Challenge
Paper-based work instructions hold frontline teams back. They make collaboration difficult and they cannot capture the complexity of the standard operating procedures a modern food plant runs on.
Conagra Brands wanted a digital, mobile-first way for frontline employees to execute work, ask for help in real time, find information quickly, and collect data that was both accurate and actually usable. Under the old approach, completing the paperwork could take a worker until the end of their shift.
Solution
As part of Conagra's Connected Shop Floor initiative, CAI Parsable was deployed as the connected worker solution at the company's brand-new $300-million production facility in Waseca, Minnesota, with four further sites planned. The programme was delivered jointly with Accenture.
More than 400 digital work templates were deployed, covering CIL and centerline processes across the factory — quality, production, receiving and shipping. Parsable was chosen for its low-code/no-code platform and enterprise interoperability with systems such as SAP, which kept IT involvement minimal, and for how quickly clearly defined use cases could be turned into working digital templates.
Results
- Over 400 digital work templates deployed across the facility
- Shift paperwork reduced from an end-of-shift task to 30–45 minutes, using photos and video capture
- Reduced downtime through timely, complete checks and audits performed by digitally connected employees
- Fewer errors, via automated quality triggers, less manual inspection and rapid issue traceability
- Improved data quality, producing more accurate reporting, visualisation and analytics
- Associates empowered with the digital tools and skills to run their processes autonomously
- Real-time visibility of floor conditions without needing to be on the floor
The Impact
Before, you would have to leave the floor, go to the shop, log in, etc. With this, if you have it on you, by the time it would have taken you to walk there, you'd already have it done.
Key Features Used
- CAI Parsable — connected worker platform for frontline operations
- Digital work instructions replacing paper SOPs
- Digital collaboration and real-time help requests
- Digital data collection, including photo and video capture
- CIL and centerline process execution
- Low-code/no-code template building
- Enterprise interoperability, including SAP
