Ofi increased yield and throughput by continuously adapting how a critical production line runs as conditions change.
Key outcomes
- +6.5% yield increase within four months
- +25% throughput improvement through faster, more stable production cycles
- Reduced variability and more consistent production performance
- Stronger production economics through better control of yield, efficiency, and output
From Line Underperformance to Operational Breakthrough
With more than 100 factories supplying cocoa, coffee, dairy, nuts, and spices globally, Ofi operates in complex environments where consistency directly impacts cost, quality, and output.
At one of its largest cocoa plants, a critical production line wasn’t delivering expected performance. Yield was below target. Throughput was constrained. As conditions changed, the line drifted away from optimal performance with no way to adapt in real time.
The team set a practical goal: improve yield by 2–3%.
But the issue wasn’t a single bottleneck. The process didn’t behave the same way run to run. Small shifts in materials, equipment, and upstream conditions kept changing how the line responded.
What worked earlier in the shift didn’t always hold later, and without a way to adapt, performance drifted.
Ofi needed a new approach to industrial process optimization that could continuously adjust how the factory operated as conditions changed.
Moving Beyond Trial-and-Error
Before Braincube, the Ofi team relied on experience and manual analysis to troubleshoot performance.
They had strong instincts, but limited visibility into which variables actually drove results under specific conditions. Improvements were often based on trial and error, with inconsistent results as conditions shifted.
“We had ideas about where to improve, but progress was slow,” said GK Lee, Process and Data Analytics Manager at Ofi.
The challenge wasn’t effort or expertise. It was the inability to consistently adapt operations in real time.
Enabling Continuous Adaptation with Real-Time Process Optimization
To address this, Ofi implemented Braincube’s Real-Time Process Optimization.
Braincube continuously recalculates how the line should run based on current conditions and updates operating setpoints in real time. It identifies which controllable variables matter in the moment and prescribes how to adjust them to stay aligned with optimal performance.
As conditions change, those prescriptions update.
Instead of relying on fixed targets, teams receive continuously updated guidance on how the process should run.
From Reactive Adjustments to Process Steering
This changed how teams manage production.
Ofi’s operators no longer wait for performance to drift. They leverage Real-Time Process Optimization to continuously steer the process as conditions evolve.
The system highlights which levers matter in the moment and prescribes how to adjust them to maintain stability and performance.
Engineers spend less time analyzing past issues and more time improving how the process runs. Operators gain clarity on how to run the line under changing conditions.
This shift toward process steering allows Ofi to move beyond reactive operations and into continuous manufacturing optimization.
Variability becomes something teams can manage, not chase.
Results
Through Real-Time Process Optimization, Ofi moved beyond its initial target and unlocked significantly higher performance.
6.5% increased yield
Yield improved by 6.5% within four months, exceeding the original 2–3% goal in the first weeks. More consistent operating conditions reduced losses and improved material efficiency, meaning more usable product from the same raw materials.
25% higher throughput
Throughput increased by 25% within the first year, delivering more output from the same production line without additional capital investment.
Reduced variability
More stable operating conditions led to more predictable production, fewer disruptions, and tighter control over output, improving overall efficiency and cost per unit.
Scaling the Approach Across Operations
What started as a single-line improvement is now expanding across Ofi’s operations.
With Real-Time Process Optimization in place, the team has a consistent way to manage variability and replicate performance improvements across sites.
“We’re approaching operations differently now,” Lee said. “It’s not about fixing issues after the fact. It’s about knowing how to run the process as conditions change.”
That shift makes performance repeatable and scalable across a global network.
