Insights from our Industry Webinar on Leveraging Real-Time Monitoring for Meaningful Insights in Food Production.

In this article, we recap key insights from our recent webinar exploring how food manufacturers can manage the added pressure that comes with peak production, while protecting standards, efficiency, and margin. The session featured key insights from:

  • Alex Carlyon, Key Account Director, Klipspringer.
  • Lars Turner, Director, Foodclean.

If you are short on time, you will find a bulleted list of key takeaways at the end of each section.

Watch the complete webinar recording
Register to attend our upcoming webinar on Allergen Testing

Busy vs Profitable: Why Does Peak Production Not Always Mean More Profit?

A common assumption is that higher throughput naturally leads to higher profit. In reality, the relationship is rarely that simple.

As production increases, so can waste, downtime, overtime, breakdowns, rework, logistics costs, and other inefficiencies. The result is a gap between what the business expects to make from peak production and what it actually makes. This is known as: profit erosion.

Profit erosion matters to every department. Technical, Hygiene, Production, and Engineering teams all have an impact on profit and loss (P&L) through the decisions they make every day. And when profit is lower than expected, investment can be one of the first things affected.

Key Takeaways

  • Higher production does not automatically mean higher profit
  • Small inefficiencies can quickly become significant costs during peak
  • Every department can influence profitability
  • Reduced profit can limit future investment

Where Does Profit Leakage Come From?

In the next section of the webinar, Lars identified nine common areas where profit leakage can occur during peak production.

1. Equipment Strain

Longer and faster production runs can increase breakdown risk while reducing the length of preventative maintenance windows. Equipment designed for normal production may also struggle with peak demand. When something does fail, the cost of lost production and reactive support can be much higher.

2. Labour Costs Climb

Over time, agency workers and operators being away from work due to fatigue can increase costs. There is also a hidden cost when experienced team members are pulled away from their normal tasks to firefight problems. The people who should be in charge of preventing issues are often the ones who end up dealing with them.

3. Seasonal Specials

Seasonal products bring with them extra complexity. More products means more changeovers and shorter runs, while new ingredients, allergens, and bespoke packaging can introduce additional risks and costs.

4. Defects and Errors

Faster does not always mean more efficient. Increasing line speeds can increase scrap, waste, rework, and defects if processes are not properly controlled. Seasonal products can introduce further risk because teams may be working with unfamiliar products or processes.

5. Over Production

Poor forecasting can be expensive in either direction. Underestimating demand can mean missed sales, while overestimating it can leave businesses with excess product, ingredients, or packaging. Additional storage and distribution requirements also need to be carefully planned before demand production peaks.

6. Logistics and Supply Chain

Peak demand puts pressure on logistics networks too. Temporary drivers, additional vehicles, and third-part providers can all increase costs. Limited availability and rushed processes can also lead to delivery errors and penalties.

7. Consumer Promotions

Retailer-funded deals often come with their own cost structure and can carry a penalty risk if an issue arises on the manufacturer’s side. This risk can be heightened during peak periods compared with standard operating times.

8. Immeasurable Costs

Not every cost appears neatly on a spreadsheet. Time spent firefighting, employee burnout, staff turnover, and the difficulty of scaling back down after peak can all have a significant impact.

9. Audit Season

Peak production will often coincide with increased audit pressure. Auditors may assess how processes perform under pressure, while teams are already stretched. Any non-conformances identified can then create additional work at exactly the wrong time.

Key Takeaways

  • Equipment, labour, and seasonal complexity can all increase costs
  • Higher production speeds can create more waste and defects
  • Poor planning can result in excess stock or missed sales
  • Logistics pressures can increase costs and delivery risks
  • Firefighting and burnout create hidden costs
  • Peak production can increase the pressure of audits and corrective actions

5 Actions To Take Immediately

Not every challenge is within our control. In the webinar, Alex introduced Stephen Covey’s Circle of Control as a way of focusing attention on what we can actually influence.

Rather than spending time worrying about everything that could go wrong, teams should focus on the actions they can take themselves. Five simple behaviours were highlighted:

1. Plan Ahead

Ask: What could go wrong and what can I do about it now?

Schedule preventative maintenance, protect maintenance windows, check critical spares, and get documentation ready before peak pressure builds.

2. Walk the Floor

Your frontline teams are often your earliest warning system. Walk the floor, ask what is causing problems, then make sure to act on what you hear.

3. Build Goodwill

Peak production puts people under pressure, so culture is incredibly important. It’s crucial that you make temporary staff feel welcome, use a buddy system where appropriate, recognise people’s efforts, and look for emerging talent within your teams.

4. Prime Your Partners

Identify the suppliers and partners you are going to need to rely on when things get difficult. Agree expectations around spare equipment, availability, delivery times, and response times before you need them.

5. Slow Down to Speed Up

When pressure increases, the instinct is often to push harder. Sometimes the smarter approach is to stop and get things right first.

Extra checks, simpler processes, and a short pause to understand potential problems can help to prevent much bigger issues further down the line.

Key Takeaways

  • Focus on what you can control
  • Prepare before problems occur
  • Listen to the people closest to the process
  • Build strong relationships with key suppliers
  • Do not sacrifice control in the pursuit of speed

Webinar Q&A

Which areas of profit leakage are most likely to catch sites off guard during peak production?

Lars explained that the answer varies from site to site, but maintenance and firefighting are two common issues. Peak production puts extra pressure on equipment while maintenance windows become harder to protect. Without preventative maintenance, the risk of breakdowns and costly reactive call-outs increases. Experienced staff can also find themselves pulled away from their normal roles to firefight problems. This leaves less time for proactive planning and prevention.

The solution is to plan for the unexpected. Use risk matrices, scenario planning, and simple ‘what if?’ exercises to agree how your team will respond before problems occur. Alex also highlighted the importance of incremental wins. Focus on the problems you experienced last year and make small changes to prevent them from happening again.

How can we get senior management engaged when there is a disconnect between the boardroom and the shop floor?

Alex’s advice was to bring solutions, not just problems. It is easy to focus on everything that is going wrong. Instead, consider what you can do to address even part of the problem and present this alongside the issue.

Lars added that recurring problems should not simply be accepted as part of peak production. Look back at what went wrong, get the team together, and agree what will be done differently this time. You may not be able to predict every new challenge, but you can prepare for the ones you already know about.

When things get tight, what should you flex on and what is non-negotiable?

What a business can flex on depends on its products, processes, and business model. A business built around seasonal production will have very different priorities from one where peak demand is an addition to normal trade. The key is to make these decisions before the pressure hits. Understand your pressure points, decide where flexibility exists, and be clear on the areas where you cannot afford to compromise.

Watch the complete webinar recording
Register to attend our upcoming webinar on Allergen Testing

So there you have it, the key takeaways from our recent industry webinar: Peak Production: Springboard or Setback?

If you have any questions about peak production or the support we can provide here at Klipspringer, you can contact our team on 01473 461 800 or email sales@klipspringer.com. Alternatively, fill out the form below.

If you have any questions about peak production and the support we can provide here at Klipspringer, share your contact details below.