Restoring Stability and Reliability in Milk Packaging & Bottling

Background:

A multi-site milk packaging and bottling company, producing both organic animal-based milks and plant-based nut milks, was under financial distress. Chronic operational weaknesses and financial mismanagement threatened reliability to major retail and food service customers. The animal-based facilities struggled with unstable inbound deliveries, poor scheduling, and outdated processing equipment. Meanwhile, the nut-based operations were technically superior and capable of higher performance but were held back by weak ERP systems and lack of integration across sites.

Critical Issues:

• Inconsistent inbound milk deliveries created inventory shortages and starved production schedules
• Outdated animal-based processing equipment with no in-house capability to modernize
• Lack of financial management discipline and absence of capital planning for upgrades
• ERP system deficiencies leading to poor scheduling, inaccurate BOMs, and unreliable capacity planning
• OEE limited by uptime challenges and poor coordination between supply, processing, and distribution
• Perception risk with customers as reliability faltered and product availability fluctuated

Our Approach:

Crossover Solutions deployed a multi-disciplinary team to address technical, operational, supply chain, ERP, and financial gaps.

Key Actions:

• Stabilized supply chain scheduling and inbound delivery coordination to eliminate shortages
• Supported ERP reconfiguration to ensure accurate BOMs, capacity modeling, and improved uptime tracking
• Partnered with operations teams to fine-tune volume processing and synchronize scheduling across sites
• Provided technical expertise to scope modernization requirements and guide upgrades for animal-based processing lines
• Embedded financial expertise to restore internal controls, align capital planning, and build credible relationships with lenders and partners

Results:

• Product supply stabilized across both animal and plant-based operations
• ERP improvements delivered visibility to scheduling, capacity, and uptime, enabling higher OEE
• Distribution performance improved, eliminating missed shipments and rebuilding customer confidence
• Modernization roadmap created for animal-based facilities, unlocking a path to long-term viability
• Financial controls reestablished, creating transparency and restoring external partner trust
• Customers regained confidence in supplier reliability, securing the company’s long-term market position