New Plant Start-Up and Training Systems Implementation
Client Overview: The client is an 80-year-old, mid-sized, family-legacy fruit and flavor formulation company based in the Pacific Northwest. Originating from a fruit farming business after the Great Depression, the company grew into a respected fruit processor and formulator to major dairy brands. As the long-standing CEO approached retirement and the business transitioned to private equity ownership, leadership sought to expand operations into the Midwest, opening a new processing facility.
Context and Challenges:
Transition from family-led leadership to private equity structure.
Launching a new plant to support Midwest expansion.
Critical need to professionalize and scale operations while preserving legacy values.
Safety issues, communication gaps, understaffed teams, and leadership turnover at several levels.
Cultural integration, change readiness, training, and onboarding infrastructure were lacking.
Our Role and Approach: Performance Solutions Partners was engaged to support startup operations and workforce development. We brought hands-on implementation across five integrated workstreams:
1. Train-the-Trainer (TTT):
Built instructor capacity and training infrastructure through Structured On-the-Job-Training (SOJT) coaching and real-time support.
Developed confident, invested trainers who owned the learning process.
2. Recruiting and Interviewing Support:
Designed a behavioral interviewing guide with structured questions.
Trained hiring leads on listening and evaluation.
3. Orientation Program Design & Implementation:
Developed and implemented a practical and engaging orientation and onboarding process.
Reduced cognitive load and improved learning outcomes, expectations, and time-to-competence.
4. Standard Work & Performance Tools:
Created job aids, SOPs, evaluation forms, and quick-reference tools.
Supported trainers and team leads with just-in-time documentation.
5. Lean Daily Management (LDM) and Leadership Development:
Coached plant leaders on systems approach to leading with data and engagement.
Integrated metrics and visual tools into leader routines.
Guided department-specific builds of leader standard work.
Impact
Key Metric: Improved time-to-competence by 30%.
Plant Perspective
Leadership Alignment: COO and plant leadership had a clear, practical plan to implement culture and capability changes.
Practical Engagement: Employees at all levels gained a voice in solving problems and sharing ideas.
Structured Learning: Framework are now in place and designed to scale with the company’s growth.
Hiring Readiness: New evaluation tools help ensure the right people are being hired and supported from day one.
Communication Culture: Teams now have tools and language to stay on the same page and stay accountable.
People Perspective
Transformed Orientation Experience: The biggest shift was the overhaul of the new employee orientation. By delivering the right information from Day 1, employees quickly gained clarity and confidence. “It’s amazing what a difference it makes to hear ‘that’s what that means’ on Day 1 instead of six months in.”
Trainer Confidence and Ownership: Trainers not only improved their instructional skills but also embraced their roles as leaders. Their early involvement and structured coaching led to strong buy-in, pride, and sustainability—without the need for top-down pressure.
Day-2 Readiness: New hires now arrive with stronger baseline knowledge and confidence. “The knowledge they’re showing up with on Day 2 is so much better. It’s such a robust training—everyone noticed the improvement right away.”
Cross-Functional Understanding: Our ability to speak the language of manufacturing operations, HR, and learning created trust across departments. Leaders didn’t have to explain the fundamentals of food manufacturing—they felt understood from day one.
Confidence-Building in Key Leaders: Multiple team members experienced personal growth. A key emerging leader became more confident in her role and core abilities: “You helped her see what she was already good at.” Others found themselves humbler, more self-aware, and more open to feedback.
Team-Led Engagement and Retention Efforts: The work sparked broader organizational initiatives. One leader took ownership of stay interviews and began exploring what keeps employees thriving beyond 10 years. This led to deeper employee insights and ongoing retention strategies.
Flexibility and Partnership: Our ability to navigate site specific needs and meet teams where they were—both culturally and operationally—was deeply valued. “I’d recommend you (Ranya) and Gary to anyone.”
Summary
With deep manufacturing fluency and people-first implementation, Performance Solutions Partners helped transform the company’s workforce training strategy and onboarding approach. We used “action learning” to prepare the workforce for a new facility, while laying down structured learning pathways for ongoing development that positively impacted organizational capacity and capabilities.
Leader Quotes
“You get manufacturing and that really helped.”
“Trainer confidence skyrocketed: They care about doing it right. We saw buy-in from day one.”
“Took our training to the next level.”
“Orientation blew it out of the water.”
“We are prepared for turnover now.”
“Job aids are my go-to. Trainers know how to think about procedures.”
