CDI Holdings · Case Study Library
MDW® Process Focus Module · Worcester, Western Cape, South Africa
Distell Worcester Distillery
Unlocking Process Excellence at the World’s Largest Brandy Distillery
Distell Group · R7.9 Billion Turnover · World’s Largest Brandy Distillery · 24/7 Operation, 10 Months Per Year · Process Focus Module
80%
Maintenance overtime
reduction
reduction
60%
After-hours callouts
reduction
reduction
26%
Steam-to-coal
efficiency gain
efficiency gain
50%
Team-led innovations
increase
increase
Context
The World’s Largest Brandy Distillery, Deepening Its MDW Journey
The Distell Worcester Distillery is the largest brandy distillery in the world — a 24/7 primary production facility operating for ten months of every year. Goal Alignment, 5S, and Engaging Leadership were already embedded as part of the site's MDW foundation. The challenge was not restarting; it was going deeper.
CDI's Process Focus module was designed for exactly this context — bridging cultural transformation with the technical disciplines that a 24/7, asset-intensive primary production environment demands.
CDI's Process Focus module was designed for exactly this context — bridging cultural transformation with the technical disciplines that a 24/7, asset-intensive primary production environment demands.
The Challenge
When Standard MDW Needs a Technical Dimension
After-hours callouts were high, overtime significant, and operator empowerment in technical decisions limited. The site's 24/7 complexity required a structured module built specifically around asset care, quality assurance, and process improvement.
The measure of maturity is not whether teams have the tools — it is whether they own the technical systems those tools maintain.
The measure of maturity is not whether teams have the tools — it is whether they own the technical systems those tools maintain.
The Process Focus Module
Bridging Cultural Transformation with Technical Excellence
1
Problem Solving — Root Cause at the SourceStructured root cause analysis embedded in team routines using standardised SOPs and visual categorisation tools. Problems were no longer escalated by default — teams were equipped to diagnose, classify, and resolve issues at the level where they occurred, reducing the burden on maintenance specialists and engineering support.
2
Quality Assurance — Mistake-Proofing and DetectionPoka Yoke (mistake-proofing) principles applied to critical process steps. Time-to-detect (TTD) and time-to-correct (TTC) targets embedded as measurable quality standards — ensuring quality failures were caught closer to their source and corrected faster, reducing downstream impact on both product quality and equipment performance.
3
Process Improvements — The 7 Wastes AppliedWaste elimination guided by the 7 Wastes framework and driven by teams rather than engineers. Innovations in water and energy savings, motion waste reduction, and inventory control — yielding both the steam-to-coal efficiency gains and broader operational savings.
4
Customer Service — Supplier and Internal CollaborationCollaborative projects with external suppliers and internal customers extended the Process Focus principles beyond the distillery floor. The steam savings initiative with the energy supplier is a direct example: teams identifying a cross-boundary improvement opportunity and building the partnership to implement it.
5
Asset Care — Team Ownership of the Machines That MatterTeams took ownership of lubrication, cleaning, and routine maintenance tasks for their assigned equipment. Critical equipment was prioritised through end-state analysis, defining what “good” looks like and making deviations visible before they become breakdowns. In a 24/7 production environment with no planned shutdown, this shift from reactive maintenance to team-owned asset care was the single most impactful element — the direct cause of the 80% overtime reduction, 60% callout reduction, and 25% breakdown reduction achieved.
Structural Challenges
Unique 24/7 continuous production conditions with no quick changeover opportunity.
High after-hours maintenance callouts generating significant overtime and operational disruption.
Disconnected support structures for problem-solving and breakdown prevention at critical assets.
Limited operator empowerment in technical and maintenance decision-making.
Existing MDW modules in place but insufficient for primary production's specific asset care and quality demands.
Results
Production Gains and a Maintenance Transformation
80%
Overtime Reduction
Maintenance overtime hours cut by 80% as team-owned asset care replaced reactive after-hours callout as the primary maintenance mode.
60%
Callouts Reduced
After-hours maintenance callouts reduced by 60%, with equipment running costs down 30% and breakdowns down 25%.
26%
Steam Efficiency
Steam-to-coal efficiency improved by 26% through team-driven process improvement and the collaborative energy supplier project.
10.5%
Cost Reduction
Distillation cost (excluding fuel) reduced by 10.5%, demonstrating that Process Focus improvements translate directly to the cost of production.
+50%
Team Innovations
Team-led innovations increased by 50%, with total innovations up 30% — confirming that technical empowerment accelerates improvement culture.
+5%
Throughput Increase
Distillation throughput increased by 5% in a 24/7, no-changeover environment — reflecting genuine capacity gains from improved asset availability.
“
Structured end-state analysis transforms reactive maintenance into proactive care — and in a 24/7 primary production environment, that transformation changes everything.
CDI Process Focus Module · Distell Worcester Distillery
Key Insight
Worcester demonstrates that J2 is not the ceiling — it is the platform. When Goal Alignment, 5S, and Engaging Leadership are established, the next frontier is technical ownership. The Process Focus module gives teams the tools and authority to own their machines, their processes, and their quality standards. An 80% reduction in maintenance overtime is the measurable proof. A distillery that runs better because its people understand it more deeply is the lasting result.
