Lean Diagnostic Assessment and Implementation Delivers $1M+ EBITDA Savings and 20% Increased Employee Output

A $58M private equity-backed manufacturer and distributor of surimi-based seafood products.

The Challenge

After acquiring a manufacturer and distributor of seafood products, a private equity firm wanted to identify labor productivity improvements at a west coast facility. As a secondary priority, the firm wanted to identify other barriers to growth. Through the initial assessment, we found $750K in improvement opportunities, and the private equity firm reengaged with us to implement the opportunities that had the most significant impact.

Our Approach

We assembled a team of experts from supply chain, operations, engineering, and continuous improvement to immediately focus on eliminating capacity constraints. Two of these consultants were placed in the organization as interim managers in key roles.

• Reviewed inventory planning processes for forecasting effectiveness
• Assessed the dissemination of communication between management and production teams
• Recruited for newly created operations roles

The Results

While our diagnostic assessment detailed $750K in labor productivity improvement opportunities, during the implementation phase, we were able to deliver $1.05M in EBITDA savings. This included:

• Implementing 10 successful lean projects
• Increasing employee output by 20%
• Reducing major wash downtime by 50%
• Improving manufacturing efficiency by reconfiguring equipment flow
• Instituting a Manufacturing Process Inspection (MPI) to streamline food safety execution
• Working with the management team to standardize major operational changes, and training internal
• Continuous Improvement (CI) team to sustain lean projects