Paperless Quality Checks Eliminate Hundreds of Thousands in Overpack Losses
The largest cheese cooperative in the U.S.
AMPI is the largest cheese cooperative in the United States. More than 1,400 farm families and nearly 1,000 employees are driven by a shared purpose: feeding people. AMPI's dairy farmer-owners produce high-quality milk on family farms across Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota, and collectively own eight Midwest manufacturing plants producing 10 percent of the nation's American-type cheese, processed cheese, and butter.
AMPI has run a series of projects to improve its visibility and control of product quality and process efficiency. At two of its plants, 10in6 replaced paper and spreadsheet systems with real-time digital operations: live efficiency feedback, alerts for out-of-specification conditions, and tighter control of product quality.
"The 10in6 system provides the data we need to prioritize the highest impact fixes."
Reduce giveaway losses and digitize the shop floor
Dairy runs on small margins, and giveaway (overweight product going out the door) comes straight out of them. AMPI had no real-time giveaway data and only limited trend data, so adjustments were made after the fact.
Production and quality were essentially run on Excel, with separate spreadsheets for quality check results, production counts, downtime reasons and more. The data existed, but it wasn't networked, so turning it into decisions was slow.
- No real-time view of giveaway
- Quality checks recorded on paper every 30 minutes
- Various disconnected spreadsheets as the source of production information
- Difficult to assemble information to focus improvement efforts
- Limited historical analysis of quality or efficiency issues
"After moving our quality checks to 10in6 it was the first time we had a good view of overpack. We used to write down check results on paper every 30 minutes but had no way to view the data in real time or historically for trends. We now receive real-time alerts so adjustments can be made immediately. This one change has resulted in significant savings."
10in6 modules deployed
AMPI implemented several 10in6 modules as part of its digitization initiative.
Production Reporting & Efficiency
- Mobile views to monitor the entire plant for quick decision-making
- Automated shift, daily, and weekly production reports
- Process variable tracking and alerting (moisture, salt, and more)
- Loss analysis by machine, shift, and part number
ERP Extended to the Shop Floor
- Demand plan converted from the ERP (JD Edwards) into production schedules
- Schedules delivered electronically to the lines — no paper handoffs
Scheduled Checks — Paperless Quality
- Alerting for quality checks due, out-of-spec conditions, and missed checks
- SPC charting and history to identify improvement opportunities
- Real-time alerts on product weights and giveaway
- Searchable history to confidently address customer audit requests
Label Printing
- On-demand printing (vs. batch) for better control
- Time-stamped individual labels for each case
"The automatically emailed reports are great. I can see all the downtime and quality issues, then review with the leads, so we know what to look into and what to watch for during the shift."
What changed in the plants
Real-time production and quality views, trend history, alerts and automated reports led to these improvements across multiple plants.
- OEE improved by 15% in the first 6 months
- Reduced giveaway, resulting in significant savings
- Better traceability, with individual date- and time-stamped case labels printed at the line
- Paper and label cost savings
- Improved visibility into product quality and variation, with SPC charts by line, product, plant area, or shift
- Competitive advantage in acquiring new private-label customers
- Limited improvement resources aimed at the issues that cost the most
"We are now data driven; not best-guess driven. Before 10in6, the shift foreman used to put a line on a report about an issue, but we had no idea how big of a problem it was or how much production was lost because of it. Now we prioritize issues based on the impact on production, not how many times we hear about an issue."
Want this case study as a PDF?
Enter your work email and we'll send you the full PDF version of this case study. A real person reviews every request — you'll usually have it in your inbox within one business day.
Could your plant be next?
Tell us about your machines and your biggest loss. The first step is a free 30–60 minute call with one of our engineers.