Manufacturing | Food Production
“Walt’s capabilities make it possible for me to reach onsite team members from specific departments and support functions at the plant with one single chat message. We work faster, communicate with clarity, and get more done.”
Jon Clevenger
Plant Manager, Kraft Heinz
Business Challenge
Kraft Heinz’s Champaign, Illinois facility is a 2.2 million square foot complex which employs 1,000 people across three shifts to manufacture over a billion pounds of food annually. With a workforce and plant of this size, communicating with onsite workers posed incredible challenges.
Key challenges included:
- Scale barriers – Walking from one end to the other takes 7-8 minutes, making coordination difficult
- Fragmented systems – Abandoned radios, inconsistent cell service, poor-quality paging systems
- Safety risks – Workers unaware of changing conditions face potential hazards
- Language barriers – Multilingual workforce including Congolese and Spanish-speaking employees
The existing infrastructure couldn’t support effective communication across such a diverse operation producing iconic brands like Kraft Mac & Cheese, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, Velveeta, Miracle Whip, A1 Steak Sauce, and Primal Kitchen products.
Why They Chose Walt Smart Radio System
Recognizing that plant-wide communication was essential for both operational efficiency and worker safety, Kraft Heinz selected Walt as its partner.
Decision factors:
- Dual communication modes – Voice and transcription to overcome GMP restrictions
- Translation capabilities – Potential to address multilingual workforce needs
- Scalable platform – Could serve 1,000+ employees across three shifts
- Proven technology – Reliable solution for critical manufacturing environment
The timing aligned with ongoing digitization efforts for OEE tracking and product traceability, making Walt a natural addition to their technology stack.
Solution
Kraft Heinz implemented Walt with 75 initial users, including team leaders, line technicians, maintenance personnel, managers, and supervisors. The structured and phased approach focused on creating organized communication channels connected to key departments and support functions.
Implementation included:
- Admin-defined channels for maintenance and safety requests
- Department-specific spaces for specific teams
- Plant-wide production channel for emergency site-wide communications
- Flexible access through both Walt devices and mobile app
- Announcement channel with disabled responses for management updates
- Geofencing capabilities for location tracking and emergency response
This structure enabled independent team communication while maintaining cross-departmental coordination capabilities when needed.
Results
The implementation delivered measurable improvements across multiple operational areas, with accountability and operational transparency emerging as the most significant benefits.
Enhanced Accountability and Operational Transparency: Walt’s transcription and timestamping capabilities have revolutionized how Kraft Heinz tracks and manages operations. Every communication is permanently recorded, creating an unprecedented level of operational accountability that has transformed problem-solving and shift management.
- Complete problem tracking – Third-shift workers solved a second shift palletizer problem by reviewing complete communication history, identifying an underlying fault masked by subsequent issues
- Verified communications – Workers can confirm exactly what was communicated during handoffs versus what people thought was communicated
- Proper credit attribution – Employees receive documented recognition for their contributions and problem-solving efforts
- Root cause identification – Transcription helps identify when information sharing was “too broad” or when people “missed the true root cause”
- Behavioral accountability – Permanent records encourage more professional communication, with workers naturally moderating their language knowing conversations are documented
Operational improvements:
- Enhanced safety response – Cleaner, more efficient emergency protocols with SOS capabilities
- Better maintenance coordination – Organized request channels reduce response delays
- Mass alert capabilities – Plant-wide production and announcement channels enable instant facility-wide communications during emergencies
- Simple deployment – Positive initial rollout with teams quickly adopting the technology without IT complications
- Expanding their Walt deployment – They recently purchased more Walts so they can be used across the plant and the additional departments
Key Use Cases
Emergency Response and Safety SOS button activations enable immediate response to safety incidents, even when management is off-site. Geofencing capabilities allow precise location tracking for emergency situations across the massive facility, ensuring rapid response teams can find workers quickly.
Tour Group Coordination Plant managers use real-time location tracking to coordinate visitor tours, providing advanced notice to production areas about incoming groups. This ensures safety protocols are followed, while minimizing disruption to ongoing operations.
Shift Handoffs Permanent transcription records enable detailed problem tracking across shifts. Incoming teams can review complete issue histories rather than relying on potentially incomplete verbal handoffs, leading to faster problem resolution and reduced downtime.
Department-Specific Communication Dedicated channels allow teams to communicate within their areas while maintaining the ability to reach support functions without knowing specific personnel schedules. This eliminates the need to track down individuals across the massive facility.
Changeover Optimization Improved communication between kitchen and packaging operations during product changeovers shows potential for reducing transition times. Better coordination of material handling and setup procedures through real-time communication is expected to deliver measurable efficiency gains as the rollout expands.
