Our Chief Production Officer Josh Anderson headed to Austin for the second official Plant Manager Meeting in our history. This time, the group stepped outside Kentucky, bringing together Plant Managers and Senior Operations leaders to sharpen focus, build capability, and continue shaping what’s next for Heaven Hill operations.

The three-day gathering kicked off with a standout moment: a live demonstration of Daily Direction Setting (DDS) led by the Deep Eddy Buda team. In front of a room of senior leaders, the team walked through their approach with clarity, confidence, and control.

“This process is the heartbeat of any operation,” Josh said. “It’s how we manage what matters, every day. The Deep Eddy team did an amazing job demonstrating this.”

Special recognition goes to Jason Wornell, James Gonzalez, Roberto Gonzalez, Edgar Falcon, John Glaze, Pat Natal, Esperanza Garza, and Lazaro Reyes for their leadership. In a short amount of time, they’ve embedded the process into daily work, and it shows.

The second and third days focused on broader collaboration across the network. The group built on their shared goals: safety, quality, on-time delivery, and cost productivity.

Innovation showed up in new ways too. A working session led by Josh Howard used custom GPTs to identify cost savings opportunities, proving how digital tools can support real-time brainstorming.

The week wrapped with a visit to Toyota’s San Antonio facility—organized by Marc Cavazos and hosted by General Manager James Moore of Toyota. Touring the 2-million-square-foot site, the team saw firsthand how Toyota invests in transparency and processes.

“The buzz in the room was real,” Josh reflected on the entire session. “This group is building trust, solving together, and leaning into what’s possible. We’re not just keeping up with growth, we’re helping lead it.”

As operations continue to evolve, gatherings like this one in Austin show the power of bringing people together to build alignment, capability, and shared purpose. It’s not just about where we are today, it’s about who we’re becoming, together.