VistaTrac’s real-time inventory system was designed specifically with processing workers in mind, helping them easily focus on their core work of tracking, packaging, and labeling products without needing to complete data-heavy manual tasks like writing down weights, filling out production workbooks and receiving logbooks, and entering that information into a complicated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
Instead of other software companies operating in the same space, the Ashtabula, Ohio, U.S.A.-based firm’s plant floor software is not an ERP system in and of itself; rather, the software simply interfaces with the ERP system that a company uses at its office, automatically capturing data on the plant floor and sending it to the system already in use.
“It’s all about process improvement and saving time – not having to write down the weights you’re shipping out and not having to type those into an invoice,” VistaTrac Vice President Matt Schoneman told SeafoodSource at the 2026 Seafood Expo North America (SENA). “As far as the labeling goes, everyone needs a good, professional-looking label, so even if you just go with VistaTrac’s labeling system and nothing else, you can still have lot tracking and reporting and then grow into a full system if you choose.”
VistaTrac is a family-owned firm that has been around for nearly 40 years, originally working with a few companies in the meat industry to help them accurately label and track their products coming in and out of their processing facilities.
It has since grown to include customers in the seafood and produce industries, as well.
“The seafood industry is actually behind the meat industry a bit in how they view traceability. It’s very common in the meat industry that everyone has scannable barcodes, but in the seafood industry, it’s very uncommon. We’re starting to see that change, and every year, we’re seeing more and more seafood companies start to see the value in a system like ours,” Schoneman said.
Using VistaTrac’s system, processing workers can easily track shipments at each step along the journey at their facility, weigh the raw materials they receive in comparison with the weight of the finished product after processing, properly label and categorize each product, and more. That information allows companies to automate invoicing and bill by precise weights.
“That is especially a value if you sell by weight, which most seafood companies do,” Schoneman said.
It also creates a digital audit trail in case an issue such as a recall arises, and because it is not an ERP system, companies have more flexibility to change their ERP if they want. VistaTrac tech then adapts right along with that change, without the need to overhaul a plant floor.
“That could be a really good option for a small company that might work with [Intuit] Quickbooks, for example, to start but then switch ERPs as they grow. They can just keep what they have on the plant floor,” Schoneman said.
Additionally, though VistaTrac offers hardware solutions, its software can link up with just about any scale or label printer a facility is already using, so companies do not need to make major equipment investments to implement VistaTrac.
The coupling of traceability and automated inventory capabilities that VistaTrac provides is rare in the processing software space, according to Schoneman.
“There are a lot of software companies that might say they do traceability, but they don’t really have an inventory component. They’re just checking the traceability box,” he said. “And then on the flip side, there are companies that say they have an inventory system, but that involves a lot of manual tasks."
As it continues to grow, Schoneman said there is a lot of opportunity in the seafood industry, no matter the species, even as the number of firms offering some form of traceable solution grows oversaturated.
“That’s why we come to SENA every year. We are being patient with the industry. The market is a little bit flooded, and people don’t really know what it means to get traceability and why they want it, so we are just trying to be patient and work through that,” he said. “VistaTrac is built by our customers. When someone is interested in VistaTrac and handles species we haven’t dealt with before, we educate ourselves and then offer a solution. Listening to the demands of the industry has helped us build a product that is valuable to people.”
