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WCOM Implementation in Industrial Bakery Delivers More Than $2.5 Million in Annualized Savings

A large industrial bakery was experiencing significant operational inefficiencies that limited productivity, increased costs, and constrained overall plant performance.

Industry: Food & Beverage

Service: Leadership & Change Management

Service: Manufacturing

Service: Material Cost Optimization

Service: Operational Excellence

Service: Profitability Programs

Parallaxe

Our Client

A large North American industrial bakery with approximately 1,000 employees and seven production lines manufacturing frozen cookies, bread, muffins, ready-to-eat cookies, and flatbread products.

1K

employees

7

Production lines

“

The EFESO team was highly effective in engaging our shop floor workforce and creating ownership for improvement. Their hands-on approach and close collaboration with our production teams helped accelerate results and build lasting capabilities throughout the organization.

“
Parallaxe

The Challenge

The bakery was experiencing significant operational inefficiencies that limited productivity, increased costs, and constrained overall plant performance. Key challenges included:

  • High levels of unplanned downtime impacting production reliability
  • Excessive material waste and quality losses across multiple production lines
  • Limited maintenance capability leading to prolonged equipment failures
  • Lack of structured manufacturing systems and performance management routines
  • Low leadership maturity and limited frontline ownership of results
  • High hourly and temporary labor turnover
  • Reduced engagement and sponsorship from senior leadership during portions of the transformation
  • Operational disruptions resulting from COVID-related restrictions

Real Results Achieved Together

A comprehensive operational assessment identified substantial opportunities to improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), reduce losses, strengthen management systems, and improve workforce engagement.

EFESO deployed a structured WCOM Boost & Build transformation focused on loss elimination, capability development, and sustainable management systems.

$2.5M

Annualized savings

5.7%

increase in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)

20%

Reduction in production-line waste

90%

Reduction in finished goods destruction

Transformation Impact

  • Significant reductions in unplanned downtime
  • Improved startup, changeover, and operational consistency
  • Improved product quality and process stability
  • >$570,000 in direct labor savings
  • >$500,000 in food and material waste savings
  • ~$350,000 reduction in finished goods destruction costs
  • Performance management system embedded throughout the plant
  • Improved leadership effectiveness and employee engagement
  • Enhanced problem-solving capability and ownership at all organizational levels
  • Foundation established for sustained continuous improvement
Parallaxe

Our Approach

Loss Intelligence and Prioritization

  • Comprehensive loss analysis across all production lines
  • Identification of major losses related to downtime, startup and changeover performance, and quality defects
  • Pareto-based prioritization to focus resources on the highest-value opportunities

Cross-Functional Loss Reduction Teams

  • Deployment of 7–10 focused improvement teams during each Boost cycle
  • Direct engagement of more than 150 employees per cycle
  • Structured problem-solving and root-cause elimination activities

Performance Control System (PCS) Implementation

  • Installation of daily management routines at line, department, and plant levels
  • KPI-driven performance reviews and accountability processes
  • Structured deviation management and action planning
  • Coaching support for frontline leaders and supervisors

Quality and Process Standardization

  • Alignment of operating standards, BOMs, and machine settings
  • Improved process consistency and product quality
  • Reduction of variation across production lines

Leadership Development

  • Development of a core leadership “Triad” within each department
  • Strengthening of frontline ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement capabilities
  • Creation of sustainable management practices to support long-term performance gains

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Facing Similar Operational and Productivity Challenges?

  • Improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and reduce losses, strengthen management systems and improve engagement
  • Increase engagement and sponsorship from senior leadership and raise leadership maturity and frontline ownership of results
  • Focus on loss elimination, capability development, and sustainable management systems
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