Finding a second production line inside the first one

Helix was preparing a capital request for a second production line to meet committed demand, with a payback horizon that made the board uncomfortable.

Reported machine utilisation was 78%, which suggested the plant was close to its ceiling.

Nobody had reconciled that number to what the shop floor actually experienced across shift handovers and changeovers.

Three weeks of direct observation on all three shifts, instrumenting the line and timing every changeover rather than trusting the ERP's utilisation field.

True effective utilisation was 51%. The gap was changeover time, an unbalanced shift handover and a quality inspection step queueing work behind a single station.

We redesigned changeover to a documented single-minute exchange procedure, rebalanced the handover, and moved inspection inline with automated capture at the station.

A lightweight telemetry layer replaced manual production logging, and our talent practice trained supervisors on the new standard work and the daily review that sustains it.

Output rose 34% on identical capital equipment within five months, and the second line was deferred indefinitely.

Annualised contribution margin improved by roughly eighteen crore, verified against the ledger by the client's own finance team rather than by us.

Changeover time fell 52%, and the supervisor-led daily review has held the gain through two subsequent product introductions.