Shivani’s Kitchen Boosts Production with Our Food Automation Consulting
My experience working with Enginuity was great! The team calculated my current costs, and so they were able to give an actual [financial] figure to what we were spending on time and labour, and how we can get a good return on investment. I’m looking forward to continue working with Enginuity as the business scales.
Shivani Dhamija
Founder, Shivani’s Kitchen
About the Client
Shivani Kitchen
Shivani Dhamija, Founder of Shivani’s Kitchen, was looking to increase production capacity without significantly increasing costs following an increase in market demand.
While running her restaurant business, Shivani identified a need for her customers to recreate her dishes at home – and so their “Ready to Use” Sauces and Spice Blends line was launched. However, because of the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, Shivani successfully pivoted her Indian food restaurant business to a new production plant for spices and sauces in Newport Station, in just the span of a year.
Understanding the Problem
The Challenge
Though these ready-made sauces and spice blends were already sold in local stores in Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), Nova Scotia, Canada, Shivani was able to further expand her reach. She not only successfully released her product line to retail stores, she was also able to begin expansion to the United States.
With this business expansion, it was harder to keep up with product demand. Implementing food processing automation within her kitchen was imperative, so she sought help from Enginuity.
Our goal was to first identify areas and bottlenecks in her current process where she could optimize her production, without significantly increasing costs, and determining opportunities for automation.
Facility Improvement Recommendation
Recommendations were made to separate production of spice and sauce into different kitchen. Adding packaging/dry storage room between kitchen helps limit friction and increase production.
Shivani's Kitchen before upgrade
Shivani working in her kitchen. Recommendations for improvements at different stages such as supply chain, equipment speedup, and improving labelling process.
Sauces & Spice Blends Line
Shivani standing with her “Ready to Use” Sauces and Spice Blends line after pivoting from her Indian restaurant business to a new production plant.
Solving the Challenge
The Solution
Our Discovery Process focused on identifying bottlenecks in Shivani’s current process where they can improve their production: from “goods in” through the “packaged product out”. It was important to identify the quick wins or fixes that can be already done without having to invest heavily in new equipment, and to maximize use of the existing production space.
Enginuity was able to give a series of recommendations with varying time frames: immediate improvements, short term improvements (can be done <1 year), and longer term improvements (2-3 years).
This way, at varying time frames and budget allocation, Shivani’s Kitchen was able to see the full picture and get a roadmap of everything that they can do to improve their throughput in lockstep with their production scale and market demand.
Summarizing the Outcome
The Conclusion
Key Takeaways
Optimized Production Process
Significant Production Increase
Positive Client Experience
Shivani’s Kitchen saw high ROI potential, and praised Enginuity for effective cost analysis and practical solutions.
Applying Know-Hows to Food and Beverage Automation Industry
The Shivani’s Kitchen project demonstrates our ability to enhance production efficiency, increase yield, and drive productivity in the food industry. By identifying bottlenecks and recommending tailored improvements, we provided scalable solutions that doubled production capacity within six months.
The strategies implemented can be adapted to improve:
- Bakery: Optimize baking processes, enhance production efficiency, and improve resource management.
- Beverage and Brewery: Increase production yield, streamline bottling processes, and ensure quality control.
- Dairy: Enhance milk processing, improve production workflows, and utilize resources effectively.
- Prepared Foods: Scale up production lines, improve packaging processes, and minimize labor-intensive tasks.
- Protein Processing: Improve meat processing efficiency, enhance asset utilization, and ensure safety compliance.
Our expertise helps clients across these sectors achieve significant gains in productivity, efficiency, and quality, ensuring sustainable growth and success.
Read Other Success Stories
See How We Are Shaping The World
Product Development
Everything you need to get your product development done quickly, creatively, and on budget.
Industry 4.0 & Robotics
Integrating traditional manufacturing and industrial platforms and practices with the latest smart technology.
Aerospace & Defence
Providing safe, controlled and reliable engineering for Aerospace and Defence projects.
Industrial & Marine
Helping you develop reliable engineering solutions for harsh environment offshore operations.
Questions?
If you have any enquiry or simply would like to reach out to us