Food Safety Manufacturer Unlocks $6.6M in Value and Accelerates Production Through Supply Chain and Operations Redesign
Context
The company was navigating rapid growth while simultaneously integrating a merger and rolling out a new ERP system. At the same time, staffing constraints and immature supply chain processes made it difficult to keep up with rising demand. Many operational activities were still handled manually, which compounded inefficiencies, slowed throughput, and limited the ability to reliably meet customer orders. Leadership recognized the need to stabilize operations, relieve bottlenecks, and build a more scalable supply chain and production model.
What We Discovered
Working on site and analyzing operational and supply chain data, our team developed a clear picture of both the company’s growth ambitions and its day-to-day challenges. The diagnostic revealed several key improvement opportunities to balance near-term performance and long-term scalability:
- Testing and quality control (QC) processes were contributing to extended lead times, with opportunities to streamline approaches while preserving rigorous quality standards.
- Manufacturing bottlenecks were constraining capacity on critical production lines, limiting the volume that could be produced and shipped.
- Planning and performance management practices were not fully aligned, limiting productivity and making it difficult to prioritize and coordinate work effectively.
- Assortment and Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) processes were underdeveloped, reducing visibility and coordination between demand, inventory, and production.
These root causes combined to slow manufacturing, tie up working capital in excess inventory, and create backlogs that affected both revenue and cost.
Results and Impact
As changes were implemented, the client realized both financial and operational benefits:
- Revenue Growth Capacity: Ability to generate an additional $3.3M in annual revenue enabled by increased manufacturing capacity.
- Working Capital Reduction: $1.1M decrease in working capital through lowering excess inventory holdings.
- Cost Savings: $2.2M in savings from reduced scrap and the ability to clear order backlogs more efficiently.
- Faster Production: Average manufacturing cycle time reduced by 2.5 days across all production lines, supporting improved responsiveness and customer service.
Together, these improvements helped the food safety manufacturer keep pace with growth, improve reliability, and build a more scalable, resilient operations and supply chain platform.
What We Did
We then partnered with the client team to pilot and implement these solutions across production and supply chain functions:
- Refined and standardized QC and testing workflows to reduce lead time while preserving compliance and quality.
- Adjusted line configurations, work methods, and scheduling practices to relieve bottlenecks and increase effective capacity.
- Introduced more effective planning routines and organizational KPIs to drive accountability and improve daily decision-making.
- Defined and documented future-state processes for assortment management and S&OP to support ongoing scalability as demand grows.
