Press Release
Berner Foods
drives performance improvement with new RPM system
With
increased demand pushing Berner Foods to the point of capacity, the
Illinois-based manufacturer is implementing mvi technology’s eventsengine® real-time
performance management (RPM) system to help it exploit efficiency opportunities
through improved rate, yield and utilization.
Berner Foods specializes in serving the
With entrepreneurial beginnings as a Swiss cheese maker dating back 60
years, the company now employs over 200 staff and turns over $75 million. Its customers range from supermarkets and
mass merchandisers to dollar stores and specialty food distributors.
Increased demand and plans for innovative new product launches meant
Berner was faced with an increasingly complex SKU mix. The company, which has an ambitious five-year
growth plan, wanted to improve throughput efficiencies and reduce performance
variances - cutting changeover times, unplanned downtime and minor stoppages,
as well as reducing re-work and waste.
However, with no efficient or reliable system for collecting data, the company
was unable to identify the specific areas for performance opportunities.
Berner Foods’ president, Steve Kneubuehl, says, “Our manual systems
meant supervisors had to spend time collecting data and managing paperwork when
they could have been interpreting and acting on the information instead. Inevitably that led to a plateau in our
performance improvement”
After an extensive evaluation of system suppliers, Berner selected the
eventsengine RPM system from Miami-based mvi technology - the company, which
packs its product in jars, cups, bowls and
aerosol containers, is installing the system across the entire process
division.
Troy Grove (business IT director) who led the evaluation: “mvi emerged
very quickly as the front-runner - the software was ‘out-of-the-box’, so we
considered it to be the most robust solution and the one that offered the least
risk. They also had a very methodical
implementation model, which not only educated and trained the workforce but got
the ‘buy-in’ of everybody involved - that was essential if the project was to
be a real success.”
The eventsengine system allows performance data (including information
on operator behavior) captured at the shopfloor level to be instantly visible
via a KPI dashboard, alerting the operators to take any necessary remedial
action, as well as feeding back real-time measurements against performance
targets. It allows organizations to
adopt a visual management approach - the information is accessible via a web
browser elsewhere in the company and is role based to ensure information is
deployed in the right manner to the right people at the right time. From a
strategic perspective the information is modeled in a way that enables
organizations to identify specific opportunities for improvement through ‘slice
and dice’ and ‘what if’ analysis on a continuous basis.
Kneubuehl believes the system will deliver significant benefits, not
only in the additional capacity it will generate, but through improvements in
gross margin, on-time delivery and more competitive pricing, driving further
sales: “The eventsengine system provides
a granularity of information that allows us to drive real improvement in the
business. We’ve already identified the
potential for a 20 percent improvement in efficiency in the first year - that’s
equivalent to four million extra jars of product. What’s more, with eventsengine, the changes
are sustainable - we see it facilitating a step change in our company culture
and it is already contributing positively to the morale and motivation of the
workforce.”
mvi
technology
Established in 1991, mvi technology is based in
Through its real-time performance management (RPM)
system, eventsengine®, mvi technology helps organizations improve the
effectiveness of their business processes within the production, operations and
maintenance functions.
Unlike conventional data collection systems,
eventsengine®
is built around what people actually do in the workplace, collecting data
around their normal mode of working and providing managers with absolute
visibility, rather than basic performance measurement – it is a real management
system that allows users to act on the information they capture (rather than
just capturing the information) and to do so in real time.
eventsengine® is designed to support manufacturing best
practice and lean manufacturing processes, allowing users to concentrate on
sustainable business improvement rather than worrying about the supporting
information technology.
The system is simple to implement and to use, and
by employing results-driven measurement and analysis tools, mvi’s prime focus
is to deliver customers a return way beyond the original investment – typically
inside three months.
For further information please contact:
Steve
Lipscombe Tel : +44 (0) 20 8249 6023
RONIN
Marketing Limited e-mail : stevel@roninmarketing.co.uk
mvi technology
Mark Sutcliffe
CEO Tel : 0305 794 7517
mvi technology e-mail : marks@mvi.co.uk