Background
The Irving facility stands out as Keurig Dr Pepper’s most complex bottling operation, managing more production lines than any other KDP location. Positioned strategically beside DFW airport, this powerhouse runs seven days a week while simultaneously executing ambitious modernization projects.
Recent installations and upgrades across multiple bottling lines demand meticulous coordination—maintenance windows squeezed into weekends, every minute of downtime carefully planned. In this high-stakes environment where production never stops, the operations team has mastered the delicate balance between continuous production and proactive maintenance.
Challenge
Three-day shutdowns without warning:
When critical equipment like the line eight filler end feed gearbox failed unexpectedly, operations ground to a halt waiting for specialized parts that weren’t stocked on-site, creating massive production backlogs.
Knowledge gaps created vulnerability:
With recent staffing transitions and new team members taking over the predictive maintenance program, the facility risked losing momentum on their reliability initiatives during a critical handover period.
Sensors failing in wet conditions:
Constant washdowns in filler rooms and steamers caused mounting adhesive failures and connectivity issues, leaving teams blind to developing problems in their wettest, most critical areas.
The journey: Proving value through action
Prevented multi-day production losses:
Acting on early alerts, the team sourced specialized parts and scheduled repairs, eliminating 3–4 days of emergency downtime per incident.
Solved an eight-month diagnostic puzzle:
After exhausting standard fixes, the maintenance team partnered with Augury specialists to discover platform shock absorbers were causing false alarms.
Protected critical production capacity:
The team strategically deployed monitoring on critical motors and ammonia compressors that could halt half the facility if failed.
Minimizing downtime on big motors is crucial—they interrupt entire processes. Even if we have the part, it takes an hour or two to swap. Preventing that keeps our numbers up. This technology pays for itself.
Keys to Irving’s success
The team controls costs through predictive planning
With three to four months advance warning on bearing failures, they source parts at standard prices and schedule work during planned downtime—protecting budgets from emergency spending spikes.
Operations focuses resources where failure hurts most
The team monitors equipment that threatens entire production blocks—ammonia compressors that could halt half the facility, boilers that stop all lines—maximizing protection with every sensor deployed.
Maintenance builds expertise through collaboration
Weekly problem-solving sessions transform confusion into capability. The team learned to distinguish equipment issues from platform vibrations, adjust alarm thresholds, and turn every alert into operational knowledge.
