“Reach for the brass ring.” The phrase may be somewhat dated - considering it originated from a carousel ride popular in the early 1900s. Yet it’s still frequently used to describe someone striving toward a reward.
Visit ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston in Pasco, Wash., and you’ll find the maxim also embodied there. Although, this is a different type of ring altogether.
After years of producing specialty french fries, this 43-year-old operation now is on the cutting edge of frozen foodservice appetizers - processing battered onion rings as well as specialty chopped-and-formed products. In 2007, parent ConAgra Foods invested millions in a seven-month project that added 85,000 square feet to the Pasco plant footprint. The investment brought in state-of-the-art food processing, packaging and freezing equipment.
Rick Gardner, senior director of manufacturing, explains the significance.
“There was some pain that went along with the expansion but it brings great benefits. Thanks to this technology, we now can make products that are cutting edge and that address specific niches. This [investment] really will ensure the long-term viability of the facility here in Pasco. That’s the reward.”
For the record, Pasco already was a big operation. Acquired in 1994 from Universal Foods, Pasco’s main building housed 400 employees and 375,000 square feet. Then came a fast-track addition bringing entirely new product lines and 150 more employees.
In an interview, Gardner gestures toward the year-old addition.
“We built this without shutting it [the french fry plant] down at all,” he says. “We never would have been successful without a high level of coordination and teamwork between existing plant operations and the project team. It was absolutely outstanding.
“Three years ago, if you would have told our people about onions, cheese and all these other specialty ingredients, they would have looked at you like you were from Mars. However, they have embraced it and taken it on.”
Still, there has been a learning curve. Besides the fact that the appetizer building has its own receiving and shipping activities, Lamb Weston had to train appetizer workers to handle many new high-value ingredients; operate more complex, automated production and packaging lines; and efficiently change lines over from one product to another.
Simultaneously, Gardner has spearheaded an entirely different education process. Similar to sister operations throughout the ConAgra network, Lamb Weston Pasco is embracing a “ConAgra Performance System” approach to total quality management in every aspect of operations.
“Our goal is team member engagement,” says Gardner. “We’re trying to increase our employee involvement. . . . This means eliminating traditional management styles with ‘supervisors’ and ‘employees,’ and giving more decision-making power to team members. Meanwhile, team leaders are freed up to pursue continuous improvement ideas.”
ConAgra literally is investing in its program through training - taking workers from the floor and bringing them into adult training sessions on aspects of team dynamics, decision making and continuous skills development.
Gardner shares one example of the new process in practice. Whereas earlier plant safety meetings would have a supervisor up front reading from a handout, safety team members now conduct their own sessions.
“We started this about 18 months ago and we’re becoming more and more focused on it,” he says. “I’m a firm believer that you’re never there until everyone has the same perspective. I think of it like we’re ‘capturing’ people every day - as they understand the difference in this approach.”
Perhaps most importantly, Gardner says he appreciates how Pasco employees are responding to change on all levels.
“I’m proud the team here has embraced [appetizer new product] innovation with open arms. Our lives used to be more simple. . . . The new appetizer segment is extremely challenging in terms of customer expectations but - a year after - we’re continuing to learn and we haven’t lost our appetite.
“This team in Pasco is poised for success. Our team member employees have a great perspective on the value of servicing our customers and they continue to embrace growth.”
ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston-Pasco
Address: 960 N. Glade Rd., Pasco, Wash. 99301
Size: 460,000 square feet
Products: Approximately 50 types of foodservice seasoned straight cut and twister fries, appetizers, chopped-and-formed specialty appetizers, onion rings