Best of the Best

The continuous improvement process (CIP) has been an integral part of the Hormel Foods culture since the company was founded in 1891. As George A. Hormel said, “I constantly hammered home to need for improving our working methods to the end that we could produce superior food while reducing costs.”

Today, the companywide Best of the Best program recognizes the many employees who work hard to successfully implement the CIP competencies of teamwork, goal setting and problem solving. All locations are encouraged to participate in the three categories of the program, including the Process Best of the Best; the Environmental Sustainability Best of the Best; and the Innovation Best of the Best.

Each year, representatives from the top eight teams present to a judging panel, which includes leaders from business units throughout the company. In 2015, there were 1,501 projects across the company, compared to 1,438 projects in 2014, 745 projects in 2013 and 705 projects in 2012.

“We continue to have more projects every year, all of which help to drive success in our organization and showcase our companywide culture of continuous improvement,” said Lloyd Brandon, corporate manager of Six Sigma.

The Hormel^® Compleats^® brand Cost Savings Project from the Corporate Office (Austin, Minn.) was named this year’s Process Best of the Best champion. The team set out with an overall project goal of decreasing the cost of the 12 leading items in the brand by simplifying ingredient labels, consolidating formulations and changing product sizes. The project team included employees from cost accounting, logistics, maintenance, marketing, operations, purchasing, quality control, R&D formulation, R&D packaging, regulatory affairs and thermal processing.

Energy saving initiatives led by Farmer John (Vernon, Calif.) was chosen as the 2015 Sustainability Best of the Best champion. This is the second time Farmer John has won, making them the first ever repeat winner in the Sustainability Best of the Best program. The Farmer John team focused on energy savings by implementing hybrid refrigeration and energy-efficient lighting projects. The team conducted a complete review of all procedures to determine where the energy savings projects could be implemented. They then brainstormed 17 possible solutions and, after performing a cost-benefit analysis, implemented 11 of the solutions.

When the SKIPPY^® brand was acquired in 2013, Jeff Ettinger, CEO, predicted that Hormel Foods would take peanut butter out of the jar. The 2015 Innovation Best of the Best Champion, SKIPPY^® P.B. bites, made that predication a reality. In Sept. 2014, the SKIPPY^® P.B. bites cross-functional team went to work on several steps of the product development process simultaneously to condense the timeline from 18-24 months into a single year, launching in Sept. 2015.