Scaling up How SMEs can grow into larger BULK HANDLING, STORAGE & LOGISTICS
food manufacturing facilities
Peter Taitoko*
For small- and mid-sized food manufacturers, one of the biggest challenges is how to start scaling up operations. Today there is an endless amount of information available but interpreting this and making the best choices for your business is not simple.
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here are plenty of opportunities today for Australia’s small- to mid-tier food manufacturers, especially for companies that are agile and manufacture highquality products. However, the entrepreneurial spirit that saw owners start businesses can easily be replaced with uncertainty as organic growth leads to the need to scale up. Lack of knowledge about how to scale up is frequently the main obstacle to growth. The initial entrepreneurial ‘nothing-to-lose attitude’ makes way for a defensive risk management strategy and while in the food industry this is critical, it doesn’t need to stand in the way of growing businesses safely and even improving risk management along the way. Scaling up can start by simply optimising and sweating your current assets or adding a shift or two, but as demand continues to build along with operational costs then the options start narrowing towards the need for a larger, newer 74
November/December 2016
facility. Often manufacturers at this stage become almost paralysed by the challenges: “What do I do now, how much will it cost and how long will it take?”
Control scale-up for great results If there is good news then it is this: the transition, when planned properly, can lead to an extremely controlled scale-up with great results. The strategy must be planned with precision yet the execution must allow for flexibility along the way as demand changes course. The more you can define where you want to drive growth for your business and define your target market, the easier it will be to gain direction. It’s important to be clear up front what controls and regulatory requirements need to be in place from your existing and future customers and collaborate closely with their quality teams to ensure that you are designing food-safe facilities and processes.
www.foodprocessing.com.au