Savings through Clarity:

Danone Nutricia Cuijk

The Danone Nutricia organization in Cuijk, the Netherlands (a European leader in powdered milk for infant nutrition) was faced with a series of urgent targets. Operating efficiency needed a boost, rationalizations had to be carried out in maintenance and purchasing. Supply-Point director Gert-Jan Hoogers contacted ARV Group for support.

ARV Group presented a plan tailored to the supply point's needs. The assessment showed that the plant could, in fact, achieve structural savings even more ambitious than what management had first considered feasible.

Performance management embedded

The "Clarity" project, as proposed by ARV Group, was based on a cost-savings program, including OEE improvement, waste reduction, purchasing optimization and cutting the cost of maintenance materials. All of this was enabled by the setting-up and "embedding" of a performance-management system, to provide a backbone for enhancing continuous improvement.

SGAs were formed which would operate for a maximum of six weeks. Improvements became visible fast; an important factor in maintaining motivation. "The pace at which the implementation traveled and improvements were made was, to many people, a shock in itself,” says ARV Group senior consultant Jeroen Verheijen.

Structural savings

By the end of the program, OEE at the two spray-driers and two packaging lines had risen by 20 – 40%. Waste had been reduced by 30%. Structural savings at the end of the twelve-month program amounted to € 2.7 million/year.

ARV Group did not leave the project until the underlying processes were firmly in place; as a result, the performance management system was safeguarded and firmly embedded within the supply point’s operations, including the role-development of Nutricia leaders and facilitators. Once these were anchored within the organization, this persistence and commitment helped to finally nail down the results.

Supply-Point Manager Gert-Jan Hoogers: "With the Clarity program we're writing company history, and that is quite an achievement, something we can all be proud of. The drive and motivation of the local MT was instrumental in making this project a great success as well. Clarity has facilitated the actual implementation of our Supply Point Master Plan, and so provides us with the competitive edge we strive for."