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30BARRY HARRIS - DIRECTOR FONTERRA MILK SUPPLY>downtime, while promoting higher yields and bettergrading performance. Complex plants manage technicallychallenging specifications or multiple short runs, withthe capability to change from one product specificationto another in a matter of hours or even minutes.“It is a simple concept, but it has involved marketing,sales and operations planning and manufacturingworking together to make the right decisions for thebusiness. The results have been significantly lower costswith similar levels of customer servicing maintained.”Having locked and aligned plants also ensures capital isinvested to maximum effect. In April 2006, for example,two new dryers were commissioned at Te Awamutu,a plant aligned to powder specifications. The newdryers replace three old ones and boast a combinedprocessing capacity of 13.5 tonnes of powder per hour.They are considerably more energy efficient than theones they are replacing, which will enable Fonterra torealise significant savings in operational costs.BETTER GRADES, YIELDSWith plants no longer all things to all people, first timegrading performance has increased to 94.2 per centfrom 93 per cent in the prior season. Losses are down16 per cent to three per cent. Uptime, the time ourmanufacturing plants are actually producing productand not in maintenance or cleaning mode, has increasedby three per cent. Energy consumption has come downby 10 per cent which has partially mitigated soaringprices, a feat recognised with Fonterra’s winning theEnergywise Award for the second time in the past threeyears from the Energy Efficiency and ConservationAuthority (EECA). With energy Fonterra’s third largestmanufacturing cost, behind only labour and plantdepreciation, the savings make a significant contributionto Fonterra’s international competitiveness.Fonterra Group Manufacturing is adopting newtechnologies to drive efficiency gains and slash costs.“Lights out packaging” – automated packing ofproduct, has been trialled at one locked plant andwill be rolled out at others. Technology to increasesolids concentration in evaporators, developed byFonterra, is also under trial. Leading-edge concentrationand automation technologies at our Tuamarina siteENCOURAGING SUSTAINABLE AND PROFITABLE GROWTHAs Director of Fonterra Milk Supply, Barry Harris has agood feel for farmer sentiment. Right now, he says, it’spretty positive.“We have just completed a very good season with thehighest milk flows ever. We are seeing new conversionsto dairy. Dairy is still the most profitable use ofagricultural land and we’re seeing significant increasesin cow numbers. Clearly, with the prospects for ourhave enabled substantial transportation savings andenvironmental benefits, by reducing the numberof tanker trips needed to deliver our milk fromMarlborough to Clandeboye by about 3,000 trips ayear. Further technological advances are being targetedwith the creation of the Manufacturing InnovationGroup. This group was formed recently with the formerFonterra Innovation function being moved out into therespective parts of the business where value is created.BETTER, FASTER, SMARTERGary Romano says Group Manufacturing is alsocontinually achieving returns from its OperationsJourney programme with its “better, faster, smarter”focus. Its aim is to optimise performance, leverageFonterra’s manufacturing scale and achieve operationalexcellence to support Fonterra’s strategy of beinga low cost supplier and its value add push. TheManufacturing Excellence programme running inNew Zealand challenges staff at sites to continuouslyfind better ways of working. The programme is rollingout in Australia.“There are fantastic stories coming out of thatprogramme. At Clandeboye, for example, we havebrought coal costs down significantly because ourguys worked out how to balance the loads on theboilers that provide energy to the site. We have anationwide project on compressed air use, matchingloads, eliminating unnecessary use and tracking leaksin lines. That looks like it will deliver significant savingsover the next two years.”Despite Fonterra’s manufacturing being groupedglobally for less than a year, Gary Romano is pleasedwith progress to date and energised by the potentialfor bigger gains.“Our focus has been in New Zealand and to a lesserextent Australia, so there’s a lot more that can be done.We have some priorities around driving best practice inour consumer manufacturing sites, and others aroundincreasing uptimes, building on our yield gains andimproving our delivered in full, on time performance. Inenergy, we’re looking to trim another five per cent offour consumption. It’s going to be a full on year.”BARRY HARRISproducts in the international markets looking good, ourfarmers are expressing confidence in the industry.“That’s reflected in a good season and the clearpotential for ongoing milk growth.”Encouraging that growth and ensuring it is sustainableare two of his main responsibilities. Good progress hasbeen made in the season towards aligning FonterraMilk Supply’s services to supporting farmers who want