Service
Capital projects in food and beverage manufacturing fail at the coordination layer — where engineering, procurement, construction trades, and regulatory timelines collide without a single point of command. DPS delivers end-to-end project management and multi-phase program management built on six in-house engineering disciplines and direct construction experience across every major food processing category. We manage your capital investment from feasibility through commissioning so your facility produces on schedule, on budget, and at full compliance.
Schedule A Consultation
DPS · Project & Program Management
Construction Risk Factors
Most food and beverage manufacturers are experts at making product — not at managing the construction of the facilities that make it. A $2M processing line expansion involves mechanical contractors, electrical subcontractors, process piping crews, refrigeration specialists, controls integrators, concrete and structural trades, equipment vendors with staggered lead times, and a regulatory framework that demands FDA-compliant sanitary design at every junction. The typical mid-market manufacturer with $20M to $100M in revenue does not have an internal capital projects team capable of orchestrating that complexity, and the cost of learning on a live project is measured in six- and seven-figure overruns.
Challenge 01
Food facility construction requires precise sequencing of ten or more specialty trades. When a refrigeration contractor runs three weeks late, the cascading impact on insulation, electrical termination, controls integration, and commissioning can push the entire project timeline by two months. Without a construction management team that understands interdependencies at the process engineering level, these delays compound silently until they become irreversible.
Challenge 02
In food-grade construction, change orders are not anomalies — they are the primary mechanism through which projects exceed budget. Every field conflict between utility routing and process piping, every specification gap between the design engineer and the installing contractor, and every late-discovered regulatory requirement generates cost. The question is whether those changes are managed proactively at $5,000 each or reactively at $50,000 each.
Challenge 03
P&IDs and facility layouts define what the plant should be. Field conditions, trade capabilities, and equipment as-shipped dimensions define what the plant becomes. Bridging that gap requires a project management team with the engineering depth to make real-time decisions in the field without cycling back through weeks of design revision.
Challenge 04
USDA grant-of-inspection requirements, FDA current Good Manufacturing Practice standards, SQF facility criteria, and state-level health department codes each carry design implications that must be embedded during construction — not patched during startup. Projects managed by general contractors without food-industry regulatory fluency routinely deliver facilities that pass building inspection but fail food safety audit.
The DPS Solution
DPS approaches project management and program management as engineering functions, not administrative ones. Every project we manage is led by professionals who hold direct expertise in process engineering, mechanical systems, electrical design, and controls integration — because the decisions that determine whether a food facility project succeeds or fails are technical decisions made under time pressure in the field. Our project managers do not simply track Gantt charts and distribute meeting minutes. They evaluate contractor submittals against your process design, resolve field conflicts with engineering authority, and make scope decisions that protect both your budget and your production outcome.
This capability is native to the DPS Design-Build-Manage model. Because we engineer, fabricate, install, and commission food and beverage processing systems ourselves, our project management methodology is built on firsthand knowledge of what each phase actually requires — how long sanitary stainless welding takes at scale, what realistic lead times look like for custom vessels up to 12,000 gallons from our own manufacturing operation, where CIP system tie-ins create coordination bottlenecks, and which automation milestones must be sequenced before process commissioning can begin. That construction intelligence is embedded in every schedule we build and every budget we manage.
For multi-phase capital programs — phased expansions, multi-site rollouts, or long-horizon capacity roadmaps — DPS provides program management that maintains strategic alignment across individual projects. We establish standardized specifications, procurement frameworks, and lessons-learned protocols that reduce cost and compress timelines on each successive phase. Our team of approximately ten in-house experts is supported by a vetted national contractor network that provides trade execution capacity across all 50 states and Canada, giving clients the responsiveness of a focused team with the reach of a national firm.
Key Capabilities
Integrated engineering, operational, and project capabilities designed to support efficient, scalable, and reliable production environments.
Custom ladder logic, structured text, and function block programs developed on Allen-Bradley, Siemens, and other major platforms for process control, safety interlocks, and high-speed sequencing across food and beverage unit operations.
Full supervisory control and data acquisition architecture including server configuration, real-time process visualization, historical trending, and role-based access designed for multi-line F&B production environments.
ISA-88-aligned recipe structures that allow production teams to manage formulations, ingredient scaling, and batch sequencing directly from the HMI — reducing changeover time and eliminating manual transcription errors.
Automated clean-in-place and sterilize-in-place sequences with full parametric data logging for FDA and USDA compliance, integrated with process scheduling to minimize non-productive time between production runs.
Real-time monitoring and automated control of boiler, compressed air, glycol, refrigeration, and HVAC systems to reduce per-unit energy cost while maintaining critical environmental parameters in temperature-sensitive processing areas.
Integration of new automation layers into existing brownfield facilities — migrating legacy relay logic or outdated DCS platforms to modern PLC/SCADA infrastructure without extended production shutdowns.
The DPS Integrated Advantage
The table below outlines the management dimensions, execution methods, and deliverables DPS provides across the lifecycle of a food or beverage facility capital project.
Scroll horizontally to compare every column on smaller screens.
| Management Dimension | DPS Execution Method | Owner Deliverables |
|---|---|---|
| Scope Definition | Collaborative scope workshops with owner operations, engineering, and finance stakeholders; gap analysis against production capacity targets | Scope of Work document, basis-of-design narrative, project charter with success criteria |
| Schedule Control | CPM scheduling with trade-level detail, weekly look-ahead updates, pull planning sessions with all contractors, milestone gating | Master project schedule, weekly status reports, schedule variance analysis with recovery plans |
| Budget Management | Line-item cost tracking, committed cost vs. forecast reporting, change order log with approval workflow, contingency drawdown monitoring | Monthly cost reports, change order impact summaries, final cost reconciliation at closeout |
| Procurement | Equipment specification development, vendor bid evaluation, purchase order management, expediting, factory acceptance test coordination | Procurement log, vendor evaluation matrices, delivery and lead-time tracker |
| Quality Assurance | Installation inspection protocols, sanitary weld inspection, material traceability verification, third-party testing coordination | Quality inspection reports, non-conformance logs, corrective action tracking |
| Safety Management | Site-specific safety plans, daily safety briefings, OSHA compliance monitoring, incident tracking and root cause analysis | Safety plan document, weekly safety metrics, incident reports |
| Risk Management | Project risk register with probability and impact scoring, bi-weekly risk review meetings, mitigation plan development and tracking | Risk register, mitigation action log, escalation protocols |
| Closeout & Turnover | Punch list management, as-built document collection, warranty registration, O&M manual compilation, lessons-learned workshop | As-built drawing package, warranty tracker, O&M documentation, lessons-learned report |
Project Planning Guide
Project and program management connects the work that each specialist can complete separately. DPS coordinates engineering, equipment supply, construction, controls, installation, commissioning, and owner decisions around one approved operating basis.
Start with the capital planning guide to define the decision and assumptions. Then use owner’s representation to keep manufacturer priorities visible as design, procurement, and construction progress.
Define scope boundaries, decision rights, milestone dates, cost assumptions, procurement strategy, outage limits, and acceptance criteria. Identify which requirements are fixed and which need investigation. The baseline should show dependencies between process design, long-lead equipment, building readiness, utilities, controls, and production release.
Maintain an interface register for equipment, utilities, civil and structural work, electrical distribution, process piping, automation, data, sanitation, and training. Review changes for cost, schedule, food safety, operability, and lifecycle impact before authorization.
Report decisions and constraints, not only percent complete. A package can be on schedule while a missing utility, drawing approval, or vendor response still blocks commissioning.
Use stage gates for design release, procurement, construction readiness, installation, dry testing, wet testing, product trials, training, and handover. Define evidence for each gate and identify the person who can approve progression. The installation and integration guide separates installed, commissioned, and accepted milestones.
A reliable project plan makes the next decision obvious, assigns its owner, and records the evidence needed to close it.
Project Verification Questions
Quick answers to the questions we hear most often from prospective clients evaluating automation partners.
Project management covers the execution of a single defined capital project — one processing line installation, one facility build, one system upgrade — from kickoff through commissioning and turnover. Program management applies when a manufacturer has multiple related projects or a phased capital plan spanning months or years, such as a three-phase capacity expansion or a multi-facility equipment standardization initiative. DPS provides program management that maintains consistent specifications, procurement leverage, and institutional knowledge across all phases, reducing cost and compressing timelines on each successive project.
No. DPS provides standalone project management and construction management services for food and beverage facility projects regardless of who performed the engineering design or who is executing the construction trades. In these engagements, DPS functions as the owner’s project management team — coordinating contractors, managing budget and schedule, reviewing engineering submittals, and overseeing quality and compliance. When DPS also serves as the design-build partner, the integration between engineering and project management is naturally tighter, but both engagement models deliver the same rigor of oversight.
DPS manages food and beverage capital projects ranging from $400K system installations and process upgrades through $5M-plus full facility builds and relocations. Our current flagship engagement is a new beverage co-packing facility designed to produce 20 million cases in its first year and scale to 80 million cases — a multi-phase program requiring coordination across process engineering, utility infrastructure, automation, and multiple construction trades over an extended timeline. The common factor across all project sizes is complexity that demands process engineering knowledge at the management level, not just scheduling and administrative oversight.
DPS maintains a vetted national contractor network spanning all 50 U.S. states and Canada, with trade partners who have been qualified through direct project experience, financial review, and safety record evaluation. Our in-house team of approximately ten engineers and project professionals provides the technical leadership, design review, schedule management, and quality oversight that defines project outcomes. Field labor execution is performed by qualified regional trade contractors who operate under DPS project management protocols, daily reporting structures, and quality standards. This model provides the technical depth of a specialty engineering firm with the geographic reach and scalability of a national construction management organization.
Retrofit and expansion projects inside operating food plants are a core DPS competency. Our project schedules are built around your production calendar — accounting for seasonal peaks, shift schedules, sanitation windows, and planned maintenance shutdowns. We develop phased construction sequencing that isolates active work zones from production areas, coordinates utility shutdowns during non-production hours, and establishes contamination prevention protocols that satisfy SQF and BRC site standards throughout construction. Every tie-in, every utility cutover, and every equipment swap is planned to a specific window that your operations team reviews and approves before execution.
Connect Planning With Production
Compare these decisions with the relevant industry requirements and published project examples. A case describes its own scope and outcome, not a performance commitment for a different facility.
Industry Requirements
DPS engineers co-packing facilities for multi-client production, linking flexible filling formats, batching, sanitation, traceability, utilities, and expansion.
Review Deliverables for Co-Packing & Contract ManufacturingIndustry Requirements
DPS plans beef, poultry, and plant-based protein facilities with coordinated process flows, equipment, utilities, automation, installation, and capital planning.
Review Deliverables for Protein ProcessingPublished Case
DPS delivered a 350,000 lbs/week ground beef line in an active Los Angeles plant, coordinating 12 subcontractors and early production by Week 11.
Review Project ContextConnect The Next Decision
Solution
Keep the manufacturer’s operational requirements visible across designers, suppliers, contractors, and startup teams through clear decisions and project controls.
Key decision: Assign who owns each interface and who can authorize scope, cost, and schedule changes.
Planning Checklist for Owner’s RepresentationSolution
Build an investment decision around demand, capacity, operating economics, project constraints, and the evidence needed to move into detailed design.
Key decision: Decide whether to optimize, expand, relocate, or build before committing to a delivery scope.
Planning Checklist for Capital Planning & FeasibilitySolution
Turn separately supplied equipment and infrastructure into a coordinated production system through installation planning, interface checks, commissioning, and handover.
Key decision: Establish what is ready to install, what is ready to test, and what is ready to operate.
Planning Checklist for Installation & System IntegrationFrom Planning To Execution
Share your product mix, capacity targets, current constraints, and project timeline. Start a conversation about the scope and decisions your project needs.
Discuss your engineering, equipment, or facility plans with the DPS team.
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