Our team started by examining key processes. Part of the work flow involved using a large machine to lift drums of raw materials into a giant mixing vat (see photos below). This process added large amounts of time, energy and air bubbles. Once we had given the workers the authority to start questioning the old methods of operating, they quickly realized there was a better way.

Tapping into the worker’s expertise, we helped them devise a simpler solution. Rather than dump the material into a big vat which is then pumped into the bottling machine, they attached a small pump and tube directly to the drum so the material did not have to be lifted then churned.

This dramatically reduced the number of defects and changeover time. Now they could produce smaller batches of several different products quickly, without losing time spent cleaning and resetting the systems.

What started as concerns over defects caused by machines evolved into a discussion of how machines were loaded and used. Gourmet Garden was able to develop their own solutions.  This had a massive impact by eliminating the need to open new facilities in the United States.

This simple mechanical process change reduced the defect level from 3.7% down to 0.15%, saving over $97,000 a day!

AgSolutions started its transformation by enacting comprehensive production planning changes which enabled rapid flow and process optimizations. Furthermore, we implemented a visual product dispatch planning system to create a response based production system. As a result, new sharing of information was needed. We formed new teams of people and new informational displays to meet the sales needs. These facilitated proper forecasting of customer demands and improved production capacity.

We also developed for AgSolutions their own custom ERP (enterprise resource planning software). This comprehensive application was developed in less than 1 month thanks to our proprietary IP.  This development incorporate older systems and other department software to maintain information flow and increase response times at all levels of the organization.

Finally, we developed and implemented custom CRM (customer relationship management) software for their sales department along with corporate dashboards for real-time analysis of the organization’s, sales, production, financial performance, and investments.

AgSolutions achieved focused all-inclusive change for their business. Lead-time decreased dramatically from 3 months to a single day for most products, and the previous 12 weeks worth of inventory was refined into just 6 days worth of inventory.

With our guidance, each plant was transformed from producing 8 batches per day up to 70 batches per day. This was the result of improving the milling plants’ quality, rising 40% higher than original engineering specifications. The various plants’ capacity increased 158% while halving batch sizes concurrently.

Overall, factory capacity increased 158%, with sales increasing 161% in just 6 months. AgSolutions now enjoys the alignment of its leaders and its owners. We have recently designed a new green field site due to our success and market demand for more of AgSolutions’ products, which provide beef weight gain, field growth, and nutrient gain so farmers can provide superior nutrition to the communities they serve.