Systematic Improvement in Food Manufacturing
Lean, Six Sigma & CI
Most manufacturing improvement programs fail within six months. Operators go back to old habits. Supervisors stop following new procedures. The binders collect dust on shelves. Jeffrey Naegle’s approach to Lean, Six Sigma & CI is different because it becomes part of daily work, not a special project that ends when the consultants leave.
Over 15 years of managing food manufacturing facilities across the Pacific Northwest, Jeffrey has implemented continuous improvement systems that stick. The secret isn’t complicated tools or complex methodologies — it’s making improvement part of how work gets done every single day. At facilities from Ontario, Oregon to Fremont, Ohio, his Lean, Six Sigma & CI approach has delivered measurable results: changeover times cut by 50%, inventory reduced by more than half, waste decreased by 60%, and OEE improvements of 5% or more.
TPM Implementation
Total Productive Manufacturing sounds complicated, but the core idea is simple: maintain equipment so well that breakdowns become rare. Jeffrey’s TPM approach at multiple facilities turned reactive maintenance cultures into predictive ones.
At the Ore-Ida facility in Ontario, Oregon, managing 720 employees across multiple production lines, Jeffrey used daily Gemba walks to implement TPM fundamentals. He walked the floor every day, stopping at packaging equipment with operators and maintenance technicians. They cleaned machines together, fixed small problems on the spot, and established standards for what “good” looked like.
The Lean, Six Sigma & CI methodology behind this work focused on restoring equipment to base condition — a TPM pillar that means getting machines back to their original specification. Packaging equipment OEE improved because clean equipment runs better. Well-maintained equipment lasts longer. Regular inspection catches small issues before they cause line stoppages.
At Pacific Coast Producers and Oregon Cherry Growers in The Dalles, Jeffrey trained the management team in TPM principles along with Lean and Six Sigma. The training wasn’t classroom theory — it was hands-on application that changed how teams thought about equipment reliability. Preventive maintenance schedules got followed consistently. Operators started doing autonomous maintenance, handling basic cleaning and inspection tasks themselves instead of waiting for maintenance techs.
The McCain Foods facility in Othello, Washington benefited from TPM thinking in Jeffrey’s approach to reducing downtime. Equipment centerlines established clear performance standards. When machines drifted off baseline, operators caught it immediately. The result: 5% OEE improvement and measurably less unplanned downtime.
Standard Work Development
Leader Standard Work creates predictable routines that free managers from firefighting so they can focus on improvement. Jeffrey introduced LSW at the Ore-Ida facility, implementing it from operator level all the way to plant manager.
Standard work for operators meant clear procedures for every task: how to run equipment, how to perform quality checks, how to handle changeovers. No more “ask Joe because he’s been here 20 years.” The knowledge got documented and trained. New hires could perform consistently because the standard was clear.
Standard work for supervisors defined daily routines: safety observations at shift start, quality checks at specific intervals, production reviews at shift end. The Lean, Six Sigma & CI approach made supervision predictable and comprehensive instead of random and reactive.
Manager standard work included scheduled Gemba walks, performance reviews, and improvement project follow-up. At Kraft Heinz in Fremont, Ohio, Jeffrey’s implementation of standard work helped increase OEE and reduce quality complaints. Managers stopped firefighting because problems got addressed systematically.
The Idahoan facility in Rupert, Idaho used standard work to develop a training program with a validation process. Every task had a standard. Every person got trained to the standard. Validation confirmed competency. The approach reduced errors and built workforce capability across the 85-person team.
Gemba Walking Practice
Gemba means “the real place” — where the actual work happens. Gemba walks aren’t quick tours where executives wave at operators. They’re deliberate walks where leaders go to learn, observe, and solve problems at the source.
Jeffrey’s daily Gemba walks at Ore-Ida kept him connected to shop floor reality. He looked at packaging equipment with the people who ran it every day. They discussed small problems that hadn’t made it into the maintenance system yet. They identified improvement opportunities together. The Lean, Six Sigma & CI mindset of going to where the work happens generated practical solutions that actually worked.
At McCain Foods, Gemba walks helped identify why first-time quality was lower than target. Observing the process revealed that operators lacked clear standards for certain quality checks. The solution: establish standards, train to them, and verify understanding. First-time quality improved because the root cause was identified and fixed.
The Kraft Heinz facility used Gemba walks to understand why changeovers took too long. Walking through a changeover with the crew revealed that tools weren’t staged properly, change parts weren’t organized, and some steps in the procedure didn’t match reality. Fixing these issues — identified through Gemba observation — helped reduce changeover times.
Gemba walks at Pacific Coast Producers served double duty: they helped Jeffrey understand both operations and mentored managers in the practice. Walking together, they learned to see waste, identify abnormalities, and ask questions that led to improvement. The practice became part of the management culture.
Changeover Optimization
At the Ore-Ida facility, changeovers between products took four hours. That’s four hours of zero production, expensive labor, and missed throughput. Jeffrey’s Lean, Six Sigma & CI approach cut changeover times in half through systematic analysis and procedure development.
The optimization started with observing changeovers and documenting every step. Time each activity. Identify which steps could happen in parallel. Determine which steps required the line to be stopped and which could happen while still running. The data revealed opportunities.
Developing clear procedures for operators and supervisors standardized the changeover process. No more “we’ve always done it this way” variations between crews. Stage change parts before the changeover starts. Pre-position tools where they’ll be needed. Assign specific tasks to specific people. Practice until the sequence becomes smooth.
The result: changeovers that took four hours now took two. That’s 10 hours of additional production capacity every week with five changeovers. Multiply across 52 weeks and the throughput gain is massive — all without spending capital on new equipment.
Production performance at Ore-Ida increased because faster changeovers meant more production time. The number of changeovers could be reduced too, as shorter changeovers made flexible scheduling practical. Semi-finished goods inventory dropped by more than half partly because better changeover performance reduced the need to build large batches.
At McCain Foods, reducing downtime included optimizing changeover processes. Equipment centerlines helped because knowing the target settings for each product reduced adjustment time during changeovers. The CID (Continuous Improvement Daily) practices engaged operators in finding ways to work more efficiently during product changes.
Continuous Improvement Systems
Continuous improvement becomes real when it’s systematic, not sporadic. Jeffrey’s Lean, Six Sigma & CI approach builds CI into daily operations through multiple mechanisms.
Performance boards at Kraft Heinz gave operators real-time visibility into line performance. When people can see the score, they care about improving it. The boards tracked OEE, quality metrics, safety performance, and improvement initiatives. Daily huddles at the boards created regular touch points for discussing problems and celebrating wins.
At McCain Foods, CID practices put continuous improvement tools in operator hands. Instead of waiting for engineering or management to solve problems, operators identified issues and implemented small improvements themselves. The cumulative impact of many small improvements often exceeds a few large projects.
Root cause analysis skills supported continuous improvement at Idahoan, where Jeffrey served as Root Cause Analyst for complaint investigation. Using structured Six Sigma problem-solving methods — 5 Whys, fishbone diagrams, Pareto analysis — identified why problems occurred. Fixing root causes meant problems didn’t recur, making improvement permanent.
At Pacific Coast Producers, Jeffrey trained the management team in Lean, Six Sigma, and TPM methodologies, building their capability to lead improvement. The operations achieved their most profitable year in company history partly because the team could identify waste, solve problems, and implement improvements systematically.
Annual performance goal setting at Idahoan created structure for CI efforts. Goals in safety, quality, production, and continuous improvement gave teams clear targets. Tracking progress monthly kept improvement visible and maintained momentum.
The Lean, Six Sigma & CI philosophy Jeffrey brings to every facility recognizes that manufacturing excellence isn’t achieved through heroic efforts or brilliant insights. It’s achieved through disciplined application of proven methodologies, day after day, shift after shift. Small improvements compound. Standards prevent backsliding. Training builds capability. Leadership sustains focus.
The results prove the approach:
50%
Changeover Reduction
60%
Waste Reduction
5%
OEE Gains
Inventory cuts of more than half. Quality improvements that reduce complaints significantly. These outcomes come from systematic Lean, Six Sigma & CI application that makes continuous improvement the way work gets done.