If Only We Could Bottle It!

Back in the 1990’s, I was HR Manager at the Brewery in Birmingham.

Sad, but True – I was absolutely fascinated by the bottling process.   Rejecting damaged glass bottles was crucial……

If one got through. it became a high liability. Costly in both money and in brand identity. And partially rejected bottles can quickly bring the line to a standstill. Not good.

Back then we ran focus sessions with groups of operators to come up with solutions – and they did – by the barrel load.  The sessions were called – ‘If only we could Bottle it’.

Those conversations sparked some brilliant ideas that helped the business move forward. My personal light bulb moment was that there’s always a balance to be had between productivity, cost & quality.

Production efficiencies have risen dramatically since the 90’s. Bottling lines run at speeds more than 2,000 parts per minute. That means rejecting a bottle every 30 milliseconds from a stream of closely packed bottles. Imagine the high back pressures from the bottles behind them!

Consider that next time your having a beer watching the Football.

Our Smart Leadership Programme includes a module on Smart Thinking.

What we see most frequently is the childlike delight of discovering a secret that makes your operation more productive or less wasteful.  Just like I saw numerous times back at the Brewery.

Your light bulb moment – if only we could bottle it?

We can.  Drop us a line and we’ll arrange a catch up.