Pit-stop trip drives line speeds

General Mills cut production line changeover times from four and a half hours to 12 minutes after sending a team to observe a US stock-car racing pit-stop crew.

Delegates at the Seventh Annual World Food Technology and Innovation Forum in Rotterdam, organised by the World Trade Group (WTG), heard how the future of General Mills' Betty Crocker site in the US had been called into question because of inefficiency.

It took four and a half hours for product changeovers, which occurred several times daily. Randy Darcy, executive vice president of worldwide operations, admitted that "we had serious thoughts about moving production to another site"

Darcy sent a team of seven to North Carolina to spend time with a National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing pit crew. "When the team got back, they had a different mindset," he said.

One of the first things they did was film the product changeover. They then analysed every step and made suggestions to help improve efficiency. The process was repeated again and again to further reduce the time of changeovers.

The employees passed on their findings to the rest of the team, focusing on speed, accuracy and efficiency -- with the conviction that every second counted.

"The best way to move forward is to reach outside the company and work with other organisations. This brings different ideas, new skills and injects a sense of passion," said Darcy.

Another General Mills team was sent to Las Vegas to observe the US Air Force, where they learned how to conduct a formal de-briefing process. This gave them the tools to analyse what was right and wrong about a process.

"There is all too often a culture to run away when things go wrong, but it is one of the only times when you can truly learn something," said Darcy.