Club Chef has been Castellini Company’s value-added arm since 1978, when Bob Castellini, Chairman of the Castellini Company, acquired the processor in response to customer demand for fresh pre-cut items. Bob saw the paradigm shift to fresh-cut fruits and vegetables in the foodservice industry and was able to capitalize on that trend. Club Chef has grown from a small local processor into one of the largest regional processors in the country. The company serves most all of the major customers in the foodservice sector. Today Club Chef operates out of a 210,000 square foot facility based in Covington, KY, processing a wide variety of fruits and vegetables 7 days a week – 24 hours per day.

While the Company has experienced significant growth over the past 22 years, the core values remain unchanged:

• Customer Satisfaction is the main focus
• Strong sense of urgency
• Commitment to continuous improvement
• Strong belief in integrity, honesty, and respect for each other

Reduced cycle times, increased delivery performance, increased productivity, improved manpower planning, and a nimble scheduling system were needed to create an operation that could respond hourly to changes in product mix, customer demand, and increasingly shorter lead times.  A new planning system from order entry to order fulfillment was critical to allow for quicker response time improved communication throughout the operation and proactive approach for forecasting the following days’ stock build requirements.  Club Chef also needed a visual management system and measurements to assure the operation was on track to achieve its’ Cost, Quality, and On-Time delivery goals daily.

With a recent move into our new state of the art production facility in Covington, KY and increasing amount of sales our business continued to grow in complexity with a 24 hour 7 day a week operation, increasing energy prices, a diverse work force, and an increasing number of S.K.Us.  We were in need of simpler, standardize processes to allow us to change, plan, and communicate orders in a make to order environment On Time Accurate and Complete every order.  “With our business a late order is a lost sale”.

Bill Schuler, CEO of Castellini Company, identified a need to change the culture and mindsets with extreme measures and a strong message of 98% on time deliver with 0 shorts (cut cases) and a low tolerance for dumps.  At the same time he needed a Job Shop scheduling system that enabled quick and accurate response to the manufacturing floor with a closed loop system to handle stock builds and production overruns. All of his departments needed to work together with a customer focus to impact service level improvements while at the same time eliminating waste to assure Club Chef remain as a profitable, high service, low cost provider in their market. Bill wanted greater cooperation and accountability between departments and the ability to measure the performance of the daily business cycle.

Definity Partners began working in the plant and scheduling department with the experts in each area to identify the opportunities leading to cut cases and late deliveries.  Short Order solutions with Kanban, layout, and visual management systems were implemented to improve productivity and reduce cycle time.  A new scheduling system was put in place to get make-to-order requirements to the floor minutes after the order was received.   A forecasting system was built into the scheduling process that adjusted to daily order volumes and was used to smooth-out peak and non-peak daily cycles.  Daily communication meetings with hourly employees, leads, and supervisors in a trilingual environment provided rapid resolution to daily obstacles and provided a forum to communicate goals, action items, and follow-up.  Hourly employees translated next steps, and actions taken during daily communication meetings with their piers, leads, and supervisors.  Every department worked together in making effective rapid change to achieve the goals.  This has opened new cost reduction opportunities on which Club Chef is now focused.

23% Increase in On-Time Delivery

81% Reduction in Late Orders

35% Reduction in “Dumps” (Scrap)    

15% Increase in Productivity