Phase one: CDC Factory sets up $1M production costs savings for Pinnacle Foods
By Manufacturing Business Technology Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 9/4/2008 10:35:00 AM
Mountain Lakes, N.J.-based Pinnacle Foods Group will use CDC Factory global manufacturing operations management (MOM) solution, offered by CDC Software, at three of Pinnacle’s largest plants in the U.S. during Phase One of the project, with an additional four plants during Phase Two.
Pinnacle plans to save $1 million in annual production costs after Phase One, and a total of $4 million annually after completion of Phase Two. Pinnacle also expects CDC Factory to change its labor and material utilization by rapidly improving cases per man hour of production per plant facility, and converting more “input” into end product.
Based on a benchmark study conducted by CDC Factory consultants and the Pinnacle Foods project team, CDC Factory is expected to provide significant productivity improvements.
Pinnacle, with net sales of $1.54 billion, makes some of the most venerable brands in the U.S., including Duncan Hines baking mixes, Hungry-Man and Swanson Dinners, Mrs. Paul’s frozen foods, Vlasic pickles, and Mrs. Butterworth’s syrups.
“Our due diligence validated the out-of-the box functionality that eliminated the need for costly customizations or a time-consuming project to build an MES [manufacturing execution system],” says Tony Hipszer, CIO of Pinnacle Foods. “This project will focus on improving staff performance by using the manufacturing operations management system that CDC Factory delivers out-of-the-box. We expect this to pay off by increasing our competitive advantage through lowering production costs.
“Our executives are very experienced in the typical plant solution offerings from plant automation and OEE measurement companies,” Hipszer adds. “It was immediately apparent that CDC Factory was completely different than other solutions and offered an impressive implementation that could help us increase our profitability quickly. We believe our greatest opportunity for margin improvements is changing the way the operators and supervisors do their work.”
