Food Manufacturing Going Green

 

Lean, Clean and Green Food Processing

This is an abridged version of an article that first appeared in Food Processing.

A major conglomerate saves a cool half-million dollars with a successful yield kaizen (Japanese for "a change for the better"). A small manufacturer saves $46,000 thanks to organizing tools following 5S, and a food processor saves $28,000 after initiating a process improvement kaizen. Are the benefits of these initiatives limited to these companies' bottom lines, or could it be that these lean initiatives have broader implications?

 

Generally, the relentless pursuit of eliminating waste - the essence of lean   will do just that: eliminate waste and wasteful practices that are hidden. A lean strategy with the accompanying training and problem-solving sessions will provide "new eyes" for management and workers to first see the hidden waste and then to begin to eliminate waste. Once these eyes are seeing waste, then motivation and creativity to include safety and sustainability in the lean efforts strengthen the benefits.

 

In the case of the food processor's process improvement kaizen, the company used the lean principle of "pull" to optimize the use of wash water. One hundred liters of grade-water is required to clean one kilogram of green beans. They knew there was an issue if the product was not cleaned properly or if there was water left over. The pull principle helped identify and correct the issues, reducing water use by $28,000.

 

The process improvement, however, is more than dollars saved. The consumer is ensured a cleaner product, reducing the potential of illness and costs. And a precious resource, water, is saved as part of the same effort. This lean initiative would be impressive on any sustainability report to headquarters or to the local community.

 

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