World-class performance

zoom

Tetra Pak has successfully concluded five projects globally and another nine projects are at different stages of implementation.

How Tetra Pak Arabia has cut costs and increased productivity without impacting capability, quality and the workflow.

Globally and regionally, most businesses are under pressure to cut costs and increase productivity. The process of Tetra Pak Arabia's Operational Cost Reduction (OCR) programme is based on standards from World Class Manufacturing (WCM) tools and methodologies derived from Japanese techniques.

Companies practicing WCM strategies focus on improving operations and eliminating waste, thus creating lean organizations. WCM organisations set new standards through rationalisation of operations and identifiying opportunities.

Although OCR as such is new to the Middle East; WCM has been in the region for a number of years. Tetra Pak, world leaders in packaging for liquid dairy and juices, started implementing WCM five years ago in their converting factory located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Tetra Pak's OCR programme using Focused Improvement (Focused Improvement is the ensemble of activities aimed at elevating performance of any system) is one such methodology that is proven to reduce a customer's operational costs associated with operating a complete Tetra Pak filling line.

Typically, these costs add up to between 5% to 15% of total product costs. The programme has been designed to give customers the guaranteed benefit of reduced operational costs, increase in production capacity and improved line performance. It is the foundation for continuous improvement that also aids improvement in aspects such as staff capabilities and in increasing motivation among team members and employees.

At present Tetra Pak has successfully concluded five projects globally and another nine projects are at different stages of implementation. The projects enable Tetra Pak to deliver more competitive packaging solutions with lower cost/unit (Cost/case).

It also assists Tetra Pak in building long-term relationships with customers by increasing satisfaction due to the proactive nature of the project. Filtering down to different areas of the business, Tetra Pak's OCR programme facilitates the sales and marketing teams to present proposals that contain targeted and quantifiable cost/unit benefits to customers.

As part of the global campaign, Tetra Pak Arabia has chosen Saudi Dairy and Foodstuff Co. (SADAFCO) as the first and only Middle East company to implement its Operational Cost Reduction programme.

Launched in September 2007, SADAFCO was selected on criteria. It was a key regional customer, its main business lies in the Carton Core area with a mid-large size production site of >100 million packages/year, and it has a high utilisation of installed equipment with a stable production environment.

As part of the programme, SADAFCO teams design, test, validate and implement the improvement actions, through which they gain experience in the WCM methodology, thus creating a more professional organization which can attack all losses in the plant.

The goal of this particular project is to achieve a reduction of Cleaning In Place (CIP) time by 34% and reduction in filling machine and distribution equipment stops by 30% respectively. Three teams are formed to undertake the goals set. Although the focus will be on one filling line, the improvement teams can implement the validated improvement across the other installed lines (horizontal expansion).

The total savings are calculated on the assumption that 75% of the operational savings achieved can be realised on the total installed base and that 75% of the machine-specific savings can be implemented on similar equipment. OCR coaches from Tetra Pak are responsible for managing the projects.

They are supported by the Tetra Pak central Operational Cost Reduction team with direct involvement from relevant companies and customer personnel from the headquarters. The responsibility for implementing and delivering an OCR - Focused Improvement project through its average six month lifecycle is shared by the customer and Tetra Pak equally.

Tetra Pak is currently in the process of building competence to deploy OCR - Focused Improvement in different markets in the region.

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM