Greenfield Start-Up & Vertical Ramp-Up Planning

The Challenge

A large beverage manufacturer preparing for a major greenfield facility start-up faced fragmented ownership, limited alignment, and underdeveloped internal capabilities across core operational functions. While engineering workstreams were well-supported by external vendors, critical internal readiness activities across operations, quality, supply chain, and HR were engaged late and lacked structured planning. Without a unified approach, the organization risked delays, misaligned ramp-up execution, and failure to achieve performance targets during the critical start-up period.

The Approach

Designed and led a cross-functional Operations Start-Up Management (OSM) workshop with 40 cross-functional leaders to align stakeholders across engineering, operations, HR, quality, maintenance, supply chain, and finance. Led structured sessions to define vertical start-up success, validate readiness assumptions, and establish a comprehensive work breakdown of internal readiness activities. Facilitated activity sequencing and dependency mapping to create a time-phased execution plan, while driving risk identification, business continuity planning, and gap assessment across people, processes, and systems. Established clear ownership through RACI alignment and translated outputs into a structured OSM Activity Sequencing Plan, Risk Register, and governance framework to support ongoing execution.

The Outcome

Delivered a unified operations start-up execution plan and governance foundation to enable a coordinated vertical ramp-up. Activated previously underdeveloped internal workstreams with clear visibility into critical activities, risks, and ownership, improving cross-functional alignment and readiness confidence. Positioned the organization to proactively manage dependencies, accelerate ramp-up performance, and reduce start-up disruption risk through structured execution and governance routines.