Opportunity
Sugarfina is a fast-growing multi-channel retailer of high-quality artisanal candies. Their core product format, a small cube of candy, is filled by hand in their production room in Los Angeles. The majority of candy cubes are also hand-labeled and laser stamped with a best buy date
Challenge
Allocating time to focus on improving production processes can be challenging for companies running at more than 100% capacity. Sugarfina's most popular champagne gummy bears were not able to run through the incredibly fast and accurate robotic labeling equipment due to a slick residue left on the outside of the packaging cubes during the manual fill process. We needed to develop a new process that allowed robotic processing and kept the equipment queued with work.
Solution
We engineered a new “touchless” filling method and developed a system to queue
work-in-process ahead of the robotic equipment, ensuring high availability and utilization. Production associates can now fill up to 48 cubes simultaneously, improving fill consistency and accuracy while eliminating the source of the slick residue. A focused project on process improvement can reap significant gains in production efficiency for companies seeking to increase peak capacity.
Results
We increased small cube production throughput by 45% and decreased unit cost by 33%. This resulted in over $200,000 in annual labor savings and allowed a substantial increase in daily production output, delaying the need to expand to a larger facility.
About Us
We're former startup operators with deep experience in logistics, order fulfillment, warehousing, supply chain and inventory control. We’ve helped multiple high-growth product companies locate capable fulfillment partners, optimize warehouse efficiency, upgrade operations technologies and improve overall operating performance.