Capital Project Strategy for Manufacturing Efficiency and ROI

Discussion with Carl Smith

With decades of experience leading manufacturing operations at companies like L'Oreal, FMC, Avient, Altium, Cleanova, and Prism, Carl Smith brings deep knowledge of capital project execution, from ROI forecasting to crisis recovery. Now managing resin operations, he combines chemical engineering and Six Sigma skills to drive lean, scalable transformations. In this article, Smith distills lessons from a career of aligning strategy with results. From fast-tracked multimillion-dollar upgrades to balancing cost, safety, and trust, he outlines how manufacturers can execute capital projects with confidence, whether in global firms or nimble startups.

Maximizing ROI in Capital Projects

Every capital project begins with a foundational challenge: determining whether the investment will generate meaningful, measurable value. According to Smith, understanding the full return on investment (ROI) is not optional, it’s essential. “Whether it’s a big or small capital project, what you need to understand is return, what is that payback?”, he says. “If it’s less than a year, that project is really easy to sell”.

Smith sees ROI as a decision-making tool, not just a financial metric. While sub-12-month paybacks signal low-risk wins, longer projects require sharp foresight and detailed modeling to navigate demand shifts, supply chain risks, and pricing volatility.

Crucially, ROI is broader than dollars and cents. Safety, Smith argues, is an unquantifiable metric that carries disproportionate strategic weight. “Safety is something that you can’t quantify, but it’s probably the most important thing you can have”, he explains. Projects that improve safety or reduce risk often gain faster approval and broader support. The strongest cases balance financial, operational, and human benefits.

Strategic Capital Planning for Long-Term Growth and Short-Term Results

In high-speed manufacturing environments, where urgency often overrides reflection, the ability to balance immediate needs with long-term ambition is a defining trait of resilient organizations. Smith emphasizes the value of translating strategic vision into a staged, metric-driven roadmap. “You can’t do it all right now”, he explains, “but what are the steps that will get you to those goals?”.

The key, he says, is building metrics into each step, short-term checkpoints that act as signposts toward long-term ambitions. Miss a quarter? The model allows for recovery. Miss three in a row? It’s time to revisit the plan. That disciplined flexibility allows for strategic persistence without blind rigidity.

“It helps manage those pressures because, in the long term, you have a little bit more flexibility with executing”, Smith notes. “But when you have those goals, you have metrics to make sure”. The approach fosters transparency, enhances accountability, and reinforces a cultural shift from reactive firefighting to proactive course correction.

Delivery Under Pressure Without Sacrificing Quality

In modern manufacturing, delivering capital projects under pressure is a baseline expectation, driven by shifting deadlines, resource constraints, and intense competitive timelines. Success in this environment isn’t accidental. It’s the product of structured governance, disciplined execution, and clear accountability across functions.

Smith stresses that under pressure, proactive planning is critical. Tools like Gantt charts and regular check-ins help manage risk and timelines, while a culture of shared accountability keeps teams aligned through delays.

“We had promised our customer we were going to implement this capital project in a certain time frame”, Smith shares. “It was very, very visible, and we did not want to look at our customer and say, ‘No, you weren’t important enough for us to actually meet our target’”. The lesson: operational excellence under pressure isn’t just about output, it’s about reliability, trust, and reputation in the eyes of customers and internal teams alike.

Driving Cross-Functional Alignment for Success

Capital projects fail without cross-functional alignment. Smith notes that disconnects between finance, R&D, and operations are a common, avoidable pitfall. Success requires not just shared intent, but shared understanding of strategic goals.

“You have to explain where this project comes into play for that. And how at the end of the day, this is the goal”, Smith emphasizes. “Once everybody’s on board with that buy-in, then you have a team moving in the same direction”. This clarity transforms skepticism into engagement and passive participation into active ownership.

But sustaining alignment over the course of a complex initiative demands recognition. Smith advocates for highlighting quick wins, acknowledging sacrifices, and reinforcing interdepartmental trust through regular communication. “Highlight those successes and those wins so that people understand”, he adds, “I saw the sacrifice you made. Thank you”. These moments fuel momentum and help teams stay invested, even when trade-offs are required or timelines shift.

Sustainable Manufacturing Strategies in Capital Project Design

Sustainability isn’t an afterthought in capital project planning, it’s a core design principle that delivers long-term value. Smith has spent his career embedding environmental priorities into every phase of operational decision-making. Working at firms where eco-conscious materials like lightweight polymers and recycled resins are central to product strategy, he’s seen firsthand how integrating sustainability can become a growth driver, not a constraint.

“All of the companies that I work for have sustainability as a major selling point”, he says. “Whether it’s been lightweighting plastic or improving the amount of recycled material that’s being used. Those are big drivers”. These sustainability initiatives aren't isolated, they influence equipment specs, vendor selection, and even the ROI model of capital investments.

One of Smith’s most notable contributions was his Six Sigma black belt project, which increased the recycled raw material used in finished goods. “Every step of the way, that’s what I’ve been working on”, he adds. The takeaway: by aligning capital expenditures with sustainability goals, companies can improve operational efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and enhance brand differentiation, all while building more resilient supply chains.

Capital Project Execution in Large Enterprises vs Small Manufacturing Firms

While the fundamentals of capital execution remain constant, Smith underscores how drastically scale can affect both process and pace. “The biggest difference with the size of the company is how quickly you can go and execute a capital project”, he notes.

At large firms, bureaucracy slows things down, but provides support from deep bench strength. “With larger companies, you have a lot of great experts who are able to help manage those projects a lot smoother”, Smith says. Smaller firms, in contrast, offer speed, but at a personal cost. “With a smaller company, you’re doing more of the work. You’re probably going to be managing the capital project, but that’s a lot of fun. You’re knee deep in it”.

Understanding those trade-offs allows operations leaders to structure projects, teams, and expectations in a way that reflects both culture and capacity, whether you’re rolling out a $500K system upgrade or a $5M expansion.

Leveraging Real-Time Data and IoT for Efficiency

Smith is unequivocal about the critical role real-time data and digital visibility play in accelerating and de-risking capital projects. “The greatest thing you can have is data”. From Power BI dashboards to IoT-enabled sensors, the integration of advanced analytics into capital strategy has become a key differentiator in high-performing manufacturing environments.

Dashboards today do far more than track uptime, they provide costed visibility into downtime, inefficiencies, and material constraints. Predictive analytics anticipate bottlenecks before they escalate, while live monitoring systems allow leaders to adjust execution plans midstream without compromising outcomes. “You can look at data and see real-time the cost implications of downtime”, Smith says. 

Enterprise manufacturers tend to embed IoT from the outset, gaining deeper process control and continuous performance feedback. In contrast, smaller operations may rely on simpler data logging or batch analytics, but even incremental visibility yields measurable gains. Smith encourages manufacturers to think beyond the upfront cost. “That is what you want to do. You want to pay for that little bit extra to add it in”. The ROI on smart data systems lies in faster pivots, better planning, and increased trust in every capital decision.

Common Pitfalls in Capital Project Management and How to Prevent Them

Capital initiatives can go off the rails in predictable ways: extended lead times, scope creep, miscommunication, and unexpected cost increases. Smith is blunt: “Timelines are really, really tough”. Supply chains still haven’t fully stabilized post-COVID, and price volatility remains a persistent risk.

Perhaps the most insidious risk, though, is human. “Month seven to 10, you start losing people because they’ve got other fires that they’re fighting”, Smith says. “They may be prioritizing other things, it’s keeping them on track with that”.

To guard against this, Smith emphasizes transparency, documentation, and constant check-ins. Without clear, frequent communication, teams drift, delays compound, and budgets balloon.

Building High-Performance Teams for Capital Project Success

At the end of the day, no system or strategy replaces strong human capital. “You have to have the right team”, Smith insists. “If you go in and you don’t have the right team, then you are going to fail”.

For leaders, that means picking the right players, understanding their strengths, and asking for help early when resource gaps appear. “If you see a department struggling, work to get the resources”, he advises. In large firms, that might mean reassigning personnel. In smaller ones, it often means rolling up your sleeves.

Above all, leadership capital matters. “If you have that communication, if you have that right team, they’re going to go to bat”, Smith says. “That’s that human capital that I’ve worked on communicating. They know they look at me as a strong leader. They’re going to go to war for me”, he concludes.

Lessons in CapEx Leadership

Smith leaves us with three key takeaways that distill his philosophy into action:

• Enterprise environments provide structure: Large organizations offer deep expertise and risk buffers, but longer approval timelines and more bureaucracy can slow execution.
• Smaller companies enable speed: With fewer layers and faster decision-making, projects can move quickly, but lean teams often require leaders to wear multiple hats and absorb more operational load.
• Impact isn’t measured by budget: Whether investing $500,000 or $5 million, the strategic importance of a project lies in its execution and the trust the company places in the team to deliver.