Demand was climbing, and the producer answered it with capital. A new $150 million processing plant was built to expand capacity, and management set a clear bar for success: the plant had to package 36,000 pounds of product per hour to meet the return on investment that justified the spend.
A global dairy producer turned a stalled $150 million plant into a 41% lift in packaging pounds per labor hour and locked in 48,000 pounds per hour, a third above the capacity its ROI required.
Global Dairy Producer
Results at a Glance
41%
Packaging Productivity
46%
Rework Reduction
48,000 lbs/hr
Packaging Capacity
Executive Brief
A global dairy producer had committed $150 million to a new processing plant to meet surging demand, and management needed it to package 36,000 pounds of product per hour to hit its return on investment. Instead, the startup ran without defined processes, without start-up and shutdown checklists, and with many operators and line personnel who lacked proper job-function training, while cage overloading, a brine flume design flaw, and mismatched conveyor speeds held output below target. Over an 8-week Productivity Sprint, POWERS built a skills-flex and leadership-training plan, installed checklists for start-up, shutdown, and unplanned downtime, corrected cage loading to the equipment design, and worked with engineering to fix the flume and conveyor speeds. Packaging productivity rose 41%, rework fell 46%, and the plant reached and sustained 48,000 pounds per hour, well above the 36,000 it needed for ROI.
The Situation
A brand-new $150 million plant was built to meet surging demand, but it came online without the processes, checklists, or trained operators needed to run at the capacity its ROI depended on.
Demand was climbing, and the producer answered it with capital. A new $150 million processing plant was built to expand capacity, and management set a clear bar for success: the plant had to package 36,000 pounds of product per hour to meet the return on investment that justified the spend.
The capital was in place, but the operating system to run it was not. The startup lacked defined processes to optimize performance and efficiency, there were no checklists for personnel at critical points like start-up and shutdown, and many operators and line personnel had never received proper job-function training. On the floor, cages were overloaded with 40-plus blocks against a system designed for 30, which drove rework and unloading delays and raised labor costs, while a design flaw in the brine flume divider and mismatched brine exit conveyor speeds between packaging lines 1 and 2 kept the lines from running to spec. Speeds had never been set to meet the ROI goals.
Leadership did not need a one-time push to hit a good day. It needed a system, defined processes, trained people, and corrected equipment, that could lift the new plant to its design capacity and hold it there, along with a roadmap to the ROI performance the investment required.
The Diagnosis
Six structural gaps producing the same outcome from six directions.
No defined operating processes
The new plant ran without defined processes to optimize performance and efficiency, so output depended on improvisation rather than a repeatable standard.
No checklists at critical moments
Personnel had no checklists at critical points like start-up and shutdown, leaving the most error-prone transitions without a guide and the line exposed to avoidable losses.
Operators without job-function training
Many operators and line personnel had never received proper job-function training, so even sound processes could not be executed consistently across the floor.
Cages overloaded against the design
Loaders were instructed to load cages with 40-plus blocks while the system was designed for 30, creating a disparity between unloading and packaging that drove rework, unloading delays, and higher labor cost.
A flawed brine flume divider
A design flaw in the brine flume divider kept employees from directing product correctly, constraining flow through the line.
Mismatched, unset conveyor speeds
Brine exit conveyor speeds were mismatched between packaging lines 1 and 2 and were never set to meet the ROI goals, so the lines could not run to their intended capacity.
What POWERS Did
Unblocked a new plant and drove it to its design capacity and ROI.
POWERS treated the startup as a system to be built, not a single bottleneck to be cleared, and ran the people and equipment fixes in parallel. From a leadership-training perspective, POWERS created a skills-flex and training plan and built job-function training for operators and line personnel, then installed checklists and training for start-up, shutdown, and unplanned downtime so the plant’s most error-prone moments were governed by a standard rather than by improvisation.
On the floor, POWERS corrected the loading practice that was generating waste, training loaders to place 30 blocks per level to meet the equipment design specifications instead of overloading to 40-plus, which resolved the disparity between cage unloading and cheese packaging. Working with engineering, POWERS redesigned the brine flume divider so employees could direct product correctly, and corrected the mismatched brine exit conveyor speeds on packaging lines 1 and 2.
With the processes, the people, and the equipment aligned, POWERS set and checked line speeds to lock in 20 blocks per minute per line, a total of 48,000 pounds per hour, and confirmed the capacity was sustained. The cumulative effect was a new plant running well above the 36,000 pounds per hour its ROI required, with a clear roadmap to the ROI performance goals delivered inside the 8-week Sprint.
The Full Result
Four results that took a stalled new plant past its ROI capacity.
41%
Packaging Productivity
Packaging pounds per labor hour rose as skills and behavior training, checklists, and corrected processes replaced an unmanaged new-plant startup.
46%
Rework Reduction
Rework dropped once loaders placed 30 blocks per cage to the equipment design instead of overloading to 40-plus blocks.
48,000 lbs/hr
Packaging Capacity
Sustained packaging reached 20 blocks per minute on each of two lines, about a third above the 36,000 pounds per hour the plant needed to hit its ROI target.
8 Weeks
Time to ROI Roadmap
The performance boost and the roadmap to the plant's ROI goals were delivered inside a single focused Sprint.
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A global dairy producer turned a stalled $150 million plant into a 41% lift in packaging pounds per labor hour and locked in 48,000 pounds per hour, a third above the capacity its ROI required.
Global Dairy Producer
Executive Brief
A global dairy producer had committed $150 million to a new processing plant to meet surging demand, and management needed it to package 36,000 pounds of product per hour to hit its return on investment. Instead, the startup ran without defined processes, without start-up and shutdown checklists, and with many operators and line personnel who lacked proper job-function training, while cage overloading, a brine flume design flaw, and mismatched conveyor speeds held output below target. Over an 8-week Productivity Sprint, POWERS built a skills-flex and leadership-training plan, installed checklists for start-up, shutdown, and unplanned downtime, corrected cage loading to the equipment design, and worked with engineering to fix the flume and conveyor speeds. Packaging productivity rose 41%, rework fell 46%, and the plant reached and sustained 48,000 pounds per hour, well above the 36,000 it needed for ROI.
Results at a Glance
41%
Packaging Productivity
46%
Rework Reduction
48,000 lbs/hr
Packaging Capacity
The Situation
A brand-new $150 million plant was built to meet surging demand, but it came online without the processes, checklists, or trained operators needed to run at the capacity its ROI depended on.
The capital was in place, but the operating system to run it was not. The startup lacked defined processes to optimize performance and efficiency, there were no checklists for personnel at critical points like start-up and shutdown, and many operators and line personnel had never received proper job-function training. On the floor, cages were overloaded with 40-plus blocks against a system designed for 30, which drove rework and unloading delays and raised labor costs, while a design flaw in the brine flume divider and mismatched brine exit conveyor speeds between packaging lines 1 and 2 kept the lines from running to spec. Speeds had never been set to meet the ROI goals.
Leadership did not need a one-time push to hit a good day. It needed a system, defined processes, trained people, and corrected equipment, that could lift the new plant to its design capacity and hold it there, along with a roadmap to the ROI performance the investment required.
The Diagnosis
Six structural gaps producing the same outcome from six directions.
No defined operating processes
The new plant ran without defined processes to optimize performance and efficiency, so output depended on improvisation rather than a repeatable standard.
No checklists at critical moments
Personnel had no checklists at critical points like start-up and shutdown, leaving the most error-prone transitions without a guide and the line exposed to avoidable losses.
Operators without job-function training
Many operators and line personnel had never received proper job-function training, so even sound processes could not be executed consistently across the floor.
Cages overloaded against the design
Loaders were instructed to load cages with 40-plus blocks while the system was designed for 30, creating a disparity between unloading and packaging that drove rework, unloading delays, and higher labor cost.
A flawed brine flume divider
A design flaw in the brine flume divider kept employees from directing product correctly, constraining flow through the line.
Mismatched, unset conveyor speeds
Brine exit conveyor speeds were mismatched between packaging lines 1 and 2 and were never set to meet the ROI goals, so the lines could not run to their intended capacity.
What POWERS Did
Unblocked a new plant and drove it to its design capacity and ROI.
POWERS treated the startup as a system to be built, not a single bottleneck to be cleared, and ran the people and equipment fixes in parallel. From a leadership-training perspective, POWERS created a skills-flex and training plan and built job-function training for operators and line personnel, then installed checklists and training for start-up, shutdown, and unplanned downtime so the plant’s most error-prone moments were governed by a standard rather than by improvisation.
On the floor, POWERS corrected the loading practice that was generating waste, training loaders to place 30 blocks per level to meet the equipment design specifications instead of overloading to 40-plus, which resolved the disparity between cage unloading and cheese packaging. Working with engineering, POWERS redesigned the brine flume divider so employees could direct product correctly, and corrected the mismatched brine exit conveyor speeds on packaging lines 1 and 2.
With the processes, the people, and the equipment aligned, POWERS set and checked line speeds to lock in 20 blocks per minute per line, a total of 48,000 pounds per hour, and confirmed the capacity was sustained. The cumulative effect was a new plant running well above the 36,000 pounds per hour its ROI required, with a clear roadmap to the ROI performance goals delivered inside the 8-week Sprint.
The Full Result
41%
Packaging Productivity
Packaging pounds per labor hour rose as skills and behavior training, checklists, and corrected processes replaced an unmanaged new-plant startup.
46%
Rework Reduction
Rework dropped once loaders placed 30 blocks per cage to the equipment design instead of overloading to 40-plus blocks.
48,000 lbs/hr
Packaging Capacity
Sustained packaging reached 20 blocks per minute on each of two lines, about a third above the 36,000 pounds per hour the plant needed to hit its ROI target.
8 Weeks
Time to ROI Roadmap
The performance boost and the roadmap to the plant's ROI goals were delivered inside a single focused Sprint.
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