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Production Of Lean Manufacturing And Related Continuous Improvement Businesses

Decent Essays

Project Report
"Lean" in food industries

There is a general perception that Lean Manufacturing and related continuous improvement businesses do not lend themselves to easy application in industries that have large batch processes, like the food and beverage industries. Typically these business types sell their products from large distribution or product mixing centers, and are not make to order businesses. They manufacture to a forecast, and usually the forecast lead time to production is long, resulting in large differences between the forecast that drives production levels, and actual demand.
The net result of this gap is large levels of inventory holdings, typically in finished goods; however, some food products also have …show more content…

But it does not alter the fact that Lean can still be implemented in food industries.

The biggest obstacles in food industry remain the same as any other type of business and are generally as follows:
• Lack of persistent and challenging leadership.
• Lack of a clear vision of the future and of what is possible to be achieved.
• Failure to link the processes in kaizen with normal work. It is often seen as a separate program and not part of everyone 's formal work
• Lack of patience and follow through.
• Failure to perceive that lean is a viable strategy to help achieve competitive advantage.
• Failure to engage and involve employees at all levels in the process from an early stage.
• Lack of constant visibility by management on the shop floor or gemba.
• Holding to the presumption that lean methods cost a lot of money. This results in indecision and failure to act.
• Failure to see that management must use lean methods to change the culture. The usual view of lean is that it is a narrow technical means to save cost. It is a highly integrative socio/technical strategy.
• Failure of management to take a whole systems view of the business and to see the connections between all processes.
• Persistent focus only on demanding results without a balanced focus on improving the processes that achieve the results. The goal is to have a proper balance between these two facets. • Perpetuating a blaming and judgmental culture.

Muda that is inherent

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