Gold'n Plump Poultry provides chicken products to stores, delicatessens, and restaurants in 40 states. Commitment to process excellence has helped the company thrive even in tough times, and Minitab Statistical Software has provided the powerful tools they needed to analyze quality data. But the company's many improvement projects were being performed at multiple locations, using a variety of tools. That made it hard for management to assess the total benefit of their efforts. Now, using Quality Companion software, Gold'n Plump teams rely on one application to manage projects from start to finish.

The challenge

Based in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Gold'n Plump has become the upper Midwest's largest fully integrated broiler chicken producer. This family-owned business also seeks to become the benchmark of manufacturing excellence for the poultry industry. To meet that goal, Gold'n Plump integrates two quality improvement strategies: Six Sigma to address process quality, eliminate defects, and reduce product variation; and lean to boost process speed and flow and eliminate waste. Gold'n Plump's commitment yields real dividends—in 2009, it achieved $5.2 million in companywide savings from improvement projects.

 …