Re-engineering DICO Fountain Beverage Infrastructure

The optimization of beverage incidence has as much to do with beverage quality, if not more, than the “right package for the refreshment occasion” when it comes to Fountain dispensed beverages. Thus, when the major beverage brands (Coca-Cola, Pepsi) in Mexico were attempting to add Fountain dispense beverages (by far the largest margin option for both retailers and bottlers – and ‘best buy’ for consumers) to their package portfolio, it was consistent beverage quality that was their major barrier to success.

We were invited by DICO (Fountain Dispense Department of FEMSA – the largest Coca-Cola bottler in Mexico and supplier to the Mexico City metropolitan area) to analyze their operation and define a strategy to deliver consistent quality Fountain dispense beverages across the metro area.

The “Quality Index” is an internal Coca-Cola metric for assessing the key components of a beverage against their standards. This process is done in-plant for prepackaged beverages. In the case of Fountain beverages, which are prepared in the field using metropolitan water while precisely metering the mix of syrup and (carbonated) water; this is a requisite that must be managed on a regular basis in order to achieve consumer acceptance.

Though DICO’s current Quality Index was much improved, it remained at a dismal low 60’s rating (out of 100) - this would certainly be a challenge.

Our strategic solution was a combination of logistics (route) redesign, re-engineering the infrastructure of the organization to optimize Preventive Maintenance frequency, timely equipment sanitization and coordinating a corrective maintenance scheme that assured equipment uptime during critical peak demand periods. All of this was only possible after a comprehensive training for each service discipline that assured procedure consistency and repeatability from technician to technician i.e. technical certifications.

The result was taking DICO to an overall Quality Index rating consistently between 95 and 100, sustainable over time (years).

What follows are examples of the organization structural elements (flow charts, instructional guidelines and follow-up forms, etc.) that were implemented to drive a sustainable tactical solution. These same strategic tactics were later used with other Bottlers in Mexico and throughout Latin America. Managing municipal water quality is an integral part of the process.