Systematic Food Assembly – How Shaving Seconds Helped Hy-Vee Increase Productivity and Improve Savings

Hy-Vee, a leading grocery chain, sought to improve efficiency at its Fresh Commissary, a critical hub for supplying prepared foods to over 250 stores. The company aimed to enhance productivity, particularly in packaging and assembly, to reduce waste, improve speed, and optimize labor usage.

Iowa-based Hy-Vee, Inc., is an employee-owned retail grocer operating across nine Midwestern states. The company is known for its large, full-service “superstores” with bakeries, delicatessens, floral departments, dine-in and carry-out food service, wine and spirits, pharmacies, and coffee kiosks. Hy-Vee is one of the largest privately held companies in the country, operating 570-plus business units with more than 75,000 employees. For a sense of the size and scope of the operation, the Commissary is equipped with a 940-ton central ammonia refrigeration system, as well as three custom-built, 50-ton washdown blast units for cooling cooked products. 

Speed is everything for a company like Hy-Vee – whether that means reducing time spent in checkout lines to improve customer satisfaction or making changes to its own internal processes and procedures. In 2023, the company made improving productivity at the Commissary a top priority, and sought outside help to build a plan that could identify and execute impactful changes.

Challenge

Hy-Vee struggled with labor inefficiencies, bottlenecks in labeling and weighing, and workflow imbalances that led to delays and increased costs.

Manual processes caused errors, while equipment issues disrupted production flow. Although the company’s continuous improvement efforts identified opportunities to improve productivity, pinpointing where to focus in a complex, end-to-end assembly process was challenging. TBM was brought in to identify critical areas for improvement and drive efficiency gains.

Solution

To streamline changeovers between SKUs, we implemented standardized workflows for tasks that could be done while the line was running versus those requiring a stoppage.

To improve operations at Hy-Vee’s Fresh Commissary, TBM conducted a deep dive into its core functions: inventory replenishment, manual assembly, and packaging. Aiming for the most impactful gains, the team initially focused on the Home Meal Replacement (HMR) team within packaging, involving approximately 40 employees. This approach prioritized improvements closest to the end user, designed to pull efficiently from upstream assembly processes without creating bottlenecks. Key improvements included:

  1. Focus on Packaging:

    • Reduced idle labor time by applying Lean “Jidoka” principles and re-deploying staff to value-added tasks.
    • Streamlined the label verification and approval process.
    • Developed standard work around start-up and shut-down times, improved workplace organization, and utilized simple automation.

  2. Improving Assembly

    • Assessed and established takt time for three different assembly lines with 15-20 SKUs each.
    • Eliminated idle operator time and redistributed work efficiently.
    • Reduced the size of the assembly area using unused conveyor belt space.

  3. Reducing Changeover Time

    • Addressed changeover inefficiencies between SKU production.
    • Created standard work organized by external and internal activities.
    • Optimized tasks such as material replenishment and allergen/sanitation washes.
    • Converted elements of the table assembly to moving-line assembly.

  4. Managing for Daily Improvement

    • Developed a “Managing for Daily Improvement” program.
    • Created key metrics and Leader Standard Work, including Hour by Hour tracking and problem-solving.

Results

Achieved significant cost savings in four months by improving packaging efficiency, reducing idle labor, cutting changeover/start-up times 53% and 60%, and streamlining label approvals 75% faster.
  • Realized significant savings in four months
  • Packaging productivity soared by reducing downtime, idle labor, and optimizing assembly to takt time. Staffing standards and faster changeovers cut start-up times by 53% and 60%, driving efficiency
  • Streamlined the label verification and control process to reduce the time spent obtaining label approvals by 75%

At the same we performed the lean work with Hy-Vee, we also worked closely with them to help develop their “Managing for Daily Improvement” program, which in turn created key metrics, and Leader Standard Work, including Hour by Hour tracking and problem solving. When all was said and done, it took only four Kaizen events over four months for this work to deliver increased cost savings to Hy-Vee, proving that every single second matters.

 

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Topics in this Case Study

Performance Improvement

At a Glance

Client

Iowa-based Hy-Vee, Inc., is an employee-owned retail grocer operating across nine Midwestern states.

Results

  • Realized significant savings in four months
  • Packaging productivity soared by reducing downtime, idle labor, and optimizing assembly to takt time
  • Staffing standards and faster changeovers cut start-up times by 53% and 60%, driving efficiency
  • Streamlined the label verification and control process to reduce the time spent obtaining label approvals by 75%
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