Problem: Poorly maintained older machines constantly out of action, lack of communication from supplier.
Company: O-I Glass
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
Not the normal way of planning for most of us but Abraham Lincoln was no ordinary man. He was able to lead America through what was arguably its greatest moral and constitutional crisis in the form of the American civil war.
As was said by another great American Benjamin Franklin, if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” and O-I Glass were living by this maxim with their search for new coffee machines by looking for a supplier that could walk through their planning journey with them to achieve a satisfactory outcome.
In Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address he said “…let us strive on to finish the work we are in…” and O-I Glass and CoffeeTec did just that. From the first call from O-I Glass to the successful installation of the coffee machines we planned each step first, identified all current issues and achieved an outcome that exceeded expectations.
Just as Abraham Lincoln spent the first four hours metaphorically sharpening the axe, we sat down with O-I Glass and worked through the four stages of planning:
- Identification of the outcome required,
- Formulate the right strategy to achieve the outcome,
- Creation of the means required,
- Direct, control and monitor each step so that the outcome is achieved.
Now issues can be difficult to express as they might simply arise from a lack of understanding but as with the personal motto of O-I founder, Michael J Owens “it can be done” we were able to bring to the fore every issue and then plan towards the desired outcome that would minimise the problem or remove it altogether.
So working within the time constraints that were outlined to us by O-I, we were able to arrange a special air freight delivery of the new Vitro X4 coffee machines direct from the manufacturer in the UK and organised the install with our own team.
As it is a 24 hour production at the plant with staggered break times there is no quiet period to do the install but we were able to achieve the installation and commissioning so that staff were not without coffee at any time.
The large hoppers on the Vitro X4 machines and the through bench waste and drainage feature allowed for the machines to be operated throughout the nightshift without the need of refilling or emptying the waste. This took a lot of pressure off the cleaning and the catering staff, allowing them to do just one daily fill and clean at a time that fitted in with their busy schedule.
The result was a seamless changeover in the coffee solution for the plant work force with the added benefit of a vastly superior drink and drink choices and with both management and staff more than satisfied with the outcome.
