BACKGROUND

Founded in 1846 by Harvey Perley Hood, the name Hood has been synonymous with fresh, high-quality dairy products. Today, Hood is recognized as one of the country's largest branded food and beverage companies, with 13 manufacturing plants and its own research and development operation. HP Hood's site located in Batavia, NY is a non-union facility of plastic bottling production lines for both dairy and dairy-alternative products. The site was within a year of start-up as the Coleman Consulting Group engaged with the team there. The site had 150 employees and 3 lines when the project began, and increased to approximately 210 employees and 5 lines as the facility transitioned to 24/7 operations. The site is expected to increase to 340 or more employees and 8 production lines during the first year after the project's conclusion.

CASE STUDY:
HP Hood LLC

INDUSTRY: Food & Beverage Manufacturing (Dairy)

EMPLOYEES: approx. 1350 employees

CORPORATE OFFICES: Lynfield, MA

ANNUAL SALES: approx. $2 Billion

THE CHALLENGE

Coleman Consulting Group was brought in to determine the best schedule and transition plan to take the new Batavia site from 5 days a week to a 24/7 operation. The site was also challenged with more than doubling the number of lines and adding the right number of employees to match the increase in production. Employees had been consistently working at least 6 days a week and significant levels of overtime until this point. The workforce at Batavia was excited about the transition to a 24/7 schedule from the start of the project, and they were empowered by being able to select their preferred schedule upon implementation.

THE RESULTS

The Batavia, NY facility began the transition to 24/7 operations in October of 2019, beginning with their half-gallon milk lines and supporting departments. They will continue to transition additional lines and remaining departments over the next 18 months as they increase headcount from 150 to 340+ employees. Hood employees were continuously engaged throughout the process and were able to select their desired schedule. Overtime costs have dropped dramatically, production has steadily increased, employee engagement is high, and retention continues to climb. We know from working with hundreds of clients that change is hard, and Coleman Consulting Group believes that when making an organizational change to scheduling or processes, it is crucial to addresses the Three Circles: Business Needs, Employee Desires, and Health & Safety.

"Their (Coleman's) solution delivered a great balance between our employee preferences and our growing business needs."

Mike Corporon, Plant Manager Batavia

THE SOLUTION

By engaging the workforce in confidential surveys to determine schedules, Coleman Consulting Group was able to keep employees focused on the benefits of running 24/7 operations while providing feedback to management that a 168-42, balanced, 4 crew, 12 hour, EOWO schedule was preferred. With decades of experience, the Coleman team was able to provide best practices regarding overtime, time off, relief staffing and flexibility while transitioning to ensure the management team had all the tools required to successfully transition the workforce with minimal disruption to their operations.