Application of kaizen in an SME of fresh pasta

The present case in which I actively participated as a consultant shows with total clarity the enormous advantages that are achieved in a small or medium-sized company through the application of Kaizen, results that should be clarified are achieved in a short period of time and at a low cost, added to which is the fact that the investment made will result in a constant improvement in the performance of the company over time.

It all started from the need expressed by the owner of a fresh pasta factory, to reduce production costs due to intense competition and the impossibility of transferring to prices the increases in different inputs (whether raw material or work).

This entrepreneur had already consulted other professionals, who lacking knowledge of operations, and lacking a systemic approach and thinking focused on processes, apart from responding to a typical reasoning of traditional companies focused on Taylor paradigms, only They managed to advise it to replace certain types of raw materials with others of lower quality, in addition to addressing certain technical issues related to the best use and exploitation of energy sources (in this case electricity).

The owner of the company did not agree with these recommendations as he believed that lowering costs through lower quality inputs would lead to the loss of the level of quality that their products possessed and that they deserved the recognition of customers and consumers. While the energy proposals, while plausible to implement, did not greatly contribute to their business needs.

Before his consultation, he was offered the application of Kaizen as a consistent way to control and reduce costs in a systematic way, while not only maintaining existing levels of quality, but improving them, as well as improving services and customer service.

At first this Kaizen word of which he had never heard added to the oriental touch of it had caused him some mistrust, especially when his accounting advisor insisted that the only way to really reduce costs was to reduce the number of personnel and increase deadlines. of payments to suppliers in order to get some financial advantage.

He had to be shown that these methods were not only incorrect, but that they could generate results in the short term to return to their previous state after a few months. It was necessary to demonstrate how the various shortcomings observed after a diagnostic task prevented achieving better results, offering the way to solve them with plausible instruments and tools, and that the results achieved not only would allow the company to improve profitability, but also with sufficient discipline it would not only maintain itself but also improve itself over time.

Firstly, the preparation times of the machines were improved.

It is known that many machines are used for the production of a variety of products based on different types of inputs and preparations, which is why the time between the end of a certain production batch and the next batch had to be done in the least amount of possible time in order to reduce waiting times, thereby increasing the productivity of labor (greater production per man-hour), at the same time Total Productive Maintenance was implemented, with which it became a participant the employees of the maintenance work with which it was possible to avoid costs related to downtime, lower production speed, failures in the production generated,in addition to those expenses incurred in terms of breakages and subsequent repairs linked to a lack of good maintenance.

Parallel to the aforementioned aspects, production began based on real demand, avoiding all kinds of overproduction, for which a study of the levels of demand from final customers was made and a weekly demand plan was requested from distributors (supermarkets and retailers). In exchange for shorter payment terms and the delivery of the aforementioned information, the daily delivery of products and lower prices was agreed.

On the other hand, a long-term agreement was established with the main suppliers of raw materials for the purposes of daily receipt of supplies, thereby achieving lower storage and financial costs.

The application of the 5 "S" served to ostensibly improve working conditions, increasing safety, quality levels and employee motivation, all of which contributed greatly to increasing productivity.

At a later stage, valuable analysis and engineering techniques were applied, which improved both the physical distribution of the production plant and the development of processes, the reduction of unnecessary activities and tasks, concentrating the effort on the continuous improvement of the added value for the final customer, with which an important competitive advantage was achieved in a very competitive market.

The implementation of the total quality system helped to recognize the real needs and tastes of customers, special emphasis was placed on the quality of food from the point of view of the latest advances in health (sanitation) and systems of preventive and evaluation control that significantly reduced costs for waste, reprocessing, returns and loss of customers.

For all these steps, it was essential to change the attitude of the employer towards employees, through a more participatory policy, greater confidence in them, and the adoption of incentives based on productivity rates. Already the worker contributed not only his hands but also his intellectual capacity with which he had greater enthusiasm, generating less absences from jobs and less rotation, the latter greatly contributed to moving through the learning curve, thereby which was achieved significant increases in productivity and consequently in reducing costs.

On the other hand, a series of indices and ratios were built that allow the owner and his employees to follow closely and day by day the evolution of various indicators related to quality, productivity, waste levels, production cycle times and levels of costs. For this purpose, an economical software for Statistical Process Control and Management was implemented, which contributed enormously not only to control levels of quality, costs and productivity, but also to facilitate analysis and decision-making.

As you can see, it is not complex or expensive to apply, it only requires first of all a firm decision on the part of the owners, then moving on to diagnostic work, training and training, and advice on production processes (design of work systems).

Within six months of starting the implementation of the system (which in this case took a period of four months), a decrease in total costs of around 30% was achieved, thanks to the search and subsequent elimination of the different types of waste and waste, in addition to an increase in sales of the order of 80%.

Kaizen is not only applicable to large companies dedicated to cutting-edge technology such as automotive and electronics, or large construction companies, but can be applied with impressive results in SMEs.

Its application depends purely and exclusively on the decision and attitude of its owners and managers, and its desire to achieve a highly competitive company.