Background

Since 1984, Kapiti Fine Foods has won awards for its high quality products and innovative business practices. Kapiti employs 65 staff in areas of ice cream manufacture, blow moulding and milk processing. The manufacturing site is located in Palmerston North and is part of the Fonterra Brands division.

To build the business, the Kapiti Fine Foods management team under the leadership of Greg Radich, formulated a strategy to deliver step change and sustained performance improvement in 2006.

To deliver stretch targets, the improvement strategy included:

• Creating a business focus through to the front line.
• Engaging staff and providing meaningful development.
• Focusing resources to deliver worthwhile improvements.
• Accelerating the implementation of improvement actions.
• Rigorously reviewing performance.
• Recognising and rewarding outstanding results.

A Competitive Manufacturing framework was selected to assist in linking all work levels, focusing resources, aligning challenges, building internal capability, ensuring effective communication, accelerating implementation and staying on track.

Competitive Manufacturing Framework

Kapiti Fine Foods is the first totally New Zealand site to implement this framework, designed jointly by New Zealand and Australian Industry Training Organisations. Implementation took place under the guidance of the NZITO.

The CM framework is supporting a number of management improvement initiatives and facilitating rapid change that has delivered tangible bottom line results. The process has engaged staff, is aligning improvement activities with the core strategic business objectives and developing skills of staff in the areas of Lean Manufacturing, TQM and related improvement methods.

All staff members are eligible to be awarded a National Certificate in Competitive Manufacturing levels II – IV. Staff currently receive 90 minutes training and assessment per month and are scheduled to complete the programme in 12 months.

Implementation

A top-down and bottom up implementation strategy is being applied. This means aligning goals by level, staff accountable for results and a requirement for all levels to feed up any requests for resources and assistance needed for success. The appropriate training and coaching is provided with 30 day improvement challenges creating momentum. Each work level reviews progress of next level ensuring alignment, coordination, effective communication and prompt decision making. Performance is visually displayed promoting learning and review.

First Quarter Results

The results of the first quarter are as set out below. The improvement priorities were productivity related delivered through focused plant improvement projects and improving plant efficiency:

Success By Plant Area

The following are examples of successes delivered by the various plant areas in the first quarter:

• Ice Cream Team (20% improvement)

  This team delivered 20% improvement in line efficiency. This improvement was the result of effective analysis, innovative thinking, inter-departmental cooperation and teamwork.

• Blow Moulding (40% Improvement)

  This team reduced changeover time by 40%. Changeover times have reduced from 6 hours to 3.5 hours. The new target is to reduce changeover time to below 3 hours.

• Milk team (20% improvement)

  This team has delivered step change in the areas of efficiency and quality. Improvement initiatives have included reducing jam-ups and meeting cut-off times.

Reflections From First Quarter

The following are some of the key reflections from management and staff on progress through the first quarter.

• Success has created the desire for more success.
• Staff morale and contribution of ideas has increased.
• More accountability and ownership for results.
• Creative thinking of staff is being optimized.
• Improved teamwork and cooperation.
• A feeling of more purpose and contribution.

Focus Areas For Next Quarter

Improvement priorities and projects have been established for the next quarter that will ensure the improvement trend is sustained. The focus on efficiency will remain and supported by environment (Dry Floor project) and DIFOT. The Competitive Manufacturing skills to be developed over the next quarter will include 5S, Workflow and Waste elimination.