At first glance, 2% doesn't sound like much.
But in food manufacturing, 2% can be the difference between a good year and a great one.
We had a challenge.
Our salmon lines weren't achieving the yield we expected.
The easy response would have been to blame the machines.
Or the operators.
Or the raw material.
Instead, we followed the DMAIC improvement framework.
Define
The problem was clear.
Too much product was being lost during processing.
Measure
We weighed the salmon and the offcuts at every stage of the process.
Not what we thought was happening.
What was actually happening.
The data quickly showed where the losses were occurring.
Analyse
We worked alongside the machine manufacturers to ensure the equipment was set up correctly for the size and specification of fish we were processing.
At the same time we checked that every filleter was trimming consistently.
Small inconsistencies, repeated thousands of times each day, become expensive.
Improve
Once we'd found the optimum settings, we standardised everything.
Every machine.
Every setting.
Every operator knew the target.
Control
The final step is often forgotten.
Good improvements disappear if nobody protects them.
We documented the settings, trained the teams and monitored the results to ensure the gains stayed in place.
The outcome?
A 2% yield improvement across two salmon lines.
On paper that sounds small.
In reality, it represented a significant financial saving while maintaining product quality.
One lesson has stayed with me throughout my career:
The biggest improvements rarely come from working harder.
They come from understanding the process better than anyone else.
What process improvement delivered the biggest result in your business, even though it looked small on paper?