Pepsi Bottling Ventures

Background

Garner, North Carolina – Quantity and quality go hand in hand at Pepsi Bottling Ventures (PBV). Over 30 million cases of Pepsi products a year are produced by PBV of Garner, N.C. That’s a lot of product. And each bottle and can is as good as it can be. As recipient of Pepsico’s coveted Plant of the Year award, PBV is recognized as the #1 Pepsi bottling plant in North America out of 116 plants across the country.

PBV has grown to become the third largest manufacturer and distributor of Pepsi-Cola products in North America, operating 27 bottling and distribution facilities in six states. PBV manufactures and distributes more than 100 different flavors and brands.

Growth, Quality and Challenges

Built in 2002, Pepsi Bottling Ventures Garner has grown from producing and distributing 189 different products to over 500 today. Flavor changes, bottle changes and secondary packaging changes are a daily occurrence. Being able to adapt to these changes requires a unique level of flexibility, attention to detail and access to production data.

The previous paper-based system relied exclusively on manually entered data.  Depending on the operator’s workload and ability to accurately measure machine performance, this data was subjective and inconsistent. Once this data was delivered to plant management, more often than not, the information created more questions than answers.

With four existing production lines in place, PBV added a new Direct Blow Fill (DBF) Line for the Aquafina and other non carbonated products. This line not only filled the bottles with purified water, but it actually made the bottles, as well. As production needs grew and technology progressed, PBV looked for a software solution to measure performance, downtime and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). The challenge was to find a solution that could work with both the legacy production lines and the new DBF line.

After a great deal of research and consideration of several different systems, PBV decided on a performance solution based on AVEVA software. AVEVA’s legendary flexibility was a powerful factor in the selection. AVEVA software enabled PBV’s engineers to add functionality in-house, while also expanding and troubleshooting the system with their own internal staff.

Working with distributor InSource, System Integrator Barry- Wehmiller Design Group provided a detailed assessment of PBV’s needs. The solution identified the detailed downtime causes from all of the major machine centers. PBV not only wanted to analyze data from the machine center level, but all the way to the line level. By implementing an algorithm that allowed for the propagation of downtime codes from machine centers all the way to the line, the AVEVA solution proved to be a strong value proposition for PBV to accurately analyze their data and see what was really impacting critical production operations.

The solution – featuring the AVEVA System Platform, AVEVA MES Performance, AVEVA InTouch HMI, AVEVA Historian and Historian Clients – was installed in all five lines of the Garner Plant.

Line Efficiency and Product Quality

PBV’s wide range of products, with ongoing packaging and flavor changeovers, makes line efficiency a primary objective. Before the implementation of AVEVA throughout the plant, line efficiency was an evasive concept. Operators were never quite sure if they were ahead of or behind schedule. Therefore, the scheduling of changeovers was a guessing game.

Today, the data collected by AVEVA is driving line efficiencies. By pinpointing downtime, PBV can gain percentage points against efficiencies. By driving efficiencies up, costs are driven down. Overall production improvement across all five lines enables PBV to focus their resources on meeting and maintaining PepsiCo’s quality guidelines while ensuring that production goals are met on schedule.

Access to Accurate Data = Production Improvement

Just as important as accuracy of data is accessibility to data. Real-time production data is displayed throughout the plant, production office and even in the employee break room on large, flat-screen displays. PBV has found that workers are paying attention to what is happening on their lines, even while on break, and know whether they are ahead of schedule or behind. This motivates them to continually monitor their line efficiencies and make adjustments as necessary to meet their goals.

The AVEVA solution is used across all five lines in the facility to great success. On-going access to pertinent information enables plant personnel to analyze production data, make informed decisions and implement successful solutions.

By using AVEVA, PBV has been able to optimize employee performance by tailoring training based on hard data rather than subjective opinions. By improving machine operator performance, line mechanics now focus on overall line performance rather than machine or operator based issues.

Sustainability Goals are achieved through Performance with Purpose

The AVEVA MES Performance Software operating at PBV generates machine efficiency data on an on-going basis. With an eye toward sustainability, PBV utilizes this data to minimize their impact on the environment and maximize the efficiency with which they use raw materials. PepsiCo’s “Performance with Purpose” program is focused on sustainability and striking a balance between environmental, economic and social concerns.

PBV recognizes that good environmental practice is also good business: the fewer raw materials they use, the less waste they produce, the less electricity they use – the lower their costs. This makes for a healthier business model and a healthier planet.

Success for the Best

AVEVA MES Performance provides an enterprise level software solution for collecting, tracking and communicating real-time equipment performance and efficiency information.

As PBV experiences the success of AVEVA MES Software at the Garner, North Carolina facility, they’ll be able to capitalize on this success and roll it out into their other plants across the country. Pepsi Bottling Ventures has realized higher efficiency based on AVEVA’s advanced visualization, easy to use interface and unbeatable real-time data collection. Success at this level is as sweet as the drinks they make.