4pManagement Ltd

In my last blog, I estimated the number of working days to the end of the year as 158, my actual for 2023 was 164. I’m very pleased with this, and shows great commitment from my clients.

I also underwent my second knee operation on the 2^nd December, by the 5^th was back at my desk working from my home office and on the 9^th January made my first trip to Poland.

November, December, January, and February have been busy. The Line relocation from Czech Republic to Poland has been intense, documenting what we are moving, agreeing the scope of works with the main contractor and subcontractors. There has been copious amounts of work around planning with the donor factory, the removal and the installation plan with the receiving site, building and finessing the time line multiple times as we sought ways to make the move happen in the target of 28 days that the client asked for, and controlling the variations to order.

With a project of this sort, you have to be flexible. There are so many unknowns when you start to strip out a line, that a fixed price cost is not reasonable.

This has built to a crescendo of activity from the 1^st February, when we started to dismantle and remove 52 pieces of the petfood canning line and 32 MCC’s.

On the timing plan, we had to be clear of donor site by the 10^th February, to stand any chance of hitting the overall timeline of 28 days. The main contractor had cleared the site in 7 days, at one point we had over 90 mechanics and electricians working in the Czech Republic.

The removal required over 40 trucks, with the installation starting on the 3^rd March in Poland and by the 13^th March the majority of large machines were in place. With again 90 people on site, 6 fork lifts trucks, 8 mobile access platforms, 2 cherry pickers, a 200t crane, and a 2000t crane due to the span of building we had to lift over.

Electrical reconnections from the MCC’s to field devices, connection from the main distribution boards to MCC’s and pipework from the boiler house, cooling tower, wastewater, soft water & compressed air all started in parallel with the equipment installation to save time. This brought time benefits and a few “head in hands” moments!

The building in Poland had to be adapted, roofs raised in three locations, walls removed, ceilings replaced, new lighting throughout and a general high level clean, luckily it was designed for “wet” process, so floor drains were already in. All of the civil work was completed before the installation started.

I/O testing started on 20^th February and wet commissioning will be on the 1^st March. So far the teamwork has been exceptional and the best part so far is no accidents. But 80% of the installation takes 50% of the available time with the remaining 20% taking the rest. This is normal as the details take time.

I’ve also been working with my Mexican client, due to building works & permit problems, this project is delayed, but it’s been a godsend from one perspective as it allowed us to put more effort into the installation, commissioning, qualification, and verification plan, so when the line does start, it should be more vertical.

From a future work perspective, I’ve started a marketing campaign to create more contacts in the petfood industry, so far all my commissions have been via recommendation from ex Purina colleagues in the wider petfood community. But I know I need to get my name and achievements out there.

I’ve also changed the focus of 4pM. Originally it was food industry, but in fact all my commissions are Petfood based, so now my LinkedIn profile says “Petfood Manufacturing Consultant”.

But I’m always willing to talk to clients and help them find solutions to their petfood manufacturing challenges, be it improvements on existing lines or capital investment on new line. Dry, Wet, treats and chews. Process, Packaging, and Vertical line start-ups. If you found this thought provoking, please get in touch.