Waste is the difference between what you should use and what you do use including raw materials and packaging, labour, energy, services, effluent and capital resources. It seriously affects the operation and profitability of most food manufacturing businesses and can almost always be reduced.
A radical reduction in waste presents a major business and financial opportunity for most companies. It can increase profitability and may even be the difference between survival and oblivion for some in the current climate.
Acumentia's Food Manufacturing Expert Group has the skills and experience to analyse your operations and to help you find practical ways to reduce the waste of cash and resources in your business.
What Might be Achieved
It all depends where you start from, of course, but few business operations are perfect and in many cases big savings are possible in a number of areas - one large organisation reduced ingredients and packaging waste from 15% to 5%.
Where Should we be looking?
Raw Materials and Packaging
Spoilage and loss during storage, excess inventory, poor planning; Control of Ingredient inputs to process; Recipe and formulation design and control; Frequency and efficiency of cleaning cycles
Conversion
Process design and efficiency, yield, scrap levels; Poor quality control leading to scrap product; Poor weight control leading to excess "giveaway"
Labour
Labour planning, organisation and efficiency; Labour skills and lack of empowerment; Production location
Energy and Services
Excess consumption of energy, water, compressed air, etc. due to leaks, inefficient plant, poor work practices; Process and plant not energy efficient; Inefficient cleaning cycles; Effluent disposal costs
Plant Utilisation
Inefficient use of capital equipment; Optimum scheduling; Rapid achievement of running speed and maintaining speed throughout shift; Hot shift change over; Rapid and efficient product and packaging changes; Preventative maintenance and maintenance scheduling
What's the Plan?
Measure the parameters; Benchmark against best practice; Discuss with Management; Set realistic targets; Develop a full action plan; Monitor and measure results