Ability for agility
The USDA-inspected facility in northwest Chicago-land houses six processing lines and seven packaging lines and is designed for both flexibility and large-scale production. Packaging, for instance, ranges from manual stacking and case packing of frozen pizza crusts to cartoning of 12-in. frozen pizzas hitting high rates of speed.
“Our packaging lines aren’t as automated as they could be, but this has allowed us to accommodate many different packaging configurations and has helped us with our speed to market,” Mr. Nasti said. “It gives us an edge to do things that others do not want or simply cannot do in their plants.”
As a co-manufacturer and co-developer, confidentiality is obviously the name of the game when dealing with customers. However, that trust extends to manufacturing consistently safe products. Certified by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the operation follows detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) that are reviewed and enhanced as a part of its continuous process improvement and ongoing training programs.
“For us, quality means making a product to spec and adhering to all SOPs and policies that protect the product, the consumer and the organizations involved from incoming ingredients to finished products going out the door,” Mr. Nasti said. “All of the processes that we have in place are well-documented to ensure that everything is followed through on the floor.”
Mr. Nasti pointed out the more flexible the operation, the more complex it is. During the past two years, the company worked on eight to 10 major projects with existing or new customers to grow the business. In such a dynamic environment, everything from managing purchasing to streamlining scheduling to eliminating allergen concerns provides a moving target for the operation. “Obviously, the focus is on producing a quality product at a competitive cost, but we are always looking for ways to do things more effectively and more efficiently,”
he said.
