POWERS Drives 7% YOY Output Gain in Turnaround for Major Beverage Manufacturer

• Unstructured Changeovers: No Centerline settings. Operators relied on memory and personal experience to stabilize the line, often wasting hours across shift changes just to reach full production speed.
  
• Inefficient Clean in Place (CIP): No defined steps or time targets. Extended CIP durations ate into available production hours but were still marked as “planned downtime,” masking the problem in reporting.
  
• Lack of Daily Visibility: No consistent metrics, visual tools, or structured meetings. There were no clear roles, follow-up routines, or escalation paths when things went wrong.
  
• Reactive Maintenance: Mechanics had no daily work plan. PMs were routinely skipped. Equipment issues lingered far too long, with no coordination between maintenance and production schedules.
  
• Inventory Gaps: Low material location accuracy (23%). Daily shortages due to poor planning. Incoming shipments were uncoordinated, arriving late or without paperwork. Freezer space was maxed out with slow-moving or retained product.

   

Without defined standards, clear handoffs, or real-time adjustments, the plant was stuck in firefighting mode, every shift, every day.

What POWERS Delivered

We worked side by side with plant leaders, supervisors, operators, and mechanics to bring structure to the chaos and shift the plant from reactive to proactive. Here’s what changed:

Production Systems and Front-Line Discipline

• Created Centerline standards for all major changeovers, developed with the people actually running the lines. These settings were documented, posted, and reinforced across all shifts to reduce guesswork and downtime.
  
• Built out CIP checklists with expected times for each step, tracked daily. Deviations are now flagged as unplanned downtime and followed up with corrective actions.
  
• Launched Short Interval Follow-Up routines using visual boards, shift huddles, and real-time issue tracking to close the loop on problems before they snowball.

   

Maintenance and Reliability Improvements

• Introduced daily work plans for mechanics, prioritizing jobs based on PM schedules and equipment data not personal judgment.
  
• Shifted shutdown planning from static task lists to a structured project-based approach using Gantt charts and formal pre/post reviews.
  
• Developed a KPI dashboard for the maintenance team, with real ownership of performance targets and follow-through.

   

Inventory Control and Space Management

• Overhauled receiving and locating processes, increasing material location accuracy from 23% to 88%.
  
• Implemented min/max controls on key ingredients and packaging materials to prevent self-inflicted shortages.
  
• Cleared out obsolete and held inventory, eliminating the need to rent extra freezer space.

   

Cross-Department Coordination

• Introduced integrated scheduling that aligns production, maintenance, CIP, and changeovers into a unified, time-based plan.
  
• Built a shared labor model that allows operators and techs to be flexed across lines and teams based on need, improving agility during labor shortages or absenteeism.
  
• Streamlined internal audits and reporting to avoid last-minute surprises and missed commitments to customers.

   

What Changed

With new standards, accountability systems, and leadership routines in place, the improvements came quickly and stuck.

Production Wins

• +7% year-over-year increase in total plant output (measured in equivalent cases)
  
• 30% faster CIP times, freeing up hours for more production
  
• 30% reduction in startup delays, allowing lines to reach target speeds faster and avoid missed delivery windows

   

Maintenance Performance

• PM completion rate increased 120% (from 40% to 88%)
• Mechanic utilization improved 65% (from 46% to 76%)
• Mechanic overtime cut 39% (from 23% to 14%)

Inventory and Planning

• Inventory accuracy jumped from 64% to 92%
• Location rate increased from 23% to 88%
• Refrigerated truck wait times reduced by 80%
• All internal inventory audits passed after repeated failures before the project

Sustaining the Gains

The key to this turnaround wasn’t just better data or smarter scheduling. It was about giving people at every level the structure, tools, and visibility to act with purpose:

• Supervisors now run daily huddles using real data and short-interval metrics
• Maintenance leads own performance targets and manage work proactively
• Planning, production, and inventory teams coordinate through shared schedules, not siloed spreadsheets
• Operators rely on documented standards not tribal knowledge to keep the lines running smoothly

This plant went from reactive and scattered to aligned and accountable.

How POWERS Can Help

If your operations are struggling with missed targets, unplanned downtime, or scheduling headaches, POWERS can help get you back in control.

We don’t bring binders. We work on the floor shoulder to shoulder with your team—to uncover bottlenecks, lock in routines, and build the right systems for daily performance. Our Digital Production System (DPS) provides the framework, but the real power is in how we help your leaders and front-line teams execute it every day.

Need to boost output, tighten up planning, or get a grip on maintenance? We’re ready when you are.