Achieving operational excellence in the food sector

In the dynamic world of food and agriculture, operational excellence is key to maintaining a competitive edge and achieving sustainable growth. The company in question, a global agribusiness leader, is committed to transforming agriculture and food systems through innovative solutions that enhance productivity, efficiency, and sustainability across its vast operations.

This case study examines how the organization has implemented these principles in its operations, focusing on the challenges and successes encountered at its tomato paste plant.

Leading global agriculture with purpose

The company is a leading global food and agribusiness company, supplying food, ingredients, fiber crops, and animal feed to customers worldwide. Headquartered in Asia, the company operates in over 60 countries, with a focus on farming, processing, and distribution operations. It also aims to tackle global challenges related to food security and sustainability, positively impacting farming communities and stakeholders globally.

Founded in the late 1980’s, it employs approximately 92,000 people and has a customer base of around 22,000. The company has been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series , demonstrating its strong commitment to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles. The company focuses on delivering products across diverse business platforms, including grains, edible oils, protein, and specialty ingredients.

Operational excellence as a key enabler of strategic growth

The company’s strategic goal is to establish itself as the most differentiated and valuable global food and agribusiness company. To realize this ambition, the company is pursuing operational excellence—targeting $200 million in annual savings, a 90–100 day cash-to-cash cycle, and a culture of continuous improvement across all operations.

The operational excellence framework

The operational excellence strategy followed is built on three key pillars, each essential to sustaining its leadership in the agribusiness sector:

1. Foundational competencies: these include business value drivers, performance management, value delivery, and compliance and risk management.
2. Culture and organizational behaviors: inspirational leadership and fostering a founder’s mentality throughout the company.
3. Practice and tools: use of both basic and advanced problem-solving tools, including Value Stream Analysis, basic DMAIC, Lean, Six Sigma, and TPM.

Figure 1 – Key elements of the company’s operational excellence model

With this structured framework, the organization was ready to tackle the operational challenges at one of its plants, turning obstacles into opportunities for innovation.

The tomato paste plant challenge

The plant in Africa faced significant operational disruptions, including the inability to hold meetings or conduct workshops on the shop floor due to a lack of digital communication tools.

How to tackle the challenges

The solution involved implementing remote weekly meetings using digital tools such as benefits trackers and A3 templates. There were also remote workshops implemented using new tools for solutions design.

Through focused actions and initiatives, grounded in the operational excellence model, the team successfully transformed challenges into measurable improvements, ensuring operational continuity and delivering tangible value. Some other key initiatives that led to the results achieved included:

Value Stream Analysis

The primary objective of the Value Stream Analysis (VSA) was to provide a thorough diagnosis of existing processes, identifying opportunities for improvement and areas of waste in both material and information flows. This analysis was presented in a visual format that stimulated participation and engagement from all team members, promoting a shared understanding of the processes.

The implementation of the future projects identified through the VSAs will enable the optimization of the entire workflow. These projects will target not only material flows but also information flows, which will play a critical role in eliminating inefficiencies. Additionally, the VSA helped prioritize actions, eliminate waste, and establish a solid foundation for sustainable and structured improvements. This process was a key step in developing the vision for the future state.

5 Whys exercise

The 5 Whys exercise is a problem-solving technique that was used to identify the root cause of issues, rather than just addressing their symptoms. By repeatedly asking “why” a problem occurred, teams uncovered the underlying causes that led to inefficiencies or errors, enabling more effective and lasting solutions.

This exercise was crucial for ensuring that solutions addressed the root cause, preventing recurrence, and fostering sustainable improvements. It also encouraged collaborative analysis, promoted a deeper understanding of processes, and supported informed decision-making across the team.

Figure 2 – Example of a 5 Whys exercise

Education and training

Education and training were essential for empowering employees to autonomously identify and resolve problems. Through structured learning and skill development, teams were given the opportunity to become more proactive, identify opportunities for improvement, and take ownership of implementing solutions, empowering them to act autonomously.

This approach ensured that continuous improvement was not limited to a few individuals or specific areas but involved everyone across all functions, fostering a culture of engagement and collaboration.

Value delivery cycles

Value delivery cycles focused on the continuous identification of growth and cost reduction opportunities. These cycles enabled teams to systematically spot inefficiencies, propose solutions, and drive measurable impact.

To support these efforts, the ideation toolkit was used to generate and develop improvement ideas in a structured manner. In parallel, a digital platform was created to facilitate the continuous tracking and monitoring of these initiatives. This platform ensured that progress remained visible, measurable, and aligned with organizational objectives, providing teams with real-time insights into the effectiveness of their improvement efforts.

Planned maintenance

Planned maintenance focused on scheduling regular maintenance activities to ensure equipment reliability and minimize unplanned downtime. By proactively maintaining machinery, teams were able to prevent breakdowns, improve operational efficiency, and maintain smooth production flows.

Autonomous maintenance

Autonomous maintenance empowered operators to perform routine checks and basic maintenance on their equipment, reducing downtime and improving yield. This approach allowed technical teams to focus on more complex issues, while operators gained the skills to detect and resolve problems early, enhancing overall operational efficiency.

Early management

Early management focused on continuously incorporating lessons learned from operations to prevent problems before they occurred. This approach included early equipment management, where changes were made to machines to facilitate inspection and maintenance. By doing so, it helped reduce lead times, improve reliability, and integrate continuous improvement practices from the outset.

Quality management

Quality management focused on ensuring high standards across all processes through well-established procedures and regular audits. When necessary, standards were updated, and operators were trained accordingly to support continuous improvement. This approach aimed to prevent defects early in the process, rather than relying on inspections at the final stages of production.

Transforming operations for sustainable growth

The organization’s focus on operational excellence has enabled it to achieve significant financial savings and improve productivity across its operations. By integrating Lean methodologies and leveraging digital tools, the company has successfully maintained continuity and performance even in challenging environments. The tomato paste plant is a prime example of how remote work and digital innovation can support operational goals, enhancing efficiency and cost savings.

Through continuous improvement initiatives, the company is not only achieving operational excellence but also contributing to a sustainable global food system, while remaining well-positioned to meet its ambitious goals for sustainable growth and impact.

Delivering results: Efficiency, savings, and impact

Despite the challenges of remote management, the project not only continued uninterrupted but delivered remarkable financial and operational outcomes. The results achieved were the following:

• Savings of €430,000 over five months.
• Yield increased by 0.7 percentage points (used material).
• Downtime reduced by 22% (hours per week).

Figure 3 – Graphs of the results achieved

These results demonstrate how it is possible to leverage innovation and operational excellence to create lasting value and transform operations.

We are committed to respecting our clients’ confidentiality. While we have altered or omitted their names, the results are genuine.