Inside Cascade Espresso’s playbook for sustainable, scalable automation

If you stroll into Cascade Espresso’s facility north of Seattle, you instantly sense two issues: the unmistakable odor of freshly roasted beans, and a workforce that’s genuinely happy with the work they do.

That second half didn’t occur by chance.

It’s the results of a daring choice Cascade made about 4 years in the past: exchange one of the vital painful, turnover-heavy, inconsistent handbook jobs within the manufacturing unit with collaborative robots. What began as a single low-risk experiment snowballed into a scientific, company-wide transformation touching productiveness, folks, and tradition.

I just lately sat down with Cascade’s COO, Ron Kane, to retrace that journey. Ron’s spent greater than 30 years in meals and beverage—Nestlé Waters, Monster Vitality, craft beer—so he’s seen each taste of automation challenge, from the profitable to the painful. His perspective is extraordinarily grounded in what producers reside day-after-day.

Right here’s Cascade’s story, and the teachings any meals and bev manufacturing unit can apply.

When development meets actuality

In 2020, Cascade shifted from serving one main buyer (80% of their quantity) to supporting a broad portfolio of manufacturers, particularly modern ecommerce gamers. It unlocked development, however elevated complexity in a single day.

The issue? Practically every part downstream was nonetheless handbook.

• Operators had been hand-stacking dozens of pallet configurations
• Turnover on the palletizing position was over 60%
  
• New hires had been educated nearly weekly on intricate customer-specific patterns
• High quality errors—like misaligned labels on shipments—had been eroding buyer satisfaction

And culturally, no one needed the palletizing job. It was bodily demanding, low selection, and tense.

“It didn’t present worth for us as a manufacturing unit. It wanted to be accomplished, but it surely actually ought to have been automated if there was a technique to do it.”
– Ron Kane, COO

The problem was the identical one many mid-sized producers face: conventional palletizers had been too huge, too costly, and too complicated for his or her footprint.

The primary leap: A sensible, low-risk take a look at

When Cascade bought a brand new high-volume Okay-Cup line, Ron noticed a possibility: in the event that they had been upgrading processing and packaging, why cease there?

He evaluated the complete image: labor, ergonomics, turnover, uptime, and buyer necessities and proposed trialing a cobot palletizer. The preliminary ROI estimate was just below two years, already strong.

What occurred subsequent stunned everybody.

Their native associate, Olympus Controls, rolled the system into place. Inside hours, it was bolted down. By the subsequent afternoon, it was palletizing reside manufacturing.

No cages. No complicated programming. No weeks of commissioning.

Operators realized the interface in minutes. The protection habits instantly earned their belief. And the cultural shift occurred quicker than anticipated: the workforce named the robotic, embellished it for holidays, and handled it as an extra coworker.

“We put in the robotic, didn’t lose any headcount, and it grew to become a part of the persona of the manufacturing unit.”

9 months to payback, not two years

When the primary audit was full, the numbers got here in…

Precise ROI: 9 months.

Why the dramatic distinction?

• Greater uptime than anticipated
• Constant throughput, even throughout variable quantity
• No unplanned labor protection for downtime
• Fewer high quality points
  
• Rising quantity on the road

In three years, Ron can rely on one hand the variety of days any palletizer has been down. And people uncommon points? Normally from packaging anomalies, not the robotic.

That reliability grew to become the rationale Cascade may scale confidently.

Scaling systematically: From one to 6 (and counting!)

As soon as the primary cell proved itself, Cascade replicated the method throughout each retail bag line within the manufacturing unit.

As a result of their mechanics and engineers already understood the interface, subsequent installations grew to become almost plug-and-play:

• Nonetheless delivered in crates
• Nonetheless bolted down in hours
• Nonetheless operational the subsequent day
• Nonetheless simple to troubleshoot independently

One line went from crate arrival to operating manufacturing by the tip of the primary shift.

And their workforce began collaborating with our engineers on efficiency upgrades—like early adoption of dual-case selecting to spice up throughput with out rising pace.

The consequence was: a standardized, repeatable palletizing technique throughout all the website.

Actual enterprise influence: Thousands and thousands saved, folks lifted up

Cascade Espresso invested just below seven figures throughout all programs.

They’ve already recouped a number of hundreds of thousands in labor effectivity.

However the half Ron speaks about with essentially the most delight isn’t the monetary return; it’s the folks.

The workers who as soon as rotated via the toughest job within the plant are nonetheless there. Many have moved as much as higher-skill roles.

“They’re constructing careers, not simply doing jobs. They’re incomes extra for his or her households. They’re extra assured working larger gear as a result of they realized on the cobot first.”

Automation didn’t scale back headcount. It truly created new alternative.

And it was an ideal match culturally as effectively. The robots have names, vacation outfits, and recurring appearances on Cascade’s LinkedIn web page. They’ve develop into a part of the workforce!

Classes for producers contemplating automation

Listed below are the takeaways Ron would give anybody simply beginning their automation journey:

1. Your actual ROI will doubtless be higher than your spreadsheet.

Producers typically underestimate the impact of constant throughput and overestimate downtime danger.

2. Begin the place the ache is highest and the labor is hardest to retain.

Palletizing jobs burn folks out shortly. Fixing that ache advantages the entire operation.

3. Tradition issues as a lot as expertise.

Talk clearly that automation removes undesirable duties—not folks.

4. Standardize early.

As soon as one cell is operating effectively, you possibly can replicate it effectively throughout comparable strains.

5. A powerful native associate makes all of the distinction.

Olympus Controls helped Cascade deploy quick and adapt shortly, whilst wants modified.

What this story actually reveals

Automation doesn’t must be costly, dangerous, or disruptive. When accomplished systematically (and with folks in thoughts) it turns into a catalyst for higher work, higher throughput, and higher enterprise.

Cascade Espresso went from handbook palletizing with excessive turnover to a totally automated, extremely engaged workforce that’s assured, rising, and able to tackle extra.

Their journey is precisely why we imagine in Lean Robotics: begin small, scale quick, and construct functionality via each part: design, combine, function.

Ron mentioned it greatest:

“You gave us the primary steps. We wouldn’t be pursuing automation this aggressively with out that early success.”

And that’s the form of influence we would like each producer to expertise.

If you wish to see whether or not palletizing automation is smart to your facility, begin with the Palletizing Match Device — a fast, interactive technique to see if Lean Palletizing is the best match to your line.

Need extra tales from actual factories like yours?

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