Background
For over 100 years, Liberty Coca-Cola beverages has produced, sold and distributed 90 million cases of some of the world’s most recognizable products, including Coca-Cola, and other soft drinks, juices, energy drinks, water and ready-to-drink coffee and tea across its 16,000 square miles of territory in New York, New Jersey, and the Greater Philadelphia region.
With 3,000 associates across 8 distribution centers and 3 manufacturing facilities, Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages takes pride in empowering its people and making a difference in the local communities it proudly serves. The Liberty team often says the ‘L’ in the name stands for ‘Local,’ and as a leading manufacturer, Liberty wants to partner with local experts and could empower their teams through continuous improvement.
Solution
Liberty’s leaders identified the need to develop Six Sigma certification programs in its Philadelphia facility as part of a larger investment in the long-term growth of its people and their careers, engaging all associates to make and own local decisions, while striving for a culture of operational excellence.
The objective was to train and empower employees to have the necessary skills and capabilities needed to plan and implement process improvements throughout the company.
We turned to DVIRC because we knew they would be more than just a training provider. We were looking for someone who could offer us a robust partnership. DVIRC customizes their approach to meet our specific needs, and they deliver a unique “learn and apply” program that integrates training with hands-on projects. Candidates worked on actual projects to apply what they learn supported by a DVIRC coach. We loved that DVIRC provided that and appreciated the local aspect of the company as well.
Michael Luber, Vice President of Business Transformation & Operational Excellence, Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages
Results
- From 2021- January 2022, Liberty Coke realized $1.4MM in Initial Cost Savings through team projects.
- After creating Liberty’s customized learning program, DVIRC:
- Certified 80 participants in Yellow Belt training
- Certified 24 participants in the Green Belt Certification program
The Green Belt Certification Program was designed to promote participant collaboration and teamwork to work on real-world projects. The typical value generated from these projects is considerable – far exceeding the cost of the program. In addition, once the individuals and teams are trained, they continue generating high value through second and third project charters.
After teaching DMAIC methods, teams identified a problem with truck idling times by analyzing telematic data. The team found they could eliminate waste by cutting down on this time. We quickly got to work on research and analysis to craft a tailored solution.
Beyond the Project
We live our “beyond the project” mentality by going beyond our scope of work to help Liberty Coca-Cola innovate its processes even further through Six Sigma consulting.
I loved seeing past cohorts check in on the new ones, following up with projects that they completed during their training sessions. There’s a culture of empowerment now and everyone on their team is willing to collaborate because they know they are being invested in.
Alan Shell, Director of Continuous Improvement, DVIRC
Interested in learning more about our consulting or training and education services? Contact us today to start a conversation about establishing your partnership.