Case Study

Precision hire for a multi-site MES rollout in Food and Beverage

Aveva MES SpecialistMES Implementation Lead

Days to Fill

Under 42 days

Roles Filled

“

Multi-site F&B MES rollouts require specialists with both platform expertise and food manufacturing domain knowledge. MITREC placed an Aveva MES specialist for Agropur's 18-plant rollout within 42 days by mapping the entire North American Aveva practitioner community and assessing candidates on platform depth, F&B regulatory knowledge, and multi-site implementation experience.

Challenge

Solution

Results

The Challenge

Agropur, one of North America's largest dairy cooperatives, was midway through a transformational MES rollout across 18 manufacturing plants. The programme required a specialist with deep Aveva MES experience, hands-on knowledge of Food and Beverage manufacturing processes, and the operational maturity to manage a multi-site implementation of this scale. The internal team had searched extensively but could not find a candidate who combined Aveva platform expertise with F&B manufacturing domain knowledge and multi-site rollout experience.

MITREC was retained to find an MES specialist with direct Aveva platform experience, proven ability to deliver multi-site manufacturing system implementations, and specific knowledge of Food and Beverage production environments. The candidate needed to understand dairy processing workflows, regulatory requirements for food safety, and the practical challenges of deploying standardised MES configurations across plants with different equipment, processes, and operational maturity levels.

The Solution

We conducted a focused mapping exercise targeting every Aveva MES practitioner and implementation specialist in North America with Food and Beverage experience. Our research extended to Aveva partners, system integrators, and end-user manufacturers running Aveva platforms. We identified candidates who had led multi-site rollouts in food, beverage, dairy, and adjacent CPG manufacturing environments. Each candidate was assessed on their technical depth with the Aveva platform, their understanding of F&B regulatory requirements, and their ability to manage the organisational change that accompanies large-scale MES deployments.

The Results

Agropur hired from our shortlist within the first round. The selected candidate brought exactly the combination of Aveva MES expertise, Food and Beverage manufacturing knowledge, and multi-site implementation experience the programme demanded. The hire exceeded expectations, accelerating the rollout timeline and establishing best practices that improved standardisation across all 18 plants. The success of this placement reinforced the value of engaging a specialist recruiter who genuinely understands the MES practitioner landscape.

“

We searched for months internally and through other agencies with no success. The Aveva MES and Food & Beverage combination is incredibly niche. MITREC found us exactly the right person in a fraction of the time. The hire has been instrumental in getting our rollout back on track and ahead of schedule.

Engineering Leader

Engineering Leader, Agropur

Frequently asked questions

Why was Aveva MES experience specifically required?

Agropur had already committed to the Aveva platform for their MES rollout. Switching platforms was not an option, and the implementation required deep knowledge of Aveva's specific architecture, configuration approach, and integration patterns. A candidate with generic MES experience would have needed months of platform-specific training before being productive.

How niche is the pool of Aveva MES specialists in Food and Beverage?

Extremely niche. Aveva's MES platform has a smaller installed base than competitors like Siemens or Rockwell in the F&B sector, which means the pool of practitioners with both platform expertise and food manufacturing domain knowledge is very limited. This is precisely the kind of search where MITREC's specialist research capability delivers the most value.

What made the multi-site aspect particularly challenging?

Rolling out MES across 18 plants is not simply repeating the same implementation 18 times. Each plant has different equipment, different legacy systems, different operational cultures, and different levels of digital maturity. The candidate needed experience managing this complexity while maintaining enough standardisation to deliver enterprise-wide visibility and reporting.

How quickly was the hire made?

The hire was made within the first round of interviews from our shortlist, delivered under 42 days from the signed mandate. Agropur was able to move quickly because every candidate on the shortlist was genuinely qualified and thoroughly vetted, eliminating the need for multiple rounds of sourcing.

Did the candidate have dairy-specific experience?

The successful candidate had direct experience in dairy and broader Food and Beverage manufacturing, including familiarity with the specific regulatory and quality requirements that apply to dairy processing. This sector-specific knowledge was critical for gaining credibility with plant operations teams and ensuring the MES configuration reflected actual production workflows.

How did MITREC source candidates that Agropur's internal team could not find?

Our existing research database of MES practitioners, combined with systematic mapping of Aveva's partner and customer ecosystem, gave us access to candidates who were not visible through standard job boards or LinkedIn searches. Many of the strongest candidates were employed by Aveva partners or system integrators and had never considered moving to an end-user manufacturer until we approached them with this specific opportunity.

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