“The model let us test every scenario before committing to the design—we achieved 15% cost reduction and a 3-year payback on a £16.5 million investment.”
— Operations Director
The Challenge
A food manufacturer producing potato-based ready meals across multiple sites faced rising costs and inconsistent yields. Existing facilities had evolved over decades, accumulating inefficiencies in material flow, labour utilisation, and potato processing. Giveaway was higher than it should be, changeovers took too long, and production costs were eroding margins.
The solution was clear—consolidate into a single, purpose-built automated factory designed from the ground up using Lean principles. But a £16.5 million investment required certainty. Which layout would deliver the best performance? What level of automation was justified? Would the projected cost savings actually materialise? Without modelled evidence, the investment remained too risky to approve.
The Solution
We designed the new factory from first principles, using Lean methodology to eliminate waste and optimise flow. The model captured every aspect of the operation—from raw potato intake through processing, assembly, and packing—allowing us to test scenarios and refine the design before breaking ground.
Lean Factory Design
Starting with a blank sheet, we designed material flows to minimise handling, reduce work-in-progress, and eliminate the inefficiencies that had accumulated in the legacy facilities. Every metre of movement, every buffer location, and every handoff point was justified against Lean principles. The result was a factory layout where value flowed smoothly from raw material to finished product.
Scenario Planning
We modelled multiple factory configurations to find the design that delivered the best performance. Each scenario tested different levels of automation, alternative layouts, and varying production strategies. This wasn’t about finding a solution that worked—it was about finding the optimal solution that maximised return on the £16.5 million investment.
Yield Optimisation
Potato yield and giveaway were major cost drivers in the existing operation. The new factory design incorporated processing equipment and controls specifically selected to maximise yield from raw potatoes and reduce giveaway in finished products. The model quantified the savings from these improvements, building them into the investment case.
Production Scheduling
The model developed production schedules that minimised changeover time and maximised equipment utilisation. By sequencing products intelligently and designing the factory for quick changeovers, we reduced the time lost between production runs—time that directly impacts capacity and cost.
The Results
The Lean-designed factory delivered step-change improvements in cost and efficiency:
15% product cost reduction compared with existing operations, driven by reduced giveaway and increased potato yield.
3-year payback on the £16.5 million investment, validated through detailed scenario modelling.
Quicker changeovers through optimised production scheduling and factory design built around efficient transitions.
Consolidated operations bringing all potato-based ready meal production into a single, automated facility.
Optimised design selected from multiple scenarios, ensuring the factory layout delivered the best possible performance.
The manufacturer replaced legacy inefficiency with a purpose-built operation—designed on Lean principles, validated through modelling, and delivering returns from day one of production.