You are Mariela Quesada Rojas, operations manager at Empaques del Trópico, a Costa Rican maker of sustainable packaging. You have been in the job eleven days, you hold two reports that seem to describe two different factories and, before a single dollar is spent, the CEO wants a written diagnosis of what went wrong.
The situation
Empaques del Trópico makes molded-fiber trays, compostable films and corrugated packaging in the Cartago industrial corridor: 540 people, three lines on two shifts, USD 86 million of 2025 revenue and a 13% EBITDA margin. 55% of revenue follows the pineapple, banana and melon export calendar, which swings monthly volumes by as much as 40% either way. The plant plans production once a month, on a spreadsheet.
In January, orders came in 38% above forecast. On-time delivery fell to 81% against a contractual 96%, and two anchor export clients invoked penalties worth USD 240,000. Planning then doubled production and resin orders. February came back to plan, and the warehouse now holds USD 3.1 million of finished goods and resin: 52 days of stock against a 30-day target. Finance puts the cost at about USD 60,000 of working capital and financing charges for every day of stock.
The compostable resin behind the fastest-growing product family comes from a single supplier in Asia on a six-week lead time, and that supplier has just flagged a three-week delay. The board has given you USD 6 million and two quarters to get back to 96% and 30 days. A third anchor client is offering a USD 14 million two-year contract if the plant adds 20% capacity. Everyone in the plant has their own account of what happened in January.