With rising costs across the entire value chain, food and beverage producers are feeling pressure from all sides. Raw material suppliers are charging more, customers are looking to pay less, and everything must be balanced very carefully. However, while a lot of challenges are external, there are many things you can control as a food and beverage producer, and as a result, ensure that your business is more secure in the long term. Let’s take a look at some of the actions you can take to improve performance and profits.
Importance of training
A motivated, empowered workforce will help improve performance and productivity across the entire plant. When provided with the right training and guidance, they can help minimise downtime, perform effective maintenance and recognise where there may be opportunities to improve efficiency. This can be facilitated with an effective learning platform as well as proactive, inclusive leadership, and the result is that instead of being the largest driver of cost, your co-workers are the biggest contributors to your long-term success.
Putting more logic in your logistics
Fuel prices are rising, as are associated logistics and freight costs. This can be especially complicated if you’re operating on a global scale, but there are many elements of your logistics that you can control, much of which comes down to effective planning, preparation and packaging. One way to reduce costs is to send larger shipments less often, which is possible as long as your products have the lifespan necessary. Another consideration is whether the packaging allows pallets to be stacked as efficiently as possible. It’s also worth looking into copackers in parts of the world where you sell significant amounts – maybe the logistics are simpler if the production can be handled within the region by a trusted partner.
Minimise waste
There are few things more frustrating than unnecessary wastage, whether that’s at home or within your business. This is especially true in economically challenging times, so it’s essential to take action against product waste, and ensuring you’re getting the most out of your raw materials. A lot of wastage comes from a lack of optimisation in the production line, so it’s crucial that you take the time to analyse where improvements can be made, and how you can ensure that you’re getting the most out of your equipment. This analysis can be done internally, or you can work with an external partner to get a different perspective.
Optimise your uptime
Whether planned or unplanned, equipment downtime can put more financial pressure on your business – the longer and more frequent the breaks in production are, the less you’re able to ship and sell. The good news is that, with the right approach and the right partners, you can reduce downtime significantly. A proactive approach to maintenance is important, as this will help detect potential issues in advance of when they may cause production stops. Also, consider your CIP (cleaning-in-place) procedures. Can they be improved? Can they be planned more effectively? Can you do more CIP across your plant? All small gains add up to make big differences.
Consumable cost reduction
Using and replacing your consumables is an essential part of your operation and, as prices increase everywhere, this may seem like a cost driver that’s out of your control. However, it’s possible to make your consumables last longer with a more thorough approach to maintenance, and with effective planning you can also reduce shipping costs. If you know when you are likely to need more of certain items, you can try to order all of them at the same time, from the same vendor, cutting down on admin time and ensuring they can all arrive in the same delivery.
Focus on what you can control
In times of economic uncertainty, and with prices rising, it can be a challenge to feel like you have everything under control. However, by focusing on the right areas and by taking the right actions now, you can mitigate the impact of these external factors and secure profitability in the long term.