Boosting Refinery Productivity Through Teamwork

Simon Keighley of Hagen & Company, works with Imperial associates to significantly increase productivity or throughput in the sugar making process by using the DMAIC methodology.

Over the last few months, a special team of workers at Imperial Sugar’s refinery at Port Wentworth, Ga., have significantly increased productivity or throughput in the sugar making process by using a proven and well-known project methodology in manufacturing that has the acronym, DMAIC.

The DMAIC methodology improved throughput in the centrifuges.

The team – made up of Imperial Sugar operators, electricians and mechanics – has examined bottlenecks in the sugar making process and what challenges are created when refinery production is increased. For example, they’ve found ways to reduce breakdowns of the large machinery used to refine sugar.

Their overarching objectives have been to boost the color, consistency and quality of sugar the company produces. And, in the process, they have found meaningful efficiencies to increase profitability.

The initiative has been under the tutelage of a seasoned business advisor with Hagen & Company, Simon Keighley.

Hagen and Company’s approach is to focus on the little things that happen in a manufacturing plant and identifies hidden problems that no one may have known about. Then, work with teams to find appropriate solutions that not only improve efficiency but directly and favorably improve profitability.

DMAIC means:

Define the problem.
Measure key aspects of the current process and collect relevant data.
Analyze the data to investigate and verify cause-and-effect relationships.
Improve the current process based on data analysis.
Control the future process to ensure that any deviations from target are corrected.

Based on the success of the initial DMAIC group – known as the melt rate improvement team – Imperial Sugar is aggressively forming more teams that will focus on lowering operating costs and increasing yield in sugar refining, processing and packaging.

In this short video, Keighley explains the achievements of the melt rate improvement team.