Despite decades of investment in automation, ERP platforms, and continuous improvement programs, many manufacturers still operate far below their true capacity. Machines run. Orders ship. Overtime becomes routine. Yet performance feels capped, and leadership assumes the only way forward is additional capital investment.
This case study tells a different story.
By combining Process Pilot with Microsoft Dynamics 365, one high-volume manufacturer uncovered hidden constraints inside its existing operation and unlocked more than £13.5 million in incremental annual profit, without buying a single new machine.
This is a proof point for what manufacturing process optimization can achieve when real operational data is finally connected, contextualized, and acted on.
Continue reading to learn how SNCL helped one manufacturer revolutionize how they used their existing data to create a lasting impact.
On paper, this manufacturer looked healthy. Demand was strong. Equipment utilization appeared reasonable. Teams were experienced and engaged.
Yet the plant consistently operated at just 63% overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). Leadership believed the site was nearing its practical limit. To meet future demand, the assumed solution was straightforward but expensive: purchase additional machines at a cost of more than £1.5 million per unit.
Before committing to that investment, the organization asked a different question: What if the capacity we need already exists, but we cannot see it?
That question became the starting point for deploying Process Pilot.
This was not a simple operation. The plant ran at scale and under constant pressure.
Operational context included:
Despite strong demand, the site struggled to hit output targets without escalating overtime, weekend shifts, and maintenance firefighting.
The symptoms were clear. The root causes were not.
Traditional reporting showed utilization averages around 81.5%, which seemed acceptable at a glance. But deeper variability told a different story.
Some lines regularly dropped as low as 60% utilization. Batch changeovers consumed nearly four hours per day per machine. Scheduling decisions were made primarily by volume and due date, with little consideration for how different products actually behaved on different machines.
Maintenance teams faced long delays waiting for overseas replacement parts. Performance data existed, but it lived in disconnected systems and spreadsheets, preventing any holistic analysis.
The result was a familiar manufacturing paradox: plenty of data, very little insight.
When the data was finally normalized and analyzed, the financial impact of inefficiency became impossible to ignore.
At design capacity:
At actual performance:
That gap represented lost opportunity on an enormous scale.
Each 1% increase in OEE equated to:
By moving from 63% to 85% OEE, the manufacturer unlocked:
The question shifted from “Can we afford to improve?” to “How did we miss this?”
Process Pilot was deployed alongside Dynamics 365 to analyze real transactional data flowing through the production environment. This was not a theoretical model or a manual time study. It was a digital representation of how work actually moved.
Process Pilot connected:
For the first time, leadership could see the entire manufacturing process as it truly operated, not as it was assumed to operate.
The insights were immediate and actionable.
Process Pilot exposed:
The root cause became clear. Machines were scheduled by volume alone, without considering how product mix affected speed, setup time, and operational stability.
Rather than rushing to the shop floor with new rules, the team used Process Pilot to simulate improvements digitally.
They tested scenarios including:
This approach removed risk from decision-making. Improvements could be validated in data before disrupting live production.
The breakthrough was not a new technology or a massive investment. It was a smarter way of running what already existed.
Key changes implemented included:
No new machines were added. The system simply began working the way it should have all along.
This was not an incremental improvement; it was a full transformation.
The benefits extended far beyond metrics.
Operators experienced fewer breakdowns and interruptions. Maintenance teams moved from reactive firefighting to proactive planning. Clear, shared data replaced guesswork and blanket targets.
Jobs became more predictable and manageable. Employee satisfaction increased as the operation stabilized.
Process visibility did not just improve output. It improved the day-to-day experience of work.
Perhaps the most lasting impact was cultural.
With real process visibility:
This was no longer a one-off project. It was the foundation of continuous improvement at scale.
Many manufacturers believe they are capacity constrained when they are actually process constrained.
The data needed to improve performance already exists, but it is rarely connected, contextualized, or trusted. Process Pilot changes that.
World-class manufacturing does not start with new machines. It starts with visibility.
If your operation is pushing overtime, considering new equipment, or struggling to hit OEE targets, the opportunity may already be hidden in your data.
Process Pilot helps manufacturers uncover it.
Schedule a chat with SNCL and discover what your operation is truly capable of achieving.
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