Recognising the UHT Team’s successful collaboration

UHT cream has been a big success for GI in 2021, but that was not always the case as the product consistently struggled to live up to our customers’ expectations when first launched. GI’s Executive Leadership Team, in particular Jim O’Neill, Michael O’Connor, Francois Morgan and Andreas Mantis, recognised the growth opportunity UHT cream presented if only the product could be improved and they, along with Jim Bergin, decided to sponsor a program of work to deliver change.

In the true spirit of collaboration, colleagues from New Product Development, Cream Supply/Farm Services, Quality, PTT, GPS and Operations came together to review the end-to-end process, from milk supply to in-market use in China, with a deep-dive on all the process steps along the chain.

UHT Integration Manager, Paru Sellapan led the end to end process review and explains that “every element of the process, from cow to consumer, needs to be considered and perfected as it has an impact on the end product. Producing UHT cream to the desired standard is an extremely complex process with many cross functional teams involved. The spirit of collaboration, efficient communication and the team’s enthusiasm were all key ingredients for our progress.”

“Initially our process was not capable of delivering to the customer’s requirements, however with a structured DMAIC problem solving approach, we identified the root causes,” says Process Excellence Specialist, Mike Phelan. “It was clear that there was no smoking gun but multiple improvement opportunities requiring change to deliver a quality product consistently throughout the year. No stone was left unturned in our search for excellence – improvements implemented included change in how we select raw cream, measurement systems for product functionality and significant UHT process changes.”

UHT R&D Manager Richard White said: “It’s well known in the industry that it is very challenging to manufacture UHT cream and achieve good functionality. The processing parameters which make the product stable for nine months have a negative effect on whipping performance. Working with Process Excellence and Quality, we were able to achieve the correct balance. In addition, our long history and experience with Baileys helped to identify critical seasonality challenges which were successfully managed with great support from Farm Development, GBS, Process Excellence, Logistics and Planning.”

Once all the pieces of the puzzle were in place, the quality was consistent and the supply chain was working optimally, UHT cream started to meet customers’ expectations, especially in the Chinese market. The demand for the product has increased by 50% in 2021.

“With the product improvements, we now had the opportunity to unlock new markets,” said Head of International Sales, Export Sales, Stephen Browne. “UHT Avonmore Professional cream is now sold in 12 markets and has a growing reputation as a premium product, having recently featured on the Vietnam version of Masterchef.”

With demand came the need to expand our Lough Egish operations, where Yvonne Kerrigan is the site lead. “The behind the scenes effort and teamwork that led to such growth in product demand and our ability to deliver this product has been rewarding in many ways. So many experts from across GI came together generating what I like to call a ‘spiral of positivity’ to make this project a success. Our on-site expertise in technology and operational resilience grew, as did our confidence. We have increased efficiency and throughput. The site is expanding in a wealth of knowledge, with each department bringing resources to help us deliver the volume growth. We are continuing to learn on the strength of this collaboration.”

Congratulations to everyone involved in this project, you are true trail blazers who deserve to be recognised for your contributions!