Fonterra manufacturing sites across NZ & Australia operate under a lean manufacturing framework known as Integrated Work System (IWS) which is focused on improving manufacturing reliability, reducing costs and elevating productivity. Under this system there are 11 pillars with Work Process Improvement (WPI) being a key pillar that drives improvement in how work processes are performed.
Fonterra is seeking a team of students to help lead a number of WPI projects requiring full immersion into the manufacturing environment, data gathering, trending and analysis. The projects will be based at the Stanhope factory site 2.5 hours north of Melbourne and will be scheduled in/around this season's manufacturing schedules. For this reason, much of the work is not continuous so the team will get involved with 3 diverse work streams as follows:
1. Cheddar Plant CIP efficiency. This project will look at all aspects of cheese plant cleaning.
2. SAPAC Batch Code change over. The packing process in Powder plant requires several checks and changes.
3. Site Resource Recovery. The use of materials and packaging in dairy manufacturing can generate waste but must ensure food safety quality is maintained.