We worked to help our client develop
more flexible and less resource intensive
methods of manufacturing, in order to
test market response to its products and
decide where to establish more permanent
manufacturing plants.

Our client asked:

Our client was interested in building capability in flexible, small footprint
manufacturing with the ability to produce short production runs of snack
products in locations where traditional manufacturing methods are not viable.

The project story:

We generated a research framework based on snack processing steps
and conducted research to populate a map of small-scale technology and
technology providers, including equipment manufacturers, systems integrators,
and solution providers.

We then worked with the client to filter the results from the research to identify
nine technology providers for deep-dive profiling, including a focus on the ability
to produce sellable product, geographical coverage, degree of automation, and
intellectual property.

Results: deliverables and outcomes

Our client was better able to understand the requirements needed to provide
flexible small footprint manufacturing capabilities for their snack products
because of our work.

Our flexible manufacturing approach – 2x2 matrix focuses on level of
involvement (high vs low) and development model (internal vs external) –
helped our client to decide which methods they wanted to pursue.

The new flexible manufacturing capability has allowed our client to operate
in new regions with minimal infrastructure, enabling them to test markets
and establish whether it’s financially viable to build more permanent
manufacturing plants.