Kansas City, Mo., June 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Food and beverage makers understand that in capital projects, what you don’t plan for can cost you – so why do so many projects fail to meet their launch deadlines, jeopardizing a manufacturer’s speed-to-market advantage?
That’s among the questions at the heart of CRB’s newest Horizons: Operational Readiness report. Based on original survey data from leading food, beverage and consumer products companies, the 2025 report explores how the smartest teams are taking the guesswork out of start-up by investing in readiness from day one.
Available here as a free download, CRB’s subject matter experts surveyed nearly 400 industry leaders and found that many manufacturers still underestimate the time, training, and toolsets required to achieve a vertical ramp-up. The report identifies costly missteps in readiness planning: missing stakeholder voices, rushed equipment commissioning, backloaded training, and misaligned expectations. It also provides strategies to fix them – from involving operators and OEMs earlier in the process to building structured, phase-aligned readiness toolkits.
Operational readiness is under pressure from all sides. Three-quarters of survey respondents said timeline constraints routinely derail their planning efforts, while 79% pointed to inflation and shrinking budgets as major obstacles – even though most are allocating 2% to 3% of their total spend to readiness. Training is also falling short: fewer than 10% rated their current programs as “very effective,” and nearly 20% called them completely ineffective. At the same time, complexity is rising fast, with over 60% of respondents investing in new automation – a leap that demands far more robust and forward-thinking readiness strategies than many teams currently have.
“If you’ve lived through a missed startup deadline, you know what comes next: scrambling. It’s a period so familiar that it has its own nickname: ‘The Dip’ – that is, the gap in production between your ideal startup and the messy reality that unfolds in the real world,” Jason Robertson, CRB’s Vice President of Food & Beverage, writes in the report’s opening pages. “The Dip happens when a streamlined launch devolves into firefighting, caused by a mix of avoidable challenges.”
But the report is far from bleak. It shines a light on companies that are beating the curve by making readiness a core pillar of their capital projects. These high performers are embedding training programs into their budgets, engaging external partners for commissioning and validation, and using early cross-functional collaboration to prevent surprises at startup.
Additional key takeaways from the report:
- Readiness can’t be retrofitted: CRB’s survey found that companies that delay training or toolset development usually pay the price later in downtime, turnover, and missed targets.
- Training is the ultimate differentiator: Structured, repeatable programs — including train-the-trainer models and even AR/VR tools — can help prevent the “Dip” and support long-term retention.
- Digitization demands integration: As manufacturers race toward IT/OT convergence, planning needs to include input from operations, engineering, IT and OEMs at the outset.
- Structure beats standardization. Rigid playbooks often get ignored. Structured frameworks offer more flexibility and consistent outcomes across diverse projects.
- Budgeting matters. Companies are dedicating between 2% and 3% of their project’s total capital budget to operational readiness — and seeing faster ROI as a result.
“Our clients are under more pressure than ever to hit the ground running,” said Ken VonderHaar, CRB’s Director of Client Engagement and one of the report’s chief contributors. “This research can help them get there faster by making readiness real – not just as a line item, but as a mindset that shapes everything from scoping to startup.”
About CRB
CRB is a leading provider of sustainable engineering, architecture, construction and consulting solutions to the global life sciences and food & beverage industries. From 21 offices across the United States, Canada and Europe, our professionals provide world-class solutions that drive success and positive change for our clients, our people and our communities. CRB is a privately held company with a rich history of serving clients throughout the world, consistently striving for the highest standard of technical knowledge, creativity and execution. See us at crbgroup.com, and follow us on LinkedIn.
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Christopher Clark CRB Group, Inc. 816-674-0572 chris.clark@crbgroup.com
