As a full-service partner serving the healthcare, OTC, cosmetics, animal health, and wound care markets, this manufacturer was never short on capability or quality. What it lacked was stability. High turnover in operations and maintenance leadership meant several managers rotated through the same roles in just a few years, and each transition reset whatever progress the last had started. The result was a company caught in a cycle of operational instability despite genuine technical expertise.
A medical and personal care contract manufacturer cut labor cost from 10% to 7% of budget, a 30% relative reduction, by replacing years of revolving-door instability with standards, planned maintenance, and frontline leadership that actually held.
Medical and Personal Care Contract Manufacturer
Results at a Glance
30%
Labor Cost Reduction
50%
Startup Performance Improvement
29
Positions Optimized
Executive Brief
This medical and personal care contract manufacturer had the technical capability and quality reputation, but high leadership turnover in operations and maintenance kept it in a cycle of operational instability, with no reliable way to measure schedule adherence, inaccurate production standards, a maintenance department stuck in firefighting mode, and frontline supervisors who spent only a fraction of their time leading. Over a 24-week engagement, POWERS installed a structured Management Operating System: a piloted preventive maintenance program with planned mechanic work and meaningful KPIs, validated run-rate standards that improved schedule predictability for procurement, frontline leadership workshops, standardized startup routines, and real-time visibility through the Vorne production system. Labor cost fell from 10% to 7% of budget, a 30% relative reduction, startup performance climbed from 60% to 90%, roughly 29 direct-labor positions were optimized through improved efficiency, and the plant posted three consecutive months of record financial improvement following project completion.
The Situation
A manufacturer with real technical depth and a strong quality reputation, undone by leadership turnover that kept resetting the operation before any system could take hold.
As a full-service partner serving the healthcare, OTC, cosmetics, animal health, and wound care markets, this manufacturer was never short on capability or quality. What it lacked was stability. High turnover in operations and maintenance leadership meant several managers rotated through the same roles in just a few years, and each transition reset whatever progress the last had started. The result was a company caught in a cycle of operational instability despite genuine technical expertise.
Underneath the turnover sat a deeper structural problem: the absence of a systematic approach. There was no reliable measurement of whether production was running ahead of or behind schedule, and inaccurate production standards drove both over- and under-production. Unreliable run rates rippled outward into supply-chain disruptions and raw-material planning. On the floor, supervisors spent only 6% of their time actively managing teams, nearly 60% of meetings were ineffective, and weak shift handoffs left equipment idle during transitions while startup performance lagged at 60%.
Maintenance compounded the problem, operating reactively with no preventive program and no KPIs, mechanics idle 30% of the time, and the department in constant firefighting mode. Production personnel were underutilized, many running below 50% productivity for large parts of the shift, and equipment issues were normalized by adding labor rather than fixing root causes. Leadership did not need a one-time fix for any single symptom. It needed a system that could outlast the next leadership change and hold performance steady across every shift.
The Diagnosis
Six structural gaps producing the same outcome from six directions.
Revolving-door leadership
High turnover sent several managers rotating through the same operations and maintenance roles in just a few years, keeping the operation in constant instability and resetting progress before any system could take hold.
No measure of schedule adherence
With no reliable way to tell whether production was ahead of or behind schedule, and inaccurate production standards on top of it, the plant swung between over- and under-production.
Frontline leadership in name only
Supervisors spent just 6% of their time actively managing teams, and nearly 60% of meetings ran without structure or clear outcomes, so problems on the floor went unled and unresolved.
Maintenance stuck in firefighting
The department ran reactively with no preventive program and no KPIs, leaving mechanics idle 30% of the time with no daily or weekly work assignments and the team perpetually chasing breakdowns.
Handoffs that lost the shift
Weak shift handoffs and inconsistent communication left equipment idle during transitions, and startup performance lagging at 60% bled production hours every day.
Underutilized lines, masked by added labor
Many production personnel ran below 50% productivity for large parts of the shift, and normalized equipment issues were met by adding labor rather than fixing root causes, all with no structured Management Operating System to expose it.
What POWERS Did
Replaced instability with systematic standards, planned maintenance, and engaged frontline leadership.
POWERS worked three areas in parallel so the gains would reinforce one another rather than depend on any single fix. In maintenance, the team designed and test-piloted a preventive maintenance program, introduced daily and weekly work planning for mechanics, assigned technician workloads systematically, and established meaningful maintenance KPIs, moving the department off the back foot and onto a planned cadence.
Standards refinement gave the operation a factual baseline it had never had. Run rates were updated and validated to reflect actual performance, reasonable labor requirements were set for production lines, recurring standards reviews were launched, and schedule predictability improved enough to support raw-material procurement. With standards that matched reality, the swings between over- and under-production had far less room to occur.
Leadership development closed the loop on the floor. Workshops built frontline leadership skills, startup performance routines were standardized to stop the daily loss of production hours, and the Vorne production system was used more fully for real-time visibility and decision-making. Daily and weekly review meetings now quantify performance and generate action items, supervisors actively engage in line balancing and adjust staffing in real time, and the cumulative effect showed in the numbers: three consecutive months of record financial improvement following project completion.
The Full Result
Three measurable gains, each one a different proof that the new system held.
30%
Labor Cost Reduction
Labor cost fell from 10% to 7% of budget, a 30% relative reduction, as validated standards, real-time visibility, and active line balancing matched labor to the actual work.
50%
Startup Performance Improvement
Startup performance climbed from 60% to 90%, a 50% improvement, once standardized startup routines stopped the daily loss of production hours.
29
Positions Optimized
Roughly 29 direct-labor positions were optimized through improved efficiency rather than across-the-board cuts, as productivity rose across underutilized lines.
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Equipment Reliability · Frontline Leadership · MOS
A medical and personal care contract manufacturer cut labor cost from 10% to 7% of budget, a 30% relative reduction, by replacing years of revolving-door instability with standards, planned maintenance, and frontline leadership that actually held.
Medical and Personal Care Contract Manufacturer
Executive Brief
This medical and personal care contract manufacturer had the technical capability and quality reputation, but high leadership turnover in operations and maintenance kept it in a cycle of operational instability, with no reliable way to measure schedule adherence, inaccurate production standards, a maintenance department stuck in firefighting mode, and frontline supervisors who spent only a fraction of their time leading. Over a 24-week engagement, POWERS installed a structured Management Operating System: a piloted preventive maintenance program with planned mechanic work and meaningful KPIs, validated run-rate standards that improved schedule predictability for procurement, frontline leadership workshops, standardized startup routines, and real-time visibility through the Vorne production system. Labor cost fell from 10% to 7% of budget, a 30% relative reduction, startup performance climbed from 60% to 90%, roughly 29 direct-labor positions were optimized through improved efficiency, and the plant posted three consecutive months of record financial improvement following project completion.
Results at a Glance
30%
Labor Cost Reduction
50%
Startup Performance Improvement
29
Positions Optimized
The Situation
A manufacturer with real technical depth and a strong quality reputation, undone by leadership turnover that kept resetting the operation before any system could take hold.
Underneath the turnover sat a deeper structural problem: the absence of a systematic approach. There was no reliable measurement of whether production was running ahead of or behind schedule, and inaccurate production standards drove both over- and under-production. Unreliable run rates rippled outward into supply-chain disruptions and raw-material planning. On the floor, supervisors spent only 6% of their time actively managing teams, nearly 60% of meetings were ineffective, and weak shift handoffs left equipment idle during transitions while startup performance lagged at 60%.
Maintenance compounded the problem, operating reactively with no preventive program and no KPIs, mechanics idle 30% of the time, and the department in constant firefighting mode. Production personnel were underutilized, many running below 50% productivity for large parts of the shift, and equipment issues were normalized by adding labor rather than fixing root causes. Leadership did not need a one-time fix for any single symptom. It needed a system that could outlast the next leadership change and hold performance steady across every shift.
The Diagnosis
Six structural gaps producing the same outcome from six directions.
Revolving-door leadership
High turnover sent several managers rotating through the same operations and maintenance roles in just a few years, keeping the operation in constant instability and resetting progress before any system could take hold.
No measure of schedule adherence
With no reliable way to tell whether production was ahead of or behind schedule, and inaccurate production standards on top of it, the plant swung between over- and under-production.
Frontline leadership in name only
Supervisors spent just 6% of their time actively managing teams, and nearly 60% of meetings ran without structure or clear outcomes, so problems on the floor went unled and unresolved.
Maintenance stuck in firefighting
The department ran reactively with no preventive program and no KPIs, leaving mechanics idle 30% of the time with no daily or weekly work assignments and the team perpetually chasing breakdowns.
Handoffs that lost the shift
Weak shift handoffs and inconsistent communication left equipment idle during transitions, and startup performance lagging at 60% bled production hours every day.
Underutilized lines, masked by added labor
Many production personnel ran below 50% productivity for large parts of the shift, and normalized equipment issues were met by adding labor rather than fixing root causes, all with no structured Management Operating System to expose it.
What POWERS Did
Replaced instability with systematic standards, planned maintenance, and engaged frontline leadership.
POWERS worked three areas in parallel so the gains would reinforce one another rather than depend on any single fix. In maintenance, the team designed and test-piloted a preventive maintenance program, introduced daily and weekly work planning for mechanics, assigned technician workloads systematically, and established meaningful maintenance KPIs, moving the department off the back foot and onto a planned cadence.
Standards refinement gave the operation a factual baseline it had never had. Run rates were updated and validated to reflect actual performance, reasonable labor requirements were set for production lines, recurring standards reviews were launched, and schedule predictability improved enough to support raw-material procurement. With standards that matched reality, the swings between over- and under-production had far less room to occur.
Leadership development closed the loop on the floor. Workshops built frontline leadership skills, startup performance routines were standardized to stop the daily loss of production hours, and the Vorne production system was used more fully for real-time visibility and decision-making. Daily and weekly review meetings now quantify performance and generate action items, supervisors actively engage in line balancing and adjust staffing in real time, and the cumulative effect showed in the numbers: three consecutive months of record financial improvement following project completion.
The Full Result
30%
Labor Cost Reduction
Labor cost fell from 10% to 7% of budget, a 30% relative reduction, as validated standards, real-time visibility, and active line balancing matched labor to the actual work.
50%
Startup Performance Improvement
Startup performance climbed from 60% to 90%, a 50% improvement, once standardized startup routines stopped the daily loss of production hours.
29
Positions Optimized
Roughly 29 direct-labor positions were optimized through improved efficiency rather than across-the-board cuts, as productivity rose across underutilized lines.
POWERS|+1 678-971-4711|info@thepowerscompany.com|1801 Peachtree St NE, Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 303091 / 1