Challenge
A major food manufacturer was opening a new packaging facility with an entirely new workforce with little to no experience in the food industry. The client was concerned with the potential for undue delays and inefficiencies in operations when the plant opened because they did not have documented procedures or training.
To ensure smooth start-up of all the packing lines when the plant officially opened, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and training materials were required on the operation and maintenance of the equipment, best practices, food handling regulations, and company standards and policies.
Solution
Radcom recommended shadowing and interviewing one key person in each position of the company to identify company processes and best practices. Radcom also reviewed existing forms, government food handling regulations, and equipment manuals. The information and knowledge gain was used to create SOPs for every position in the company, including warehouse operations, finance, shipping, maintenance, and line operations. In total Radcom wrote 157 SOPs and work instructions.
To ensure that the new employees were properly trained using the SOPs and work instructions, Radcom created checklists for the trainer to use during on-the-job-training. The checklists listed the applicable SOPs, work instructions, company forms, and equipment for each position. It also provided a list of tasks to explain, demonstrate, and observe for each position. After an employee learned and demonstrated the ability to perform each task required for the position, the employee and the trainer signed the checklist as a record for human resources.
The entire project was successfully completed and rolled out in advance of the plant opening. For the first time in the history of the company, they successfully started-up four packaging lines at the same time. The CEO of the company attributed this success to the quality of the SOPs and training materials.
