Rockview Farms is a family-owned and -operated dairy based in Downey, California. The company has been in business for more than 50 years producing a variety of top-quality dairy products. In addition to milk and cream, Rockview produces extended-shelf-life products such as eggs, salads, ice cream, and other items, which it distributes to food service and retail outlets throughout Southern California.
In January 2021, the company conducted a seven-day free production assessment using Worximity’s advanced digital manufacturing solution. The joint Rockview-Worximity trial was run on a packaging line, and, based on its success, Rockview elected to implement Worximity’s Smart Factory analytics system on four product fill lines. The resulting system proved to be a success.
We were interested to know how Rockview felt about the trial, so Worximity's marketing associate, Gabrielle Jacques, sat down recently with Rockview’s plant manager, Bradley Tilkes, to get some insight into how the trial went and how Rockview felt about working with Worximity.
What attracted you to Worximity’s seven-day in-house trial?
Rockview: Initially, we weren't interested in doing something like this, but one of your emails caught my eye. It was a free trial, so there was no downside. [...] I saw the potential.
Did you have concerns?
Rockview: Yes, at first, I had my doubts. But it was so easy to connect, so we tried it. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to set up. The Worximity team was very flexible and cooperative, so the trial worked really well.
Rockview already had an efficiency system, so how did [the two systems] work together?
Rockview: Yes, that’s right. We’ve been very pleased with our efficiency system. It's a manual system, so we'd been collecting downtime data for quite a while. From that system, we already had information we could compare. Worximity had our system working within a few hours. In fact, the system was working successfully across the board within a day. Overall, it was an extremely successful trial from the beginning.
We’re delighted to hear that. So you already had a manual system that worked for you. What did you see in the [Worximity] trial that you didn’t already have?
Rockview: We’ve made great progress with our existing system, but our number one problem was accurately measuring downtime. We knew that manual recording was not always accurate, so our line managers weren't confident in the downtime figures. We never knew when we were up and when we were down. Now, with Worximity, we're light-years ahead with downtime accuracy, so we're actually using the data to make decisions and improve operations.
Had you looked at other systems? If downtime accuracy was a problem, why not look at other available solutions?
Rockview: We’ve tracked efficiencies for many years, maybe 15. We’ve used that data along with incentives to drive improvements. It has worked very well. We’d incentivize the operators and compare how we’d done in the past. This helped us identify improvements.
We did look into other systems in the past, but they were very expensive and required lots of time and effort to set up. Frankly, we weren’t planning on switching to an automatic system this year, but when the Worximity opportunity came along, it was too good to pass up.
Was it a challenge to sell the internal team on the trial?
Rockview: No. Our team at Rockview is good at going after new ideas. And the fact that the trial was so simple and easy was huge. Other companies, other systems we’ve looked at, take several people several days to set up even one production line. With those systems, there was too much time involvement from our engineering and maintenance staff. With Worximity, we were looking at only a few hours.
When you were looking at other systems, were there other concerns that stopped you other than the time to set up and the time required of your engineering and maintenance staff?
Rockview: Yes: the big up-front costs. Overall, other systems took longer, required more staff time, and were more costly.
Was it hard to believe our system could perform and give you the results we promised?
Rockview: Yes. Everyone promises, but we always felt there was only a 50/50 chance of success. Working with Worximity was easy. The trial was free and quick, and we were just trying it out. When you think about it, when there’s no downside to trying something, why wouldn’t you do it, right?
Thank you, that helps me understand your thinking. Were there any “wow” moments during the trial that made you say, “Let’s move forward”?
Rockview: Yes. My “wow” moment was when we installed the system on the machine on day one, and it was working almost from the first moment. It was amazing. Even before we had a chance to gather data, I was walking around telling everyone, “This is going to work.”
We really appreciate your thoughts, Bradley, and we’re delighted you’ve found the system to be a big success. Any last thoughts you’d like to add?
Rockview: Just that the Worximity team was a pleasure to work with. They are great individuals, and their commitment to making the system work was outstanding. It was an amazing experience, and we appreciate your efforts.
Thank you so much for your time today. It has been a pleasure speaking, and we are thrilled about your success.
Rockview: Thank you.
