What is unique about lean manufacturing in the food industry?
One of the key lean measures is inventory turns and lean programs inevitably increase the number of inventory turns a business achieves. The perishable nature of the product means that improvement in this area gives food companies even bigger benefits than companies producing non-perishable products. Also, because food companies operate in hygienic premises they sometimes mistake their good food specific biological practices for good industrial housekeeping (also known as 5S). The two are very different and 5S presents enormous opportunities for food manufacturers that they often overlook. The term 5S comes from 5 Japanese words that may be translated as sort, set in order, shine, standards and sustain. Companies that can maintain a level of excellence in only having what is needed, where it is needed in good condition will operate more efficiently and safely than those that merely keep their food contact areas biologically clean.
