A new production line, years in and facing closure.
Invested in, underperforming, under threat.
A large French food producer - around €200 million in turnover, operating across Europe - had a production line that was still under-performing years after a significant investment. Yield was poor, and the line was under threat of closure.
The strain showed in the people who ran it: stress on the floor and low motivation, which only made the performance harder to recover.
We started from what the line already did well.
Rather than arrive with an outside template, SAM worked with the line staff to capture their best practice and habits, and used those as the base for improvement. Standards were set, documented and then actually held to, and production was joined up with maintenance instead of working around it.
Strategic questioning and steady follow-up built a culture of learning, while Manage by Means coaching with the managers aligned the wider site culture with the same people-centred principles.
Productivity up 30%, waste halved, the line profitable.
Within six months productivity rose by 30 per cent and waste was cut in half - and the line became profitable, rather than closed.
Alongside the numbers came a mindset of cooperation and learning, and a calmer, more confident workforce running the line day to day.
