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Real time data and tools transforms quality system and empowers team

Published: June 13, 2016 - Updated: June 22, 2016

SPC has been a staple of Australian households for almost 100 years, providing high quality products including packaged fruit, jams, baked beans and many more. 

The SPC manufacturing facility in the Goulburn Valley is a hub of activity, processing approximately 150,000 tonnes of fruit and tomatoes a year and seeing 1,250 pallets received and dispatched every day.

SPC is focussed on providing quality, nutritious pantry items for Australians and supporting local Australian growers and farmers. 

Committed to delivering value from its supply chain to consumers, SPC needed insight into performance improvement opportunities to support business decisions.

We asked SPC Business Process Improvement Manger David Frizzell to explain, “SPC is committed to delivering value to Australian households and wanted a system which would support us to measure and improve our manufacturing process to run as efficiently as possible.”

SPC engaged SAGE Automation to help, our team started with a detailed analysis of their needs and current situation which would best support them to realise their efficiency and quality goals.

SAGE developed a Manufacturing Execution System to provide the manufacturing team with world’s best practice real time data and tools, empowering them to manage the complexity of manufacturing multiple products across 42 processes. 

Process improvements included:

  • Line startup and changeover 
  • Machine utilisation
  • Efficient use of cookers 
  • Paperless quality system (from 1800 paper checks to 240 paperless checks)
  • In-built quality auditing system
  • Crew visibility and flexibility
  • Fast classification of fruit quality as it arrives in the factory 
  • Visibility of material flow for mass balance and yield 
  • Reduced energy costs

David Frizzell explained a key factor in the success of the system. “To realise the full benefit of the new system, it needed to be embraced by our operating team. SAGE  worked with us to engage our team in the project.”

SAGE developed a user adoption program, providing the team with access to performance metrics and tools to be able to deliver and measure changes.

SPC now enjoys real time connectivity between their production systems and other business systems and is seeing the benefits of even greater quality and efficiency.  SPC realised a return on investment which was estimated at $500,000 in the first year.

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