Olvi boosts canning line efficiency by 15% via real-time monitoring

Impact

Production efficiency improves by 10–20% overall

Production and productivity increased significantly.

15% higher canning line efficiency

Root causes of inefficiencies become visible and actionable.

100% maintenance documentation

All maintenance work is tracked in the system, enabling better planning.

70 machines connected

Real-time data flows across brewing, filling, warehouse and order picking.

About Olvi

Olvi is a Finnish brewery and soft drink manufacturer with more than 140 years of history. The company has grown from a local brewery into an international group operating in Finland, the Baltic countries, Denmark, and Belarus. Olvi produces a wide range of beers, soft drinks, ciders, long drinks, and energy drinks and employs more than 2,000 people across six countries.

140+ years in business
2300+ employees across 6 countries
€656.9 M annual revenue (2024)

THE CHALLENGE

Paper-based reporting limited visibility and daily control

Before working with Pinja, Olvi’s production reporting relied largely on manual, paper-based processes. Operators recorded disturbances and production data on paper sheets which were archived but rarely revisited. As a result, production management lacked a clear, real-time overview of operations.

This made it difficult to manage production based on facts. Identifying inefficiencies, understanding root causes, and prioritising improvement actions required significant manual effort and often depended on experience rather than reliable data.

As production volumes and complexity increased, Olvi needed a better way to monitor performance, improve efficiency, and support daily decision-making with real-time information.

“With Pinja, we can detect production problems and identify their causes. In this way, we can direct our actions to tackle the root causes.”

Lauri MultanenOperations Director at Olvi

THE SOLUTION

Real-time production monitoring that supports daily management

Olvi began cooperating with Pinja in late 2012, starting with a clear goal: improve the efficiency of the filling department and eliminate manual reporting.

The first step was introducing Pinja’s production monitoring solution. Deployment was carried out step by step, beginning with 38 machines and three production lines. Over time, the system expanded to cover around 70 machines across filling lines, the brewery, warehouse, and order picking.

Production events are recorded directly at operator points, and real-time data is displayed throughout the factory. Managers and supervisors gain immediate insight into machine operation times, downtime, changeovers, and disturbances.

Maintenance work is documented in Pinja’s maintenance management solution. This ensures that all maintenance activities are recorded, visible, and traceable — supporting better coordination between production and maintenance teams.

Together, the systems form the backbone of Olvi’s daily production management.

“The deployment was carried out smoothly and effortlessly within one week. The personnel responded to the renewal very positively and there have been no complaints whatsoever on the system.”

Lauri MultanenOperations Director at Olvi

THE IMPACT

Production efficiency improves by 10–20% overall

With real-time monitoring in place, Olvi gains a shared, up-to-date view of production across the plant. Instead of working with delayed or incomplete information, teams can detect deviations early and focus improvement efforts on the true causes of inefficiencies.

The results are tangible:

Production efficiency improves by 10–20% overall, with a 15% improvement on a canning line

Machine downtime, disturbances, and changeovers become visible and manageable

Maintenance work is fully documented, improving coordination and reliability

Daily production meetings are based on real data, not assumptions

Beyond operational improvements, the shift supports a more participative management culture. Employees see how their input is used, which increases engagement and encourages continuous improvement.

What started as a move away from paper-based reporting has become a foundation for knowledge-based management and long-term operational development. Olvi later expanded the use of the solution to other breweries within the group.

Note: This case study describes Olvis' experience with Gema and Novi by Pinja. These capabilities are now available as Maintenance Operations and Real-time Monitoring as part of Pinja Fusion.

”The system informs us, among other things, the actual machine operation time and the time wasted on congested production, setting changes required by product switches and machine malfunctions. This data provides essential support for planning development actions and investments.”

Sami KajanVP of Operational Excellence at Pinja