When Arthur Guinness produced the first barrels of this legendary ale in 1759 at the St James’ Gate brewery in Dublin, Ireland, he’d never have guessed that the African continent would become one of the star jewels in the global Guinness crown.

Today, Guinness Nigeria plc (GNPLC) – jointly owned by the world’s premium drinks company Diageo and consumer goods giant Unilever – matches Ireland in both production and consumption. CCI-Growthcon has played no small part in Diageo’s excellent performances in Africa. As a result of CCI-Growthcon’s intervention, GNPLC had realised savings in excess of US$10 million by the end of 2005. Thus GNPLC extended the contract for Fast TRACC RCM.

In addition, the Business Centred Maintenance (BCM) and Profit Improvement Project (PIP) implementation successes during 2004/5 have sparked interest from key role players across the Diageo Global Beer Supply Group, backed by the London support team.

A continuous improvement team rolled out BCM TRACC first at the Ikeia plant in Nigeria, followed by Benin and Aba. The focus was primarily to improve basic asset care principles, materials management and PIP implementation. Then Maximo was upgraded, in which CCI-Growthcon also played a leading role, as well as implementing loss and waste in Jamaica.

Leading from these successes, Ghana requested specialised assistance in maintenance day planning and Process Control. Management and shopfloor commitment was clearly evident, resulting in significant quick wins. In less than a week, two production records were broken.

Kenyan Breweries Limited (KBL)

The Profit Improvement Project and BCM were launched at Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) in February 2006, concentrating on cost optimisation and line efficiency improvements. KBL directors showed keen interest in the PIP programme and, together with the shopfloor teams, proved their support for the process from day one.

A continuous improvement team was established who, assisted by CCI-Growthcon, identified key profit leverage areas. Subsequently high impact teams were set up to drive the process using the seven-step PIP implementation. The commitment and dedicated work of these teams soon started showing results across the value chain, resulting in a significant ROI for the company.

Line 4, historically a poor performer, achieved production results never seen before, while Line 3 continues to improve significantly. Importantly, both lines are sustaining their production performances. Line 3’s packaging efficiency also has improved from around 43% to the current 57%. Recently, the plant has outsourced conveyor maintenance, with conveyor downtime reduced to almost zero.

According to a company spokesperson, the PIP projects “not only deliver cost improvements but also facilitate teamwork and improve ways of working across disciplines”.

KBL realised a 25% growth in the amount of hectolitres brewed last year and CCI-Growthcon continues to support the company on its journey. The packaging lines are running optimally and the major cause of downtime has now moved from breakdowns to beer availability and return of materials (glass, crates, etc) from the market. Meanwhile, the focus has shifted to implementing BCM into the brewing departments with a PIP team assigned to investigate problems associated with returned materials.

BCM and PIPs also are being rolled out into the spirits plants. The glass and malt plants, as well as the Ugandan operations, are earmarked for future rollouts. Kenyan Breweries Limited continues to be the benchmark in the group and now also is achieving the best fuel and KWH usage per hectolitre produced. This prompted quick global correspondence from a senior Diageo official, who stated, “The focus on Back to Basics and BCM is truly paying dividends for us. Now the challenge is on other markets to raise the bar further.”

The KBL utilities team recently won a productivity award for its efforts in improving the efficiency of their boiler fuel and electricity usage. Additional unexpected praise came when Coca-Cola invited a KBL inspection team to do an inspection on its equipment in Kenya.

Based on the outcomes reflected in the graphs, the Diageo Global Beer Supply support team requested assistance in Cameroon where poor maintenance schedules hampered production and sales. First, Fast TRACC RCM was implemented on one of the existing lines and rolled out on a new line in early September 2007. This is now the preferred methodology for Early Equipment Management across the Global Beer Supply Group.