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 scent of freshly roasted beans, and a crew that’s genuinely happy with the work they do.

That second half didn’t occur by chance.

It’s the results of a daring determination Cascade made about 4 years in the past: exchange one of the crucial 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 not too long ago 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 mission, from the profitable to the painful. His perspective is extraordinarily grounded in what producers stay day-after-day.

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

When progress meets actuality

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

The issue? Practically every little thing downstream was nonetheless handbook.

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

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

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

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

The primary leap: A sensible, low-risk check

When Cascade bought a brand new high-volume Ok-Cup line, Ron noticed a possibility: in the event that they have 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 slightly 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 stay manufacturing.

No cages. No advanced programming. No weeks of commissioning.

Operators realized the interface in minutes. The security conduct instantly earned their belief. And the cultural shift occurred quicker than anticipated: the crew 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 turned a part of the character 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 depend on one hand the variety of days any palletizer has been down. And people uncommon points? Often from packaging anomalies, not the robotic.

That reliability turned the rationale Cascade might 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 turned 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 working manufacturing by the tip of the primary shift.

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

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

Actual enterprise affect: Hundreds of thousands saved, folks lifted up

Cascade Espresso invested slightly below seven figures throughout all programs.

They’ve already recouped a number of tens of millions in labor effectivity.

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

The workers who as soon as rotated by way of 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 tools as a result of they realized on the cobot first.”

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

And it was an incredible match culturally as effectively. The robots have names, vacation outfits, and recurring appearances on Cascade’s LinkedIn web page. They’ve turn out to be a part of the crew!

Classes for producers contemplating automation

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

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

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

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 know-how.

Talk clearly that automation removes undesirable duties—not folks.

4. Standardize early.

As soon as one cell is working effectively, you’ll be able to replicate it effectively throughout comparable traces.

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

Olympus Controls helped Cascade deploy quick and adapt shortly, at the same time as wants modified.

What this story actually reveals

Automation doesn’t must be costly, dangerous, or disruptive. When completed 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 completely automated, extremely engaged crew that’s assured, rising, and able to tackle extra.

Their journey is strictly why we imagine in Lean Robotics: begin small, scale quick, and construct functionality by way of 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 affect we wish each producer to expertise.

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

Need extra tales from actual factories like yours?

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