Dan Wadyka, Assistant Director of Quality Control at Giorgio Foods, was caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, new company leadership was pushing for major growth and change, while some managers and supervisors felt that the current way of working was good enough.
Wadyka saw an opportunity to support the leadership's growth initiatives and galvanize support for these initiatives among middle
management.
Production workers track product weights on the frozen pizza production line. These checks are recorded on paper, and the supervisor calculates the average weight throughout the shift to maintain product control. At the end of each day, the data collection sheet is replaced, and the completed form is collected for sign-off and storage.
This manual process meant line supervisors were only concerned with the current production run. If problems arose, managers spent hours compiling handwritten data from pieces of paper before they could begin to make sense of what happened. Since the data was not in front of them, no one really knew the true impact on the business until it was too late to fix the issue.
Process reviews and approvals might be delayed for days. Management could not evaluate performance in a timely manner. Everyone had opinions about what should be improved to meet their growth goals, but no one had clear evidence.
This situation was considered normal and “good enough” by supervisors. No one knew the impact or true cost of the legacy approach. Wadyka had an intuition that the impact was significant and was inhibiting the business's growth.
In fact, the lack of timely information did not allow for impactful insights into production processes. While management attempted to analyze situations on the fly, more often than not, a product that did not meet specifications would be discarded as waste or overloaded with extra toppings. Blue waste containers proliferated, spilling over into aisles and walkways.
The cost of goods sold from the waste and overpack was very high but considered normal and acceptable.
No one had a clear understanding of how to solve the problem. Wadyka said, “We were not a waste reduction culture. For example, a 12 oz. pizza would weigh about 14oz when it ships.”
Wadyka had a mandate to drive change but was extremely frustrated. To build momentum for change, he knew he had to appeal to his colleagues' heads and hearts, and to do that, he needed data. He realized that his team did not have an accurate, up-to-the- minute, and historical view of production. They had no way of Knowing what was really going on in production and could not spot trends, reduce the variation on the line, or reduce the cost of goods.
Wadyka partnered with Hertzler Systems to implement real-time weight control on the production line. The implemented system puts tablets in the operator’s hands. The system guides the users to collect weight and compliance data. This information is collected on the pizza line at several points so the team can monitor and control each ingredient and the final product weight.
Giorgio saw reduced waste across the line in six weeks, providing significant savings. The low-cost items, such as pizza dough and tomato sauce, saw a 70% reduction in waste and overfill. The high-cost items, such as meats and cheeses, saw over an 80% reduction. “We could not be any happier with the results. GainSeeker has given us the visibility we need to reduce waste and product giveaway,” said Wadyka.
Wadyka and his team no longer wait days for weight data. Now, they can interact with information instantly on a dashboard and have a complete view of the process. Giorgio employees are empowered to act immediately to reduce overpack and waste.
Giorgio Foods has driven significant performance improvements by empowering employees with real-time information that impacts business decisions. Managers and supervisors at all levels of the organization can take informed action faster than ever. This shift contributes to a culture of empowerment that embraces change. Giorgio is now moving faster and more nimbly than ever before to capitalize on growth opportunities.
Ready to see similar results? Contact Hertzler Systems today to learn more about how GainSeeker and/or GS Premier can transform your manufacturing operations. Turn your data into a competitive edge and achieve measurable success, just like the food manufacturer who reduced waste by over 70% in just 6 weeks using real-time data from GainSeeker.
Hertzler offers flexible deployment options to suit your specific requirements:
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