Yield Improvement : Juice Drinks
To improve process understanding and control in the measurement of sugars in solution in fresh juice drinks, in order to reduce false rejects and raw material giveaway...
INDUSTRY:
Consumer goods – juice drinks
SUPPORT LEVEL:
1 consultant, part time support, 6 months
OBJECTIVE:
To improve process understanding and control in the measurement of sugars in solution in fresh juice drinks, in order to reduce false rejects and raw material giveaway.
RESULTS:
- New test method developed with test equipment manufacturer
- Raw material savings of over £1 million per annum
What inspired this manufacturer to pursue this project?
During a problem solving training session (Chartwell’s Fault Tree Modelling methodology for complex technical issues), a client participant asserted that the industry standard refractive test for measuring sugars in solution was neither accurate or repeatable. The participant used Fault Tree Modelling to establish a set of controlled conditions and proved that the inherent uncertainty lead to false product rejects, along with more than £1 million of material giveaway. This loss had been entirely hidden to the business.
Results of the 6 month project
- Raw material giveaway losses reduced by more than £1 million per annum
- The manufacturer of the test equipment released a game-changing test method