Once you stroll into Cascade Espresso’s facility north of Seattle, you instantly sense two issues: the unmistakable scent of freshly roasted beans, and a workforce that’s genuinely happy with the work they do.
That second half didn’t occur accidentally.
It’s the results of a daring choice Cascade made about 4 years in the past: exchange probably the most painful, turnover-heavy, inconsistent handbook jobs within the manufacturing facility with collaborative robots. What began as a single low-risk experiment snowballed into a scientific, company-wide transformation touching productiveness, folks, and tradition.
I 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 Power, craft beer—so he’s seen each taste of automation undertaking, from the profitable to the painful. His perspective is extraordinarily grounded in what producers reside day by day.
Right here’s Cascade’s story, and the teachings any meals and bev manufacturing facility 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 revolutionary ecommerce gamers. It unlocked development, however elevated complexity in a single day.
The issue? Almost all the things 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 skilled nearly weekly on intricate customer-specific patterns
- High quality errors—like misaligned labels on shipments—had been eroding buyer satisfaction
And culturally, no one wished the palletizing job. It was bodily demanding, low selection, and annoying.
“It didn’t present worth for us as a manufacturing facility. It wanted to be completed, nevertheless it actually ought to have been automated if there was a solution to do it.”
– Ron Kane, COO
The problem was the identical one many mid-sized producers face: conventional palletizers had been too massive, too costly, and too advanced 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 chance: in the event that they had been upgrading processing and packaging, why cease there?
He evaluated the total 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 shocked everybody.
Their native accomplice, 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 advanced programming. No weeks of commissioning.
Operators realized the interface in minutes. The security habits instantly earned their belief. And the cultural shift occurred sooner 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 turned a part of the character of the manufacturing facility.”
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?
- Larger 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? Often from packaging anomalies, not the robotic.
That reliability turned the rationale Cascade may scale confidently.
Scaling systematically: From one to 6 (and counting!)
-2.jpg?width=685&height=385&name=Robotiq%20Background%20(Cascade%20Coffee)-2.jpg)
As soon as the primary cell proved itself, Cascade replicated the method throughout each retail bag line within the manufacturing facility.
As a result of their mechanics and engineers already understood the interface, subsequent installations turned practically plug-and-play:
- Nonetheless delivered in crates
- Nonetheless bolted down in hours
- Nonetheless operational the subsequent day
- Nonetheless straightforward to troubleshoot independently
One line went from crate arrival to operating manufacturing by the top of the primary shift.
And their workforce began collaborating with our engineers on efficiency upgrades—like early adoption of dual-case choosing to spice up throughput with out growing velocity.
The end result was: a standardized, repeatable palletizing technique throughout the whole website.
Actual enterprise impression: Tens of millions saved, folks lifted up
Cascade Espresso invested slightly below seven figures throughout all methods.
They’ve already recouped a number of tens of millions in labor effectivity.
However the half Ron speaks about with essentially the most pleasure isn’t the monetary return; it’s the folks.
The staff 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 greater tools as a result of they realized on the cobot first.”
Automation didn’t scale back headcount. It really created new alternative.
And it was an important match culturally as effectively. The robots have names, vacation outfits, and recurring appearances on Cascade’s LinkedIn web page. They’ve turn into a part of the workforce!
Classes for producers contemplating automation
Listed here are the takeaways Ron would give anybody simply beginning their automation journey:
1. Your actual ROI will seemingly 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 rapidly. 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 operating effectively, you possibly can replicate it effectively throughout related traces.
5. A powerful native accomplice makes all of the distinction.
Olympus Controls helped Cascade deploy quick and adapt rapidly, at the same time as wants modified.
What this story actually exhibits
Automation doesn’t need to 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 totally automated, extremely engaged workforce that’s assured, rising, and able to tackle extra.
Their journey is precisely why we consider in Lean Robotics: begin small, scale quick, and construct functionality via each section: design, combine, function.
Ron mentioned it finest:
“You gave us the primary steps. We wouldn’t be pursuing automation this aggressively with out that early success.”
And that’s the sort of impression we would like each producer to expertise.
If you wish to see whether or not palletizing automation is sensible on your facility, begin with the Palletizing Match Instrument — a fast, interactive solution to see if Lean Palletizing is the correct match on your line.
Need extra tales from actual factories like yours?
Observe Robotiq on LinkedIn and be a part of over 75,000 producers seeing how automation retains folks secure, and manufacturing operating robust.
