Danish Crown has increased productivity by 25% in only 3 months

Data collection increases productivity

At Danish Crown Beef in Holsted, Denmark DIAP is used to collect real-time data from 4 automated production lines. By collecting and working with targeted data, the company has increased productivity by 25% in just 3 months and gained new insight into its production processes.

Case Study

The challenge

On 4 lines for production of minced beef, Danish Crown Beef in Holsted, DK was having problems with frequent line stops and inadequate registration of both downtime and reasons for downtime.

For that reason, Danish Crown searched for a system that would be able to handle registration of stops and calculation of OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness). The aim was to improve productivity, but also to initiate more targeted work on data collection and analysis.

In addition, the company wanted a flexible solution able to operate independently of different system suppliers.

The solution

In the fall of 2019, Danish Crown Beef in Holsted installed DIAP on the 4 production lines. The system collects data from the relevant measuring points via simple sensors, and all production stops are recorded automatically.

Furthermore, all operators have access to a touch screen where they can easily register the reasons for downtime in DIAP’s OEE software.

Søren Gotfredsen, Senior Lean Manager at Danish Crown Beef, explains:

“DIAP has provided us with a really good overview of our production processes. Unlike in the past, all stops are now registered, and we have detailed information available on where and why the errors occur.”

The department reviews the data at daily meetings, where operators and maintenance discuss the main reasons for downtime.

The targeted work has already produced noticeable results. In just 3 months, Danish Crown Beef has increased the OEE figure for the 4 lines by 25%. In addition, gathering and analyzing the data has provided a whole new insight that the company has used to prepare new and more efficient work procedures.

The Outcome

  • OEE increased by 25% in 3 months
  • Registration of all stop times and reasons
  • Whole new insight into production processes
  • More targeted service and maintenance
  • High level of employee involvement
  • Common starting point for problem solving
  • Simple and flexible solution suited for optimization across systems and sites

Something that is unique about DIAP is that it is easy to work with and can be connected to all types of production plants. I therefore see good opportunities in spreading DIAP across many different systems and sites in Danish Crown.

Søren Gotfredsen, Senior Lean Manager at Danish Crown Beef

Operator entering reason for downtime

All operators have access to a touch screen where they can easily register the reasons for downtime in DIAP’s OEE software. For the operators, it is a great benefit that they now know that the actual causes of the errors are being detected and that the problems are also solved.


Future perspectives

At Danish Crown, they are working to spread the knowledge of DIAP to their other sites and production plants – initially to the 5 sites responsible for the company’s beef production. However, Søren Gotfredsen has no doubt that DIAP and data collection can be used to optimize other parts of the business as well.


With DIAP, we have a good tool for involving employees in a completely different way than we have been able to in the past. We can base our decisions on concrete data rather than presumptions or gut feelings, and we all work from the same starting point.

Søren Gotfredsen, Senior Lean Manager at Danish Crown Beef

About Danish Crown

Danish Crown is one of the world’s largest exporters of pork and one of Europe’s largest producers of pork (Danish Crown Pork). Danish Crown Beef is a significant player in the European beef market. The company has production sites in Denmark and in a number of countries in Europe and China.


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Talk to

Christa Helene Dahl Andersen

Business Coordinator

+45 42 76 62 53

cda@dataintel.dk