The Challenge
With Keurig Dr Pepper’s rapid growth and acquisitions came the challenge of efficiently tracking engineering and maintenance documentation for the packaging and processing lines in its manufacturing operations. By 2018, an internal survey of the Maintenance Team found that far too much time was spent searching for work instructions, and employees were too often unsure if they were working from the correct version of those instructions. With more than 4 million documents now under their purview, the Engineering Team needed a more efficient way to find, control, and monitor system changes across the enterprise.
The solution
Aerie led the Engineering and Technical teams at Keurig Dr Pepper through a needs analysis process that defined how a high-functioning change management solution should look. Working with stakeholders in a variety of physical locations, Aerie determined that project success would be defined by automating the document approval process, notifications, and dramatically shortening the time it took for employees to find maintenance documentation.
Working within Office 365 and the Microsoft framework of tools, Aerie developed a solution that prioritizes getting to documents quickly. Using an Amazon-like interface for documents stored in SharePoint, the application manages all policies, procedures, and system documentation for the Engineering and Maintenance teams across all manufacturing locations. Because it's accessible from kiosks on manufacturing floors, from desks in the office, and from mobile devices on the go, employees now have always-on access to the application. The simple interface enables users to find the documents they need in seconds, and to be confident they’ve located the current version. Time spent finding documents was reduced by more than 90% which has resulted in a significant reduction in equipment down time.
While fast access was a critical success factor, the solution also incorporates an automated approval and notification process to ensure regulatory compliance. Using Power Automate to alert employees of required upcoming reviews as well as changes in progress, the portal combines speed, ease of use, and document control in one central location.
