SunnyD Deploys Asset Performance Management Software to Optimize Its Operations

Beverage Maker’s Use of LLumin Products Across Five Plants Delivers Continuing Business Benefits

How can Asset Performance Management software, combined with enterprise level Materials and Inventory Tracking software, help food and beverage companies modernize their manufacturing operations? Over a decade ago, beverage maker SunnyD installed LLumin’s READYAsset and READYTrak suites to cover its five North American plants – and is still counting the ways.

The stakes couldn’t be higher in the every-second-counts environment that SunnyD operates in.  Their plants run 24x7x365. Avoiding downtime through predictive maintenance was a key reason the company installed LLumin’s sophisticated software suites.

Avoiding machine and production downtime is clearly job one. Eliminating downtime means mitigating spoilage of expensive raw materials or final products.  Plus avoiding any lapse in customer service or on-time product deliveries is also crucial. And then there’s safety for SunnyD’s employees also..

SunnyD (Harvest Hill Beverage) discussed benefits realized through its decade-plus use of LLumin operations software with the LLumin’sCEO Ed Garibian in a recent webinar created for members of the Food & Beverage industry looking to avoid downtime and optimize their operations.

Enter LLumin

SunnyD was over stocking parts for machine maintenance before it teamed with Llumin, As it learned later, the beverage maker was carrying much more inventory than needed, an expensive approach still common in some pockets of the food and beverage industry over a decade later.

Thanks to READYtrak, SunnyD has since cut on hand MRO inventory by an estimated 50%, and yet also has the ability to quickly procure necessary parts electronically from vendors and/or distributors using LLumin’s software, according to Steve Verret, who manages applications support as well as maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) at Sunny Delight Beverages Co.

“Once we got our lead times set, we were pretty confident we could get parts in on time, which meant we didn’t need them to be sitting on our shelves,” explained Verret. This is critical as SunnyD has some high-dollar equipment powering its lines, which need to be running all the time.

The LLumin software uses date or machine usage based to create periodic maintenance (PM) schedules, which then auto generate work orders in a streamlined process. A core feature lets Verret attach a picture of the asset for whomever performs the work on the machine, text directions for the necessary procedures, and any applicable quality requirements. “This improved maintenance in the plants tremendously.”

Making Connections

When SunnyD began its work with LLumin, another feature it was able to leverage was READYTrack’s Microsoft Dynamics Interface.  LLumin’s procurement module has been integrated with SunnyD’s AX system and gives management visibility into demand and accurate details on what to procure and when, so that all needed supplies and services are available when the maintenance is due.  The module lets SunnyD do more than simply procure parts. It also automatically records the transactions in the beverage maker’s corporate financial systems.

Verret praised the work LLumin’s development teams did to create much-needed real time interfaces between the vendor’s system and systems already in place at SunnyD.

Much like the juice drink giant, companies across the Food & Beverage industry are using LLumin’s software to minimize downtime, track materials and increase regulatory compliance.