Portugal, the world's largest cork producer, supplies critical materials for industries such as aerospace, automotive, textiles, and construction. This study addresses efficiency challenges in pop cork manufacturing, focusing on granule production within a leading Portuguese cork processing facility. The objective of this work is to identify operational issues in pop cork expansion and improve equipment performance to enhance production outcomes. A case study was conducted at the Granules Materials Technology (GMT) unit, where a detailed operational analysis was performed. The methodology involved identifying boiler capacity constraints, evaluating equipment conditions, analysing operational failures, and optimising the use of natural cork waste from various bark types. As a result of these targeted interventions, the output of pop cork production improved by 3%. The findings demonstrate that systematic maintenance and process adjustments can lead to measurable performance gains, contributing to a more competitive and sustainable manufacturing process.