€15B
Annual turnover
Restoring Operational Excellence to Scale Globally
A global consumer health company needed to internalize production from external manufacturers while creating a unified operational culture. EFESO worked with the in-house team to redesign the company’s operational excellence program across 23 plants in four countries. The transformation was delivering measurable improvements after just six months of implementation.
Industry: Life Sciences
Service: Manufacturing
Service: Operational Excellence
Service: Operations Strategy and Transformation
Service: People and Organization
Our Client
The company is a spinoff from three major pharmaceutical brands and specializes in non-prescription medicaments. It operates in five consumer health product categories and has a strong global presence. This strategic formation allows the company to focus specifically on consumer health while leveraging the combined expertise and infrastructure of its parent organizations.
23
Manufacturing plants globally
4
Countries with operations
55-60%
Current production internalized
“The CIL is improving the standards of my product line. We are increasing capacity and stabilizing operations.
“
The Challenge
The newly formed consumer health company faced complex operational and cultural transformation requirements across its global manufacturing network.
- Fragmented operational approaches: Plants operated with inconsistent methodologies for autonomous maintenance, progressive maintenance and OEE measurement – a legacy of combining operations from three different pharmaceutical companies
- External production dependency: With only 55-60% of production internalized and the remainder handled by contract manufacturers, rising costs demanded a shift to increase internal capacity utilization to 75-80%
- Cultural transformation needs: The organization needed to create a unified company culture, while shifting from a highly regulated pharmaceutical mindset to a consumer health approach that embraces continuous improvement
Real Results Achieved Together
Within six months of program implementation, the transformation delivered significant operational improvements and cultural shifts. The success of pilot lines demonstrated the program's potential for broader deployment across the global network.
30%
Reduction in unplanned stops
6
Months to initial results
2
Pilot lines transformed
Transformation Impact
- Increased employee engagement and understanding within teams of how daily activities connect to business stability
- Leadership buy-in with board-level recognition of operational excellence as a strategic driver
- Validated standards ready for global rollout across remaining plants and regions
Our Approach
We structured the transformation through three integrated blocks while maintaining continuity with existing efforts.
- In phase one, we redesigned the operational excellence program content, establishing strategic intent and creating pillar structures with clear capability centers.
- Secondly, we delivered tailored training at multiple organizational levels—from shop floor to global teams, pillar owners and leadership—ensuring each level understood their specific role.
- Finally, we implemented the program in a lead site, developing and validating standards through daily direction setting and run on target systems. This created standardized daily management for critical processes including centerline, CIL and changeovers.
Throughout the implementation we continuously aligned with internal stakeholders, building from existing foundations rather than replacing previous work.
The approach emphasized the creation of phases with clear endpoints, helping teams understand the journey toward increased capability and improved behaviors.
Related Services
Manufacturing
Aging equipment meets rising costs and technology disruption. We transform operations through smart factory integration, predictive maintenance, and workforce capability building.
Operations Strategy and Transformation
Helping organizations rethink how they create value. We strengthen performance, build resilience, and accelerate growth across every layer of your business.
People and Organization
Workforce transformation, leadership development, and structure optimization. Learn more about our People & Organization consulting services.
Facing Similar Manufacturing Integration Challenges?
- Struggling with inconsistent operational practices across multiple sites from mergers or acquisitions
- Seeking to internalize production while dramatically improving capacity utilization and reducing costs
- Ready to build lasting operational excellence capability that transforms both culture and performance
Discover More Clients Results
45K m²
Optimized factory layout (reduced from 52 Km²)
Industrial Manufacturing
Restarting a Greenfield Factory Planning Project
Creating a solid, structured plan for the material flow of its production and validated the static forecast, enabling the factory to increase the output with the existing machinery.
80%
Projects realized on-time
Transportation, Logistics and Services
Achieving Sustainable Transformation, From Vision to Strategy and Implementation, for a Major European Port
Transformed Europe's second-largest port into climate-neutral hub while increasing throughput and securing substantial EU funding.
>98.5%
Delivery readiness level consistently maintained despite inflation, sustainability investments and 12% volume growth
Food & Beverage
Unified Performance and Culture Transformation Across a Global Food Network
An eight year journey hardwired a common way of thinking and working into the organization, enabling Bell Food Group to sustain delivery performance above 98.5% despite rising costs and market complexity.
~10K m²
Optimized factory footprint
Aerospace & Defense
Designing a Future-Proof Drone Factory Through Modular Factory Planning
Design of a future-proof, modular drone factory enabling multi-product manufacturing, rapid scalability, and optimized investment for aerospace defence applications.
35%
Reduction in logistics headcount through automation
Food & Beverage
Enabling Efficient Greenfield Dairy Operations Through Production and Logistics Planning
EFESO supported the design and realization of a 30,000 sqm greenfield dairy plant, delivering an integrated factory planning concept with full automation and optimized material flows and scalable operational concepts.
+10K
Pallet positions created through optimized DC layout expansion design
Life Sciences
Feasibility Study Enables +10,000 Pallet Pharma Distribution Center in Romania
EFESO conducted a feasibility study for a new 10,000-pallet automated warehouse in Romania, optimizing logistics design, layout, and CAPEX to enable scalable, efficient pharmaceutical distribution.
10%
CAGR in assembly labor productivity in participating plants
Automotive and Commercial Vehicles
A Competitive Award as the Catalyst for Global Factory Excellence at a global Automotive OEM
EFESO implemented a global award-based operational excellence program for a leading automotive OEM, boosting productivity, cost efficiency, employee engagement, and sustainability across the factory network.
+$10M
Annual margin improvement through better loss control and operational routines
Oil & Gas, Sustainable Energy
Co-creating the Industrial Future with Lean in a Refinery for a Leading Global Oil Company
A major refinery embed lean practices, improve operational performance, and strengthen cultural engagement, generating significant financial and organizational impact.