The Situation
A PE-backed protein processor had two high-speed packaging lines running at 50% OEE. The acquisition thesis depended on operational improvement, but the plant had been stuck at that number for over a year. Changeovers were running 50+ minutes, unplanned downtime was eating 20%+ of available time, and the maintenance team was in reactive mode.
What We Did
Days 0–30: Stabilize and baseline. Mapped the constraint (Line 2 filler), built the OEE loss tree, and established baselines with finance. Installed tiered daily management — shift huddles feeding a daily ops review feeding a weekly SIOP cadence. Got the data flowing before touching the equipment.
Days 31–60: Attack the top losses. SMED on the constraint — took changeovers from 50 minutes to 31 minutes (38% reduction). Ran RCAs on the top 5 unplanned stops. Deployed operator-led TPM with visual standards. QR-linked SOPs at every workstation.
Days 61–90: Lock and replicate. Playbooks documented. Train-the-trainer completed. Power BI dashboard live with real-time OEE by line, shift, and SKU. Replicated SMED methodology to Line 1. Built the 12-month capital-lite roadmap for the next phase.
Results (Verified)
| Metric | Before | After | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| OEE (both lines) | 50% | 75% | +25 points |
| Changeover time | 50 min | 31 min | −38% |
| Unplanned stops | Baseline | −22% | SAP analytics + coaching |
| Annualized savings | ~$1.1M |
All savings audited with plant finance and PE operating partner.
What Made It Stick
The difference between a turnaround that holds and one that fades is whether the team owns the system after you leave. We certified 4 internal CI leads, embedded the daily management cadence into the plant rhythm, and left dashboards the ops team actually uses — not ones that collect dust.
Company details anonymized. Engagement completed under contract leadership.