bottles. A desire to push the envelope with new innovations has continued for the country's second largest Coca-Cola bottler: Consolidated operates some of the world's most advanced bottling equipment, with some machines running at 2,000 cans a minute. Consolidated works closely with Coca-Cola in developing new drink products for its market. Last year, Beverage World named Coca-Cola Consolidated its "Bottler of the Year."

The drive to reap the most benefit from technology extends to the company's field operations. Consolidated is well-respected inside and outside the bottling community for its ability to efficiently and effectively harness mobile equipment and software. The bottler has evolved with the industry, from early on-truck devices to batch equipment and now to wide area enabled technology. Consolidated currently employs 6,000 and maintains 5,000 mobile assets across its field organization — a clear indication of the importance of mobile technology to its operations. Consolidated's operation includes route delivery operations and vending machine service and repair that takes its drivers across 11 states throughout the Southeast, with drivers toting mobile equipment into and out of countless retail operations and distribution centers, in all kind of conditions, to reach a consumer base of 18.6 million people. Its product line has burgeoned to nearly 450 SKUs.