Company Context

You’re the PM for LineOS, a manufacturing execution system (MES) and quality platform used by mid-to-large consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers. Your flagship customer for this case is BrightBite Foods, a $900M revenue snack company that produces protein bars and granola bites.

BrightBite runs 3 plants in the US. The flagship plant in Indiana has 4 packaging lines and produces ~2.4M bars/day across 12 SKUs. The plant operates on thin margins and is measured weekly on OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), scrap, and on-time-in-full (OTIF) delivery to retailers like Target and Kroger.

BrightBite wants to introduce a new SKU: “BrightBite Kids”, a smaller bar with a different wrapper material (compostable film) and a new allergen profile (contains almond flour). Leadership believes this SKU is critical to win a new retailer contract worth $18M annual revenue, but the retailer requires first shipment in 10 weeks.

User / Market Scenario

Key personas

Competitive landscape

BrightBite currently uses a combination of SAP for planning, paper-based SOPs, and a basic downtime tracker. Competitors pitching them include:

• Tulip (strong operator workflows, faster UI iteration)
• Plex (ERP+MES suite, heavy implementation)
• FactoryTalk (deep controls integration, complex)

LineOS differentiates on fast deployment (6–10 weeks) and quality + traceability.

The Problem / Opportunity

BrightBite wants to run the new Kids SKU on Line 3, which currently runs their highest-volume SKU. Early pilot trials (on a test rig) suggest:

• Compostable film increases seal failure defects from 0.6% → 2.0% unless temperature and dwell time are tuned.
• The smaller bar changes checkweigher reject rates from 0.8% → 1.6% until the feeder is adjusted.
• Almond flour introduces an allergen risk requiring validated cleaning and line clearance.

If Line 3’s OEE drops by more than 3 points for 4 consecutive weeks, BrightBite estimates $1.2M in lost contribution margin due to missed shipments and expedited freight.

Your job is to propose how you would introduce this new product to the manufacturing line using LineOS—while managing the biggest hurdles (technical, operational, and organizational).

What You Need to Deliver (in the interview)

1. Clarify the goal and define the “job to be done” for BrightBite in launching a new SKU on an existing line.
2. Identify the biggest hurdles you expect (at least 5), spanning process, people, data/tech, and compliance.
3. Propose an MVP product approach in LineOS that supports a safe, fast launch in 10 weeks.
4. Prioritize features for the MVP vs later phases using a clear method (e.g., RICE, Kano, MoSCoW).
5. Define success metrics and an experiment/validation plan for the first 30/60/90 days after launch.

Constraints

1. Timeline: First retailer shipment in 10 weeks; BrightBite will only accept changes that don’t require a full ERP migration.
2. Engineering capacity: You have 6 engineers (4 backend, 2 frontend) and 1 QA for 8 weeks; integrations team is shared and can only support one new integration.
3. Line connectivity: Line 3 PLC data is partially available; you can reliably ingest only 10 tags in the MVP (e.g., temperature, speed, reject counts).
4. Compliance: Must support allergen traceability and audit logs aligned to FSMA expectations.
5. Operational reality: Operators have limited tolerance for extra taps; any new workflow must take <15 seconds per changeover step.

Your answer should be structured, explicit about trade-offs, and grounded in measurable outcomes.