Lean Six Sigma in Food and Beverage Industry

The food and beverage industry is considered to be early in its adoption of Lean and Six Sigma methods. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, American automotive companies began their improvement journey to compete with the Japanese automakers. In the late 1990’s, the aerospace and aviation industry starting adopting these methods, along with other manufacturers and industries (banking, finance, software and semiconductors). In the 2000’s, we saw the rise of improvement methods in healthcare, military and defense and government, and we are now seeing a rise in food and beverage, nonprofits and small business.

High-volume food & beverage operations face unique pressure:

  • razor-thin margins
  • strict regulatory oversight
  • perishable inventory
  • complex and voliatile global supply chains
  • increasing competition
  • intense customer expectations and demands

To succeed in this industry, you need:

  • on-time and high-quality deliveries of raw materials from your suppliers through your operations
    • We can teach your team about FMEA to mitigate risks, SPC and Cpk/Ppk to monitor performance against specification requirements, MSA to ensure proper test and sampling
  • stable operations with the correct staffing levels and equipment that doesn’t break down
    • We can teach your team about TPM for good preventative maintenance, OEE and SMED for reduced equipment uptime, 8 wastes to reduce setup time and cleaning, cross-training matrices to adjust workers to the areas of need and 5S/visual controls, standard work and error proofing to reduce errors and mistakes
  • strong quality team that helps mitigate problems while not causing delays in testing
    • We can teach your team about control plans to monitor key parameters and quickly react to new problems, root cause analysis to get to the heart of the problems, daily huddles to communicate and escalate problems and risks, and change management to get buy-in on process changes
  • proper planning to ensure correct amount of material is produced while considering losses and variation
    • We can teach your team statistical analysis to look for seasonal trends, recurring problems and complex interactions and DOE to experiment with new recipes and understand complex interactions
  • good inventory management to ensure batches are run in the correct order based on actual customer need
    • We can teach your team about kanban for managing raw materials and customer shipments

Lean Six Sigma combines Lean (emphasis on eliminating waste and increasing speed of production flow) with Six Sigma (data-driven statistical methods for variation reduction) so teams can quickly find the highest-impact focus areas in your business.

Lean Six Sigma gives Quality Managers, Operations Directors, Manufacturing Leaders and Continuous Improvement teams the tools to learn how to methodically and effectively:

  • improve batch yields and material losses
  • reduce batch-to-batch variation
  • shorten changeovers and equipment downtime
  • identify trends and shifts and new problems quickly
  • reduce contamination and recalls
  • reduce near misses and safety incidents
  • increase engagement in support staff and frontline workers

Another benefit of Lean Six Sigma is how it complements and strengthens major guidelines, initiatives and certifications in the industry:

  • HACCP, FSMA & Food Safety Plans
    • Requires identifying critical control points, monitoring, and taking corrective action which aligns within the problem solving framework. Tools such as Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Control Plans, and Statistical Process Control (SPC) help gather cross-functional teams together to quantify risks, monitor variation, and prevent deviations that could trigger a recall.
  • ISO 9001 & ISO 22000
    • Improve problem solving and corrective/preventative actions (CAPA) through the teaching and practice of Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) or Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) or Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMAIC) frameworks that are taught.
  • GFSI-recognized standards (SQF, BRCGS, FSSC 22000)
    • Requires a culture of continuous improvement along with making decisions that are data-driven, which is embedded in the training and methods.
  • GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices)
    • Focus on consistency, cleanliness, and controlled processes that aligns with Lean methods of standard work, error-proofing (poka-yoke), 5S workplace organization and visual management and controls.
  • Sustainability & ESG
    • Use Lean Six Sigma to improve sustainability metrics around water, solid waste, energy, chemicals, toxic materials, air pollution and your company’s carbon footprint. This can help you appeal to a broader customer base looking for healthier and lower impact options.

Think about Lean Six Sigma as the “engine that powers and sustains your existing systems and processes” so they can be most effective and efficient, not a separate program or initiative.

It all starts with training and real-life projects to practice what you learn.

Ready to get started?

If you’re ready to offer your team training that delivers measurable plant-level results and builds confidence in their problem solving skils, check out our two options:

For Individual or Small Team: Training for 1-3 people (one team with one project), grouped with other organizations

For Organizations: Training for up to 10 people in your organization (5 projects, 2 people per project), private class that fits your team’s schedule

Industry success stories & case studies

Below are summaries and links to real-world implementations so you can see how peers solved problems similar to yours.

Food Banks

Farms

  • Red Fire Farms – small farms are adopting lean principles to improve efficiency and profitability to help identify inefficiencies, such as disorganized equipment or overproduction, and come up with practical changes to help farmers work smarter, not harder, and avoid burnout. These methods advocate for niche markets, growing only what customers want, and streamlining operations to reduce waste and manual labor.
  • Brasil Canasul – Brazilian sugar-cane supplier increased irs average monthly planted areafrom 770ha per month to over 1000ha per month using Process Control Boards, standard work and gemba walks.
  • Hocken Family Farm – support from lean consultant helps farm reduce waste and save time
  • Houston’s Farms – the application of Lean manufacturing concepts to the end to end process of fresh vegetable production led to 100% on-time delivery and productivity improved by 20%
  • Embedding Lean into farms – Lean Thinking is redefining agriculture by turning farms into systems of continuous learning, boosting productivity, reducing waste, and empowering people through daily problem solving.

Food Manufacturers

  • Worldwide Fruit – Video highlighting their continuous improvement program
  • Jubilant Foodworks – CEO explains how they deployed Six Sigma on a large scale to reduce food inflation costs
  • Kraft Foods – using Lean Six Sigma to upgrade its company’s production capacity using technology
  • Mondelez International – Their Polish plant implemented Lean Six Sigma to drive a high-performing culture and develop team capabilities
  • Nestle USA – A new program called Nestle Continuous Excellence (NCE) is being implemented across all plants that consolidates the principles of Lean Manufacturing, Total Productive Management, Six Sigma and 5S

Fast Food and Restaurants

  • Chick-fil-A – uses Lean methods to reduce drive-thru wait times and design new kitchens (article | podcast)
  • Pal’s Sudden Service – using Lean techniques to eliminate waste, reduce human error, and simplify processes to reduce drive-thru wait times
  • Legal Sea Foods – adopts Lean to increase capacity and challenge traditional thinking

Beverage Producers

Food Waste

Food Safety

I’ve been working with a beverage manufacturer since 2022 to embed Lean Six Sigma methods into their operations, and led a Green Belt training program for a dried food manufacturer in 2019.

Now is the time to create a transformation in your organization, and help build a culture of improvement!

Learn more about our virtual Green or Black Belt training options:

For Individual or Small Team: Training for 1-3 people (one team with one project), grouped with other organizations

For Organizations: Training for up to 10 people in your organization (5 projects, 2 people per project), private class that fits your team’s schedule

Access our free video and download:
7 Continuous Improvement Best Practices >>