Case Study: Accountability

Client
A mid-sized North American food and beverage manufacturer.

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The Challenge
Chronic variation in equipment setup was limiting line performance. Change-part selection and critical machine adjustments were inconsistent across shifts. The result was frequent downtime, reduced speeds, damaged product, wasted materials and missed production targets on several key SKUs.

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Our Approach

We deployed our proprietary five-step methodology to isolate and eliminate the root causes:

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• Analyzed production, downtime, and quality data to pinpoint the exact equipment and changeover processes driving the largest losses.
   

• Mapped all relevant processes in detail alongside the operators and technicians who performed the setups daily.
   

• Discovered that, in the majority of problem areas, the required standards, settings, and part-selection logic already existed and had been thoroughly trained. These standards were simply not being followed consistently.
   

• Designed and proliferated practical daily audit protocols to verify knowledge, understanding of the “why,” and actual execution of the existing standards. Placed quality team and supervisors in positions to verify and reward proper implementation of existing protocols.
   

• Conducted daily, one-on-one audits with every individual associated with the existing protocols, rewarding successful execution and knowledge.
   

Results
Within the first 30 days of full audit execution the company achieved an immediate 30% increase in output on the targeted product lines with zero additional capital investment.
 

The gains came from eliminating variation in processes the teams had already been trained on. Setup times dropped, run speeds stabilized, and unplanned stops related to incorrect change parts and adjustments fell sharply.
 

More importantly, the daily audit discipline created visible accountability and ownership. Operators began self-correcting and coaching one another, turning what had been a recurring frustration into a reliable, repeatable standard.