Food Processing - December 2007 - (Page 21)

THE MARS SNACKFOOD U.S. MANUFACTURING organization has been as low-key and private as its parent ﬁrm. But there has been a 97-year history of innovation and technology adoption that makes Mars one of the world’s leading candy manufacturers. The company has developed product, program and processing innovations and assiduously attended to mastering efﬁciency throughout the organization. Its chocolate formulations remain proprietary and, despite industry pressures to outsource, it continues to make its own chocolate and chocolate liquor. But times have changed and so has Mars. We visited the M&M’S production facility in Hackettstown, N.J., where manufacturing follows the divergent paths of old and new. One the one hand is the continued commitment to the dedicated mass production lines that have served Mars and its powerhouse stable of brands for decades. On the other is a newfound excitement over extremely short-run, rapid-changeover production of personalized made-to-order “special occasion” products. Each has important purpose. First, high-volume output from lines and equipment dedicated to globally popular M&M’S products are one of the pillars of the company’s success. Second, the M&M’S portfolio offers the kind of universally appreciated products that invite personalization, customer loyalty and the handsome proﬁt margins that customization promises. Agile to the max In 2004, Mars North America created “Mars Direct,” a division of the Mars Snackfood U.S. division with an exciting but daunting mission: to launch special order products with custom-printed names or identiﬁers on product or wrapper for weddings, graduation parties, birthdays and other activities. Within 90 days, a hand-picked, cross-functional team produced the ﬁ rst personalized “My Message” M&M’S order. Sales have been hot, but those closest to the action say: “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” “We have ﬁve to six years of innovation that will be ﬁ nding its way to the market,” Ralph Jerome, vice president of research and development, says of the technology developed for My M&M’S. “(Personalization) takes the brand from something physical to something aspirational – something with a message. That’s high on the hierarchy of consumer beneﬁts … nearing the Grail!” What it has taken technologically to reach this degree of truly “personal” product delivery also nears what engineers and manufacturing gurus have regarded as their “Holy Grail” WWW.FOODPROCESSING.COM John Dodge, Hackettstown site manager: “We’re trying to move from the ‘big factory’ model to a situation where the people who operate the plant own small parts of it.” – agile manufacturing reﬁ ned and leveraged to the max for rapid and highly proﬁtable short-run product delivery. “There’s a lot of technology – a whole manufacturing process – behind this,” Jerome continues. “The enabler is highspeed printing capability with all food-grade materials. A lot of that technology is in the formulation of inks. We have a program printer for four different messages.” Jim Cass, general manager of My M&M’S, credits three speciﬁc systems with the line’s success to date: ink-jet printing technology (“without our ability to print with food-grade inks, we wouldn’t have a business”); order management technology (“to get orders through our ﬁ rewalls and networks, reviewing every message personally for appropriateness and accuracy … within hours”); and inbound product delivery that provides the critical ingredient – fresh M&M’S product, within 24 hours. But an outside technology – the Internet – may be the biggest difference maker, according to John Dodge, site manager at the Hackettstown M&M’S plant. “It’s not just the technolDECEMBER 2007 FOOD PROCESSING • 21 http://www.foodprocessing.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Food Processing - December 2007

Contents Editor's Plate NewsBites Rollout Food Biz Kids Processor of the Year: Mars Snackfood U.S. Mass Production Meets Custom Manufacturing Product Development: Bone appetit! Show Report: Pack/Process Expo and Worldwide Food Expo New Product Profiles Toops Scoops

Food Processing - December 2007

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