Assessing Lean Adoption in Food Companies: The Case of Morocco
Published at : 25 Jan 2021
Volume : IJtech
Vol 12, No 1 (2021)
DOI : https://doi.org/10.14716/ijtech.v12i1.3837
Farissi, A., El Oumami, M., Beidouri, Z., 2021. Assessing Lean Adoption in Food Companies: The Case of Morocco. International Journal of Technology. Volume 12(1), pp. 5-14
| Aicha Farissi | Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Laboratory Department, High School of Technology Casablanca, Hassan II University of Casablanca, PO Box 8012, Oasis, Casablanca, Morocco |
| Mohamed El Oumami | Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Laboratory Department, High School of Technology Casablanca, Hassan II University of Casablanca, PO Box 8012, Oasis, Casablanca, Morocco |
| Zitouni Beidouri | Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Laboratory Department, High School of Technology Casablanca, Hassan II University of Casablanca, PO Box 8012, Oasis, Casablanca, Morocco |
Many studies have been
conducted on the improvement of operational performance through the
implementation of lean manufacturing in the agri-food industries in developed
countries. However, only a few have been carried out in Morocco. This approach
is not just suitable for the automotive or other specific sectors of the
discrete industry; it can now be adapted to other industries, provided that the
characteristics of the field of application and the selection of best practices
that suit them are taken into consideration. The purpose of this study is to
determine the current state of the lean principles adopted by Moroccan food
companies (small, medium, and large-sized enterprises). Nine food businesses
were contacted, and interviews were conducted with their quality
systems managers, operations managers, and chief executives using a
structured questionnaire. Results reveal that companies are aware of the
importance of continuous improvement tools. Moreover, they partially adopt lean
practices, even if they do not call them “lean”. Such an encouraging
environment, including the implementation of the quality approach and
performance assessment tools (dashboard), can be a preamble to the
implementation of a lean approach by these organizations. To the best of the
authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the application of
lean practices in Moroccan food companies.
Food companies; Lean principles; Morocco
The
food industry is a strategic sector of the Moroccan economy. In fact, it
is considered the first industry of the country. Despite this
important position, the majority of companies face technical and technological,
managerial, financial, and commercial challenges, which hinder their
competitiveness and chances of global integration. Thus, the objective of the
current research is to provide innovative solutions for the development of
agro-industrial companies in the country. The food industry mainly
involves a complex manufacturing process, and once a product is finished, it
cannot be dismantled and reassembled (Panwar et
al., 2015). The production flow has a specific characteristic. Based on
the literature (Van Wezel et al., 2006; Dora et al., 2013), here are some constraints that
characterize this industry:
·
Perishable materials that must be consumed within
strict deadlines;
·
Variability of the materials used during production at
the level of components, prices, and mixed quantities;
· Heterogeneous flow composed of different materials and ingredients;
·
Complicated production plans and high downtime for
cleaning and preparing machines; and
·
In terms of packaging, facilities are positioned away
from the production workshop to ensure the hygiene of the products.
According to Goncharuk (2009) and Mahalik
and Nambiar (2010), the application of lean practices in the food
industry can improve the efficiency of production processes. These practices
can also reduce additional costs and ensure that customer expectations are met (Zarei et al., 2011). Ongoing debates on the
introduction of the lean approach within agri-food companies have not yet
reached international consensus. Thus, the current paper aims to reveal the
manifestation of lean practices in Moroccan food companies. The research
methodology is presented in Section 2. Section 3 is devoted to a literature
review to extract the good lean practices from the food industry. A qualitative
study is conducted on the basis of the analysis and synthesis of the scientific
literature, and the results are presented in Section 4. Finally, the
conclusions and recommendations are provided in Section 5.
This
study provides a general view of the development of Moroccan agri-food
companies. The main objective is to identify managerial tools that can increase
profitability, effectiveness, and efficiency. Globally, the lean concept has
been integrated into the food production industry. Despite the fact that this
concept is relatively new, Moroccan companies are not very far away in terms of
adoption. For example, Lesieur Cristal, a large company under the Avril group
and a producer of table oils, announced many years ago that it had adopted
lean manufacturing into its own production system. In our study, we
found that there is a certain awareness of approach, even though all the
respondents declared that the lean concept is not yet formally applied in their
companies. Nevertheless, we observed a quasi-partial adoption of some similar
practices, which they do not call “Lean.” We asked the leading question: Are
Moroccan food companies really ready to adopt lean practices? To this, the
answer is partially, yes, because the quality system is fully integrated.
However, much work should be done on the logical part of managers, and the
firms’ level of business maturity should also be taken into account. In the
end, we do not encourage full implementation; rather, companies must select the
best practices that are suitable for them so that they can strengthen their
operational performance.
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