Case Studies

Transforming Operations in a High-Volume Condiment Manufacturing Facility

2 minute read

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: A leading dressing and sauce producer was facing operational slowdowns, workforce challenges, and equipment reliability issues at its 400,000+ square foot manufacturing facility. Rapid growth and new technologies had outpaced its organizational structure and processes, creating inefficiencies across food safety, asset care, and day-to-day operations. Catena Solutions deployed an experienced team to redesign organizational systems, strengthen operations, and implement sustainable continuous improvement practices. The result was a more stable workforce, improved equipment reliability, and measurable uptime and performance gains across production lines.

The Challenge: Facility Growth Outpacing Operations

The company operates a large-scale condiment manufacturing facility that plays a central role in overall business performance. However, the plant was struggling with productivity, efficiency, and employee retention. Recent growth, combined with new technology implementations, had created operational strain and exposed gaps in:

• Organizational design
• Food safety and compliance
• Asset care and preventive maintenance
• Standard work and communication routines
• Continuous improvement capability

Leadership recognized that the facility needed both structural and process improvements to maintain production output and meet future growth demands.

The Solution: Rebuilding Structure, Processes, and Performance

The client partnered with Catena Solutions for our food and beverage operational expertise and proven track record in manufacturing optimization. We deployed a cross-functional consulting team led by an industry veteran who had successfully addressed similar challenges for one of the largest privately held food manufacturers in the U.S.

The work was completed in two phases: the Design phase, which aligned Catena and the client team on priorities for execution; and the Execution phase, in which we worked with the client’s internal resources to drive the project from a PMO perspective. The Execution phase included:

Organizational Design Improvement

• Proper employee onboarding and training
• Effective communication across all levels of the plant
• Rightsizing the plant organization structure by placing the right people in the right roles
• Implementing a system to house training materials and standard operating procedures
• Ensuring the team had the knowledge to execute the onboarding and training program moving forward
• Optimized corporate goal communication cascaded down from corporate to associates on production lines

OPEX Improvement

• Improved shift communication from plant leadership to shift managers and line associates
• A daily management system that provided information and metrics for expectations on each line
• Standard work instructions outlining details such as how to operate equipment

Asset Reliability Improvement

• Inventory of the parts at the plant, including evaluating and securing the spare parts needed to support equipment maintenance
• Creating or updating preventative maintenance instructions for equipment
• A reduction in the current knowledge gap

The Benefit: Stronger Workforce, Improved Reliability, and Higher Productivity

Catena’s work generated measurable operational improvements across the plant, including:

Facing any similar challenges at your plants? Contact us to discuss how Catena Solutions can help.