Measuring food waste beyond the scrap total: Jack Payne on decision-ready reporting

Your end-of-shift scrap total may be telling only part of the story. In this conversation, Jack Payne, who has spent more than 30 years in food and beverage technology, explains what a waste report needs before a manager can act on it.

In this conversation

• What can a single scrap number hide about recoverable material?
• Which kinds of food waste deserve their own line in the report?
• When should a loss trigger an investigation, and who belongs in the room?
• How do you use loss data without turning it into blame?

Who should watch

Plant managers, operations managers, quality and food safety leads, continuous improvement leads and finance partners in food and beverage manufacturing who read waste reports or decide which losses to chase.

Topics covered

• Food waste categories in a manufacturing plant
• Recoverable scrap that returns to production
• Yield loss, giveaway and expired product
• Reason codes and waste records
• Cross-functional scrap review boards
• One system of record for waste data

Chapters

• 00:00The question behind a waste report
• 02:01When a total scrap number hides recoverable loss
• 05:42Building a culture that measures food waste
• 09:09Measuring yield loss
• 10:20Setting goals after measuring batch losses
• 12:19What information should trigger an investigation?
• 17:55Choosing useful measures and recording waste categories
• 21:00Reason codes and the limits of broad labels
• 23:48Using loss data without blaming operators
• 25:48A cross-functional scrap review board
• 27:30Tracing a problem upstream through the process
• 30:32Agreeing on one system of record
• 32:39Reviewing recoverable scrap and deciding what happens next
• 35:47Keeping corrective actions moving
• 37:32A first step: define and measure the categories

Course access

Buying the course gives lifetime access to all four videos, the ebook, and the selected 5 Whys and root cause analysis tools. The whole course is also included with the CPAI Premier, Premier Team and Premier Factory access plans.