Case Study

Bluebird – Snack Foods

Case Study

Bluebird – Snack Foods

“TEG Projects have worked consistently on PepsiCo initiatives and have a well-founded understanding of their systems and processes. Pepsico values relationships with preferred suppliers with a view to creating standard solutions and systems throughout their sites globally, and therefore TEG Projects was an obvious fit for this project”

The primary goal was to increase the capacity of the Copper Kettle’s manufacturing and packing facility by relocating production lines. TEG Projects were well aware of the pressure this would put on both time frames and space availability and therefore careful planning was undertaken.

Client Information

Bluebird Foods is the largest manufacturer of snacks and chips in New Zealand, making a range of recognisable products including Copper Kettle, Cheetos, Delisio and Doritos. Bluebird Foods is a New Zealand based subsidiary of PepsiCo, who operate globally.

Goal

The primary goal was to increase the capacity of the Copper Kettles manufacturing and packing facility. Secondary goals were to improve hygiene standards and combine potato-based manufacturing and packing into one area of the factory, while also subsequently increasing throughput for the Tortilla Chip line. The planned relocation of equipment would also drive the upgrade of machine and operational safety standards.

Why TEG Projects

Our team has provided project resources for Bluebird Foods since TEG Projects was founded in 2005. TEG Projects have also worked consistently on PepsiCo initiatives and have a well-founded understanding of their systems and processes. PepsiCo values relationships with preferred suppliers with a view to creating standard solutions and systems throughout their sites globally, and therefore TEG Projects was an obvious fit for this project.

Solution

In order to create more space and increase throughput for the production of Copper Kettle Chips, the Tortilla Chip line needed to be relocated.

The area nominated for the relocation of the Tortilla Chip line required the Le Snak production facility to be moved. Once the Le Snak equipment had been moved a complete building refurbishment was required involving:

Demolition of a concrete mezzanine structure.
Removal of tile ceiling grid.
Removal of redundant fiber makers equipment, process pipework and air conditioning ducts. (Housed above the ceiling grid at 4.8m from the ground floor)
Installation of hygienic and fire rated panel walls and ceilings.
Laying of stainless-steel floor drains and epoxy floor coatings.

The Tortilla Chip line needed to be completely dismantled for relocation, then reinstalled in the new location.

To improve hygiene standards the production facility needed to be relined with a hygienic panel. Flooring needed to have fresh coatings applied, an air conditioner needed to be installed, and stainless-steel platforms were also required.

Challenges

One of the major challenges on this project was that building works overlapped with equipment installation activities. This put pressure on both time frames and space availability and required careful planning.

The ceiling space as well as some equipment within the space, was contaminated with asbestos, which increased the complexity of the project.

This work was also being undertaken in an operating factory requiring close coordination between operations and project personnel.

Results

Space was appropriately cleared allowing refurbishment activities to be completed for the relocation of the Copper Kettle line. All relocated equipment had safety upgrades to a higher standard and all new equipment had a higher safety rating. Installing hygienic panels, stainless steel platforms and air conditioning systems improved the hygiene standard throughout the factory. Increased throughput was achieved with the installation of new and additional processing equipment. Also, because operator space around equipment and under platforms increased, site safety increased as well as the added benefit of increasing staff wellbeing.

Capabilities

Bluebird – Snack Foods