Shared ideas, big results: How our Brita Brampton plant found $1.5M CAD in savings by learning from other plants
By Sean Dheju, Plant Manager – Supply Chain
Innovation moves fast when we “Reimagine Collaboration” and share what works across the company. At our Brita plant in Brampton, Ontario, inspiration from our partners at Burt’s Bees in Morrisville, N.C., and the Cleaning team in Aberdeen, Md., sparked a series of supply chain improvements that helped us identify more than $1.5M CAD in cost‑saving opportunities.
It all started when we asked ourselves a simple question: If it worked there, could it work here?
Learning from innovation across the company
Through news shared in plant manger meetings and on our company intranet, the Brita Brampton team spotted two standout innovations happening at other plants that were advancing Clorox’s strategy toward a modernized, digitally enabled Supply Chain. Once we saw the potential, we were energized to bring these ideas to life at Brampton.
Automation inspired by Burt’s Bees Morrisville
After learning about Burt’s Bees’ cartoning automation with Rufus the Robot, we connected directly with Morrisville engineers to explore a similar setup. Brampton teammates traveled to the Burt’s Bees facility to see the system at work, and build our own action plan:
- Phase 1 (June 2026): Convert manual filter pack-out to an automated end-of-line system.
- Phases 2 and 3: Introduce collaborative robots to further improve safety, efficiency, and ergonomics.
Projected savings: About $500K CAD from Phase 1 alone, with more upside expected.
Transforming how we move goods, with insights from Cleaning in Aberdeen
Rising logistics costs continue to push our team to rethink how finished goods move from Canada into the U.S. For years, we’d been routing product through our Canadian regional distribution center (RDC), an extra stop we no longer need.
As we redesigned the flow, we recalled the story about Aberdeen’s switch to electric‑vehicle (EV) yard trucks, a relatively small shift that delivered valuable gains. That insight pushed us to explore whether EVs could strengthen our own model. We connected with Aberdeen Plant Manager Will Smith, whose real‑world experience helped confirm the benefits. We moved quickly: our EV yard truck is purchased and direct shipments to the Chicago RDC begin this quarter.
Anticipated savings: Together, these logistics changes represent $1M CAD in savings.
Why it matters
These wins are a clear example of how quickly we are accelerating supply chain innovation and fueling growth as we continue to share what’s working not just within our own teams, but across brands.
