Cargill:

Uniform communication in all production units improves operating results

Challenge / Ambition
The facility of Cargill in Sas van Gent produces products from corn and wheat on a large scale for the European food industry. The site consists of four plants and a packaging and handling department. Until February 2006, these various departments did not apply a uniform process for the communication and handover between teams. They each had their own way of communicating and reporting.

In 2004, management and staff agreed that an improved communication within the production would benefit the general operating results. Which resources and work processes would be required as a foundation for uniform communication? How should a new system be implemented? At that time, they opted for the electronic shift system (ShiftCliq™) that was still being developed by iBanx.

iBanx Approach
Jointly with iBanx, a special work group within Cargill Sas van Gent inventoried the possibilities for improving the communication. General best practices and procedures for the communication structure were drafted. Agreements were made across the units concerning the use of daily reports, detailed reports, and shift reports. The consolidated agreements constituted the foundation for the further development of the new electronic shift system.

iBanx’s role in this project was:

• to forge an efficient communication work group with a common goal,
• to analyse existing work methods and resources,
• to identify improvements, to define new procedures and work methods based on best practices,
• to train the members of the work group, so that they can subsequently familiarise the more than 300 production staff members with the agreements and the system, in accordance with the train-the-trainer principle,
• to promote, in a substantiative manner, the importance of proper communication within the company, in order to improve face-to-face communication as well.

Results

1. The work processes concerning communication have now been standardised for the various plants, with clear definitions of responsibilities.
2. Flows of information are clearly separated into short-term and long-term information, into normal and deviant, into information about the installation, the process, and the work.
3. Within the company, a clear picture has arisen of the opportunities for improving communication concerning the production.
4. There are solid communications concerning the shift handover, based on a reliable electronic shift system.
5. Events, tasks, deviations, and risky situations are recorded comprehensively and clearly. Misunderstandings regarding tasks or work occur rarely nowadays.
6. Information about events and work is immediately available to everyone in a clear format, and can easily be consolidated in reports for production staff and management. Troubleshooting is more efficient, and it is also easy for auditors to locate information.

User experiences
Richard van der Looij, Plant Manager: “The development and implementation of a new shift system, such as ShiftCliq™, is a matter of being willing to innovate. We took up this challenge jointly with iBanx. We were able to configure the system ourselves by joining the process at an early stage. Our people have assumed ownership of the new system, and they are participating in making improvements.”

Hans Vercouteren, Superintendent Corn: “We now have a fast, direct, and uniform communication structure for all production departments. The new system is a solid system that provides excellent support for the communication concerning the shift handover. Tasks, notifications, and risky situations are being recorded clearly. The reporting is clear and unequivocal, not only between teams, but also to superiors and management.”

Henk Bogema, Head Operator: “When a specific device is not or only partially available, it can directly impact operations in the other plants. Reporting such a deviation in ShiftCliq™ allows the other plants to take this into account right away. Clearly formulating what the problem is creates understanding for each other’s situation and the willingness to work jointly on a solution. This option has visibly improved the interaction between the plants.”

Contact
Hans Vercouteren
Superintendent Corn Cargill Starches & Sweeteners
Sas van Gent
T +31 (0)115 459000

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