By Francesco Velluto, Former CEO, Lean Professor and Business Consultant
A Gemba Walk
It all began in 2021 with a Gemba walk alongside the CEO of a historic Italian pasta factory. At that time, Lean practices had not yet been implemented, but the willingness to embrace change was strong.
The organization was facing challenges with sales in foreign markets and instability in the packaging department.
Lean implementation was a top priority.
Early Success
Financial results soon confirmed the Lean journey was on the right track:
- In 2022, inventory turns increased by 25.8%
- In 2023, net profit quadrupled compared to the previous year
Was Lean a magic solution? Not at all! It was a matter of adopting the right behaviours, standards, changeover analysis, and total productive maintenance (TPM).
The first crucial step was fostering a Lean mindset across the organization, aligning all employees with the company’s KPI strategy. Each employee was encouraged to actively contribute to achieving company KPIs by working more efficiently, eliminating waste, and focusing on what truly matters: creating value for the customer — the pasta itself.
Stay the Course
Day by day, an increasing number of employees became enthusiastic about joining the Lean journey. Several Lean projects were developed, and 5 employees successfully obtained their Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certifications.
Through daily Gemba walks, changeover reduction, and TPM implementation, robust standards were progressively established. Changing the mindset and overcoming the ingrained “we’ve always done it this way” philosophy required significant effort. But leading by example made the transition smoother and results soon followed.
Initially, the maintenance department was skeptical about TPM, and it took 6 months before they fully embraced it. However, once aligned, they made significant progress.
Digital Pasta!
Lean practices soon became fully digital across the entire factory. Every piece of equipment, tool, grain silo, mixer, packaging machine, and even each lighting point was assigned an IP address. This enabled the factory to be fully monitored through an Andon system and large screen dashboards. With continuous data recording, each department gained the ability to analyze results and improve performance.
Predictive maintenance gained excellent results based on data collection through the IP address. Predictive maintenance plans are continuously updated to occur when appropriate and to minimize production stops. The process will even predict when the Andon lights need to be replaced.
The same approach was applied to a hybrid gas and photovoltaic power generation system. It was designed to achieve the most efficient and cost-effective operation based on prevailing weather conditions and the current cost of gas. This generated benefits in terms of environmental sustainability, but also for the local community, when surplus power was supplied to the community at a reduced price.
This transformation stands as a remarkable success story in the Italian pasta industry.
Francesco Velluto
Francesco has been responsible for Business Unit execution of business and strategic plans for the achievement of targets and KPIs; leading the Management Team and working closely with organization functions: Sales, Finance, Quality, HR, HSE, Operations, Logistics, Process Excellence, Engineering, Facility. His duties included:
- Plan and allocate necessary resources and investments in line with the budget.
- Implement site operational and efficiency improvement plans aiming to the WCM.
- Manage capital investments projects.
- Ensure high performing resources.
- Improve “social” climate and manage the on-site workforce representative / union.
- Represent the Company and the BU at the local community and state authorities and develop relationships and contacts with them.
- Ensure that the site complies with the Corporate standards and local rules and regulations.
- Lead initiatives to increase people engagement.
- Lead cross functional and countries Strategy Deployment projects on behalf of the Group Headquarter.
- In charge like Sponsor for Technology Transfer projects from EU to China.
- Lean sponsor for implementation projects since 2004 in the Operation, Logistics and Administration area.
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