Vertical Startup Cost Comparison

supervisors, management—basically begin sta ng the plant six months before the project concluded, not wait to hire until the last two weeks. This major investment is directly correlated to the ROI from reduced waste (85% less than normal), expanded capacity, and the quality of product that exceeded customer requirements. The time spent training, onboarding, getting comfortable with the equipment, maintenance helping with installation all contributed to hitting and maintaining full production. What’s more, the teams on all shifts were so engaged that the retention rate of the factory floor personnel exceeded all historical records.

For our company, the biggest result was the continued high performance of the team and manufacturing lines after one year of operations. The real value is in achieving sustained operational excellence, and we did that.

FSO INSTITUTE: Mark, your career has been with large multinationals with considerable capital expense budgets. Can you describe the value vertical startup made in your experience?

MARK CACCIATORE: As leader of a large food manufacturing/canning facility, I had the opportunity to put these tenets to practice as the site was awarded significant capital to start up the first aseptic packaging line in the company. Of note, a large capital investment just two years before had a very poor startup, resulting in significant negative business impacts. Given this past performance, management viewed investing in a new line of business at the facility as risky. As such, success of the project was critically important for the future of the plant.

The site leadership committed to a di erent approach, incorporating vertical startup best practices to not only win approval for the project but, in the end, deliver the best new-line startup in company history. The project started up three weeks early, below budget capital and expense, and delivered 87% overall equipment e ectiveness (OEE) in month one with continued improvement to 90+% in succeeding months. This operation quickly became the benchmark performer for the entire division and the learning and training ground for operational excellence across the company.

In my experience some key takeaways include:

• Gain commitment from all cross-functional leaders and stakeholders. It is crucial to the success of the project to get personal engagement of leaders, with joint ownership for project deliverables, including startup and ongoing performance metrics.

• Organize the project with a strong cross-functional project delivery team, including a dedicated delivery leader (ideally the operations leader responsible for the ongoing operations). Additionally, identify a cross-functional leadership project steering team that provides a decision-making forum to help eliminate barriers, resolve conflicts, or provide resource needs.

FSO INSTITUTE: Paul and Mark, given your career experiences of operational responsibilities and large capex projects, you have both expressed a powerful view of manufacturing readiness. Can you share a nal thought?

CACCIATORE: For manufacturing readiness, a commitment to sta the project at the very early stages with high-quality talent is critical. Key roles include a dedicated startup leader, maintenance leader, line leader, and safety and training resources.

SCHAUM: Lessons learned from vertical startup contributes to the daily requirements of manufacturing readiness—worker safety, product quality, personnel engagement, and performance e ciencies.