ABOUT SIR WALTER CANDY CORPORATION
Alfonso and Alejandra Porras founded Sir Walter Candy Company in December 1997. The dream was founded when, as a child, Alfonso visited a family friend in New Jersey who was devoted to the candy industry. Walter Zittle was passionate about the art of candy making. Excited with Alfonso’s enthusiasm to learn, he taught Alfonso all he knew about candy. He shared candy recipes acquired from around the world and secrets behind making great-tasting confections.
Before Walter’s death in 1992, he sent Alfonso his own personal books in hopes that Alfonso would be inspired to master the skill. In December of 1997, Alfonso and his wife Alejandra started Sir Walter Candy. They built a custom trailer, where they started making confections and sold at local farmers markets. On September 15, 2000, Sir Walter Candy celebrated the grand opening of its first store located in Monrovia, California. They developed products and corporate gifts that were delicious and unique. In December of 2007, Sir Walter closed the California Store to move to a larger facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. Today they are committed to Walter’s dream in keeping the art of candy making alive.
THE CHALLENGE:
Sir Walter Candy wanted to increase their candy production throughput. They knew process standardization was going to be key and wanted to complete it before their busy season.
MEP CENTER’s ROLE:
The University of Utah Manufacturing Extension Partnership Center performed a four-day value stream mapping event to identify areas for improvement. They started by understanding what their customers were willing to pay for and developed an ideal state for their process. During the activity, the team explored opportunities for lean implementation and additional areas for improvement.
Results:
- 20% increase in production capacity
- Increase in productivity will help them increase sales by over $240,000 annually
- Saving $88,544 annually by reducing labor costs for 8 staff members by 20%
