Case Study 1
Name
Beston Food Manufacturing Company
Industry :
Food Manufacturing
Challenge :
Followed a traditional paper-based management system that constantly led to operational and management inefficiencies resulting in depleting business profitability and sustainability.
Solution :
Designed and developed digital Production Management System that increased productivity by 20% in Phase 1.
Solution Platform :
Microsoft Azure
Obstacles At the Production Plant
Beston took over the Shepparton site in 20[], and produces []. Prior to purchase, the site had been following a traditional paper-based management system for many years. During this time, the business had begun to expand, but storing and finding information became increasingly difficult and both management and staff were unable to track production and manufacturing processes. Further, this paper-based system was not tied into corporate reporting systems and a significant amount of time was spent each month to ensure information could be provided to corporate finance and management. The paper-based system also meant that it was difficult to make operational improvements.
All these issues meant the plant was not performing as expected with management only able to hypothesise the reasons for poor performance (e.g. in efficient procurement, high waste of raw material, inaccurate numbers and inventory mismatches).
How Astrado Helped
Our process to work with client ensures that the client’s needs are kept front and centre. We work with the client to understand their needs, design the solution with client feedback, develop the solution with regular client check-ins, and finally, deploy the solution.
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Understand
By working with Astrado, Beston was able to identify and resolve loss-making gaps in their operations. We worked to understand what the key drivers of operating efficiency and profitability. Key issue was the significant amount of manual/paper based tracking which was time consuming and often inaccurate.
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Design
With client input, Astrado designed an easy to use, cloud based information capture and management system to move away from manual information entry and management. The design included simple interfaces, an information database, and management reports.
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Develop and Iterate
We first built a prototype to ensure the design was effective; and incorporating feedback, we built an effective solution which met client needs.
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Deploy
We deployed the solution within the client’s budget and required timeframes
Outcome
By eliminating paper-based information management and moving to an Electronic Information Capturing and Production Management System, Beston reduced the manual efforts and associated costs by 20% in Phase 1.
Further, the information database will provide Beston with a rich source of information to find and test areas of operational improvement in future. The electronic system provides instant feedback which enables management to measure the impact and propose improvements along the way.