Case Studies

Fonterra Edgecumbe Case Study

Situation Background

Fonterra's Edgecumbe site is a 10 ha milk processing facility located in the Eastern Bay of Plenty with 380 staff on site and peak capacity of 4 million litres of milk per day.

As part of his Diploma in Maintenance and Reliability training Allyn Towler used reliability and maintenance best practice tools to seek and justify plant performance and plant availability improvements in the site's casein drying plant. This was carried out as a project based learning exercise related directly to the workplace.

Automation systems control all electronic, electrical, pumping and piping systems involved in casein manufacture and provide an interface for operators to monitor and control the process using computer screens.

Opportunities

The situation analysis and research documented by Allyn and carried out as part of the project based learning process for the Diploma uncovered three areas of opportunity

• Large losses in dryer downtime, repair and maintenance costs, and associated yield losses.
• High, and at times erratic, steam consumption for the dryer.
• Recurring severe damage to production equipment caused by variable quality and consistency of casein curd.

These opportunities were quantified using a range of analysis tools and techniques and then improvement strategies were developed to reduce the costs and losses.

Improvement Plan

Four improvement strategies were developed

• Re-engineer curd chopper rotor to increase service range
• Addition of a curd mill to enhance product consistency and reduce energy costs
• Improved pH control of curd
• Improved wash water flow control

The first of these improvements is responsible for the savings outlined below between seasons 06 and 07. The other three have been put forward for implementation in upcoming improvement works.

The table shows costs and dramatic improvement as a direct result of implementation of improvement strategies for season 07.

Business Benefits

Accounting for variations in costing and performance measurement the initial improvement has been responsible for a business nett gain of $750,000. Other opportunities for process improvement were identified and a plan has been implemented to gain business benefit from the opportunities identified as part of the overall continuous improvement process followed at the site.