Food and beverage
Higher production capacity for a craft brewery
Client
Ridgeback Brewing
Service
Operations
Location
Fort Collins, Colorado
Ridgeback was turning down distributor orders because the brewhouse appeared to be at full capacity. We mapped a full week of production and found most of the lost time in cleaning, changeovers and packaging delays.
The challenge
The owners were pricing a second brewhouse and a night shift. Before spending that money, they wanted to know how much capacity the current setup really had.
What we did
Timed every brew, clean and changeover for a full week
Resequenced the schedule so similar beers ran back to back
Moved packaging to a fixed daily slot
Set up a one-page daily board for the brew team
The result
Weekly output rose 19% with the same team and the same equipment. The second brewhouse is on hold until demand grows past what the schedule can absorb.
+19%
Output per week
41 min
Saved on each changeover
$0
Spent on new equipment
Vantage found capacity we did not know we had, and we increased output without new equipment.
Pete Larsen
Co-owner
