Pet Food Company Implements Weavix Radio System for Manufacturing Communication

WICHITA, Kan. — Weavix, the maker of the Walt Smart Radio System, announced that Stella & Chewy's, a raw pet food manufacturer, has deployed Walt Smart radios across all Oak Creek, Wisc., manufacturing facilities for three plants, delivering roughly 6 million total messages over the past year.

“The Walt Radio System by Weavix has been a game-changer for our business,” said Michael Carter, senior vice president of operations at Stella & Chewy’s. “It’s wild to see how the adoption and utilization continue to exceed our expectations over time, even a year after we deployed. Our people-first initiatives, including enabling Walt Smart Radios across our facilities, have improved food and worker safety, employee satisfaction and team camaraderie. The innovative solution has been a critical piece to our digital transformation and connected worker strategies.

“This was less about replacing our radio but more of a leveling up of our communications overall for everybody. This is especially impressive since nearly half of all messages received were translated from English to Spanish or vice versa. In fact, 12 other languages were transcribed and translated in real-time by the incredible Walt AI translation engine for our employees at just one facility.”

Weavix’s Walt Smart Radio is built for environments like manufacturing or food processing facilities to improve workplace communication and safety. Historically, most facilities at Stella & Chewy’s used a few supplied walkie-talkies or two-way radios for select staff.

“Weavix’s business model works well for us, allowing the platform to be accessed across every plant and every employee on a site to close many communication gaps and language barriers,” said Carter.

The Walt Smart Radio System includes push-to-talk (PTT) functionality and picture and video messaging capabilities for improved communication via its Walt device or companion app. Its AI-powered real-time language translation helps break down language barriers and allows people to communicate with one another.

Giving employees the ability to communicate freely to colleagues and managers in their native language improved the company’s operational efficiency, accelerated response times when issues arose and strengthened the team’s sense of connection to their team to the greater organization, according to Carter.

“Before we introduced the Walt Smart Radios to our facility, most of our employees didn’t have a way to communicate with each other because of language barriers or not having a smart radio,” he said. “One aspect of using the radios that wasn’t appreciated until we deployed them was their ability to take a diverse employee base and to help them feel included and feel like they belong here. Walt Smart Radio is a game-changer for Stella & Chewy’s.”

Walt by Weavix includes a mass emergency alert system and man-down safety features that allow workers to be informed and aware. The alert system can be customized to fit a situation or target specific workers. The high-indication display and loud alerts make these easily noticeable for workers to act, said Weavix. This capability ensures that employees have reliable communication tools when seconds count to maintain safety and coordination, the company said.

"At Weavix, we believe in the power of technology and in giving every worker a voice," said Kevin Turpin, founder and CEO of Weavix. "By equipping each employee with a Walt smart radio, thousands of safety-focused competitive companies like Stella & Chewy’s can improve communication and create a more inclusive workplace where every team member has direct access to one another enabled by tools they need to succeed."