Case Study: $7M in savings by benchmarking to unlock plant capacity 

The Challenge: A leading industrial coatings plant in Mexico was struggling with a slow, inefficient batch release process that was severely limiting its productivity. The plant risked falling behind its sister sites and jeopardizing its ability to meet new demand without significant capital investment. The client needed to align with internal benchmarks and establish a culture of operational excellence to unlock hidden capacity.

Our Hands-On Solution: We partnered with the plant leadership to design and facilitate a plant-wide initiative focused on rapid, sustainable improvement. Our approach wasn't about simply implementing tools, but about transforming the entire operational culture by:

• Establishing a Culture of Accountability: We instituted daily huddle meetings and established clear escalation protocols to drive immediate responsiveness and a sense of shared urgency.

• Driving Performance with Data: We visualized performance gaps by benchmarking against top-performing sister sites. This created a healthy sense of competition and showed the team what was truly possible. We then developed a clear KPI framework to track progress and assign ownership of every key metric.

• Sustaining the Gains: We initiated a continuous improvement rhythm through weekly root cause analysis meetings and a long-term roadmap. This ensured a sustainable, downward trend in batch release times, positioning the site as a benchmark for the company's global network.

The Results: Saving an Estimated $7M & Revolutionizing Operations Our strategic intervention delivered a massive return on investment, enabling the client to scale to meet customer demand without the need for additional capital. The results included:

• Water Born Solid Lines: Batch release time decreased from 24.5 hours to just 6 hours.

• Water Born Metal Lines: Batch release time decreased from 38.6 hours to 11.3 hours.

• Total Savings: This significant reduction in lead time and increase in capacity eliminated the need for a major capital investment, resulting in an estimated $7M in savings.