[NOTE: Technically tomatoes are a fruit. However, around the world they are marketed as vegetables.] We’ll look at applications of Lean and Six Sigma in vegetable packing and finish with a video of potato processing and packaging.

Using Lean Six Sigma and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) to Improve Vegetable Packing

A case study titled “Improving Vegetable Packing Line Performance To Reduce Waste And Costs And Increase Revenue” discusses opportunities for vegetable packing performance improvement using Lean Six Sigma and OEE.

The case study includes:

  • Project Charter
  • Process Map with Identified Wastes for Changing Bagger Head
  • Cause and Effect Diagram for Bagger Misfires
  • Rewards and Efforts for Bagger Performance Improvement
  • Action Log

Copy and paste the following link into your browser to read the case study.

Lean Six Sigma Applied to Improve Vegetable Packing

In an article titled “Lean Six Sigma Analyst in Packing House Lembang Agriculture Incubation Center (LAIC)” authors Afferdhy Ariffien, Irayanti Adriant, and Juli Amirah Nasution discuss the application of Lean Six Sigma to vegetable packing in Indonesia 

Using the DMAIC phases, they applied the following to the vegetable packing process:

  • Process Mapping
  • Value Stream Mapping 
    • Value-add and Non-value add evaluation
    • Process packaging time
  • Process Activity Mapping 
    • What non-value added processes cause the packing time to be long?
  • Fishbone Diagram
  • Waste elimination
  • Improvement leading to new standard operating procedure

The final result was a 171.46 minute reduction in the vegetable packing process

You can read the article here.

 

[Citation: Afferdhy Ariffien et al 2021 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1764 012043]

Improving Fruit and Vegetable Packing Operations

In a paper titled “Revamping Hill Brother’s Packaging Area” authors Alejandro Santos De La Rosa and José A. Morales discuss improvements to fruit and vegetable packaging operations through the use of Lean Manufacturing and DMAIC methodology.

The paper includes:

  • Operations SIPOC
  • Data Collected from Current Packaging Operations
  • Packaging Area Dashboard for Data-Driven Decisions
  • Fishbone Diagram for Operations
  • Time Taken to Complete Operations
  • ROI Data
  • KPI’s Before Implementation
  • Example Spaghetti Diagram

You can read the paper here.

Potato Processing and Vacuum Packaging

See potato washing, destoning, peeling, quartering, weighing, and vacuum packing in this video from Vegetable, Fruit Handling Equipment.

You can watch the video here. 

 

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