The challenge
Embotelladora Andina, one of Latin America’s largest Coca-Cola bottlers, witnessed robust improvements after introducing TPM on a single line in Monte Cristo, Córdoba, leading plant leadership to introduce the program to the other lines. Efficiency showed a steady 10% increase over five years but, as with so many continuous improvement programs, it started losing steam and eventually stagnated.
CCi conducted a loss and waste assessment and an evaluation of standard practices which exposed significant opportunities for improvement. There was little teamwork, and no structures for operators to be empowered. Improvements were made, but they were purely directional with no team involvement, which often resulted in disengagement.
Embotelladora Andina SA is a Chile-based company engaged in the production of soft drinks in Chile, Brazil and Argentina. Andina’s principal business is the production and distribution of Coca-Cola brand soft drinks, among others, through licensing agreements with the Coca-Cola Company.
The solution
- Introduce CCi TRACC solution principles and processes
A Site Steering Committee (SSC) workshop was held, followed by the rollout of the Leading and Managing Change (LMC) TRACC. The continuous improvement initiative was called SEA: ‘Sistema de Excelencia Andina’, which translates to ‘Andina Excellence System’. - Train the three Implementation Task Forces (ITFs)
The ITFs formed the implementation of Phase 2 of the core TRACCs. Each ITF has its own area of responsibility for implementing SEA:
• ITF1 is responsible for the carbonated lines (lines one to 11, as well as the bag-in-box line)
• ITF2 is responsible for the sensitive lines (five water, isotonic drinks and juice lines)
• ITF3 is responsible for the logistics processes (sorting, selection, etc) - Train the operational teams in all fundamental best practices
By improving the general and specific skills of each team member, the practice of team rotation could be eliminated and replaced with multidisciplinary teams instead. Training was further refined when HR and Production joined forces with a local university to establish the Technical School of Manufacturing (ETM). The school produces manuals for operator functions and standard routines, operating manuals, and job plan design that guarantees the skills of at least three operators in three teams. The standardized business processes enable daily operational meetings to be linked to weekly and monthly management meetings. This allows the periodic review of operational, tactical and strategic KPIs to track the expected results.
The results
Coca Cola Andina embedded a strong problem-solving culture to identify and remove waste across all lines
Andina has seen exponential improvements across all lines, with teams empowered to self-solve and focus on defined improvement goals. The savings achieved since the start of the program are roughly the equivalent of installing a new production line.
8% increasein OEE over the last five years
47% reduction in raw material loss (sweetener)
8% reduction in returnable bottle breakage
19% reduction in preform breakage
49% reduction in plant accidents
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