Looking to unlock the hidden potential in your process- both the risks holding you back and the opportunities waiting to be realised?

Struggling with consistency of output?

Let's talk about how we can unlock that potential and turn challenges into improvements.

 

Stop Processing Products to Death

After 35 years in the food industry, I have lost count of how many times I have been asked to reduce lethality targets to make products taste fresher. One site manager use to tell me - we are processing the product to death.

But this is where the problem lies : most companies focus on the output – the end result. This naturally pushes the quality system into inspection mode: “in spec” or “out of spec”. It is expensive, reactive and ineffective.

As Taguchi's loss theorem reminds us, the further you drift from target, the greater the dissatisfaction of your customer or consumer.

 

The Real Solution

The answer is not just reducing the minimum target (i.e. from 8 minutes at 121.1°C down to 4 minutes). This pushes you closer to the cliff on food safety while barely moves the needle on quality because:

  • The process often is not under true control, so worst-case scenarios force overprocessing.
  • Many “critical factors” are borrowed from codes of practice instead of being deeply understood in context.

Instead, the focus should be on the following:

  • Setting/fixing as many inputs as possible.
  • Monitoring outputs that directly affect lethality.
  • Using SPC (Statistical Process Control) as your early warning system to detect instability before it compromises safety or quality.
  • When instability is detected audit the inputs and re-set the input that has moved.

This approach allows you to run your process closer to limits – confidently, without falling off the cliff edge.

 

Questions every site should ask

  • What are the critical factors that directly impact lethality/food safety?
  • How well are they monitored and controlled on the shop floor?
  • Do worst-case assumptions truly reflect real process conditions?
  • Are operators trained to know the limits – and what actions to take when they are exceeded?

If you cannot answer these with clarity, you are probably leaving huge potential (positive and negative) untapped.

 

Unlocking the potential

When processes are validated taking into consideration real conditions the benefits are clear:

  • Better and more consistent quality
  • Higher Yields
  • Improved efficiency
  • Reduced energy costs
  • Stronger staff engagement

At Chartech Ltd, we help food businesses achieve this. Whether through hands-on staff training or rolling up our sleeves and working directly on your process with you, we will help you unlock improvements while safeguarding safety.

Let's build better together!