LunchCo* Avoids a Major Product Launch Disaster by Eliminating 95% of Quality Failures
LunchCo, a leading food & beverage producer, was having a serious issue with one of their main product lines. With summer coming to an end, they were gearing up for their back-to-school product launch, but a disaster was unfolding. The plant's production of a popular back-to-school product was consistently producing contaminated cartons.
Destined for school-aged children, the company's leaders knew they didn't have many options. Not running the line would mean they would miss their biggest season. But the alternative was delivering contaminated product into a market where children dominated consumption. There wasn't another option.
The problem began a few months previously. LunchCo recognized it early and spent the intervening months trying to find a solution to save the product launch. Countless quality specialists, industry experts, and machinery OEM's were brought in to find a solution. After implementing every recommendation, including re-piping the lines, installing a high-cost failure detection system, replacing worn machinery, and adjusting the sanitation procedure, the problem persisted.
Leaders now questioned whether replacing the entire line and missing the back-to-school season was the only answer.
Unwilling to fail their customers or their shareholders, LunchCo knew a different approach was required. They brought in Stroud to help them find the contamination source and get their line producing safe product before the back-to-school season.
After numerous expert inspections had failed to find the source, the plant's prevailing belief was that the beverage must be becoming tainted by an uncontrollable environmental factor. After all, if the experts couldn't find the source, it must be coming from somewhere they didn't look.
Knowing that guessing hadn't solved their problem, the LunchCo leaders put together a core team of their employees facilitated by Stroud and committed to Stop Guessing. Applying Variable Analysis, a problem-solving approach built on rejecting the need for guessing, the team started at the broadest level: evaluating whether the contamination originated in the beverage, the containers, or the filling process.
The team ran quick, simple tests with the deliberate aim of eliminating huge swathes of potential root causes. The team demonstrated that cartons didn't introduce the contaminant by showing that two identical lines in the plant produced uncontaminated product using the same cartons.
Next, to isolate the process from the beverage, they passed empty cartons through the line to ensure uncontaminated cartons came out. To their huge surprise and elation, the team found that empty cartons contained the contamination-causing bacteria.
For the first time, plant leaders were certain that the filling process, not the beverage, was the contamination source. They felt hopefully optimistic. The team was now confident the contamination was occurring in the filler but didn't know why or where yet.
Following the same approach, the team now focused on empty cartons running in the filler. After researching the specific bacteria and learning that it grows in water, the team began testing contaminated cartons for water. They quickly discovered that all contained small drops after leaving the filler.
Further isolation of the problem demonstrated that it was being caused by condensation. Something was running colder than it should and causing water to condensate out of the air and drip into the cartons. Searching for a process component that was colder than expected, the team found the culprit: part of the filler was running colder than its set point. This cold part was causing water to condense and drip into the cartons, causing contaminating bacteria growth.
As with all complex problems, when the root cause is well understood, the solution is simple. By increasing the filler cooling temperature, the team stopped the water drops and eliminated the contamination.
95% reduction in quality failures
Eliminating the condensation in the filler reduced food quality issues by 95%. This allowed the company to run the line in time for their back-to-school campaign. Just as exciting for the leadership team was the renewed belief that even problems that baffled the original equipment manufacturer could be solved. With fresh excitement and pull throughout the organization, LunchCo and Stroud focused next on improving plant capacity and, in weeks, had further increased output by 35%.
*Real company, real results. Re-named to protect client confidentiality.
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