How a hands-on investigation traced a rising failure rate to two fixable problems — neither of them the carton.
A private label food producer was under pressure to improve production performance while also pursuing packaging cost savings. During a carton trial, pallets were shifting, cases were crushing, and cartons were randomly jamming on the filling line. The result was frustration from the production floor all the way to procurement and management — and missed production targets.
We went onsite to see the problem firsthand, talking with the people running the equipment and reviewing pallet layouts, case packing, filling machine performance, and production samples from the previous supplier. Using TOPS software, our planning team optimized the case pack and pallet layout without increasing the quoted cost. We also looked beyond the carton itself to identify other factors affecting performance.
The investigation uncovered two issues outside of the carton: warped guiding trays on the filling line were damaging cartons, and inconsistently formed product was creating excess friction. After the customer replaced the trays and improved product forming, the failure rate dropped from more than 10% to less than 1% — surpassing their production targets. No more crushed cases, no more shifting pallets.
“A production-floor problem that took showing up and listening to fix, not another vendor call.”
“When equipment couldn’t keep up with demand, we found a way to add capacity without tying up capital.”