Bread is a staple worldwide and has been for over 14,000 years*. Lean and Six Sigma methods are applied today in bakeries to produce bread and other baked goods. We’ll look at four applications from Brazil, Bangladesh, India, and Ethiopia and finish with a video of 13,500 bread loaves produced per hour.

*Source: NPR

 

Lean Applied to Bakeries: Brazil

In an article titled “Applicability of the Lean thinking in Bakeries,” authors William de Paula Ferreira and others discuss the application of Lean manufacturing after selecting one bakery after visits and non-structured interviews with ten.

They focused on production at the chosen bakery.

The article includes:

  • Lean Assessment Score Card of Ten Bakeries
  • Before and After Stock Area Layouts
  • Before and After 5s Implementation
  • Spaghetti Chart Before and After
  • Production Planning Board
  • Waste Evolution of Bakery and Pastry
  • Reassessment After Lean Implementation

After Lean implementation, the bakery saw a reduction in operating costs and an increase in profit by 25.96%

You can read the article here.

 

Using Lean Tools to Reduce Lead Time in a Bakery Factory: Bangladesh

In a case study titled “A Study to Reduce the Lead Time of a Bakery Factory by Using Lean Tools: A Case Study,” author Md. Monir Hossain discusses the use of Lean tools to reduce lead time in bakery production.

The case study includes:

  • Basic Stages of Bread Production
  • Current Value Stream Map with Required Data
  • Current Process Cycle Efficiency
  • Current Takt Time
  • Percentages and Cumulative Percentages of Bottleneck Causes
  • Cumulative Percentages Pareto Chart of Bottleneck Causes
  • Future Value Stream Map with Required Data
  • Future Value Stream Map
  • Future Process Cycle Efficiency
  • Future Takt Time
You can read the case study here.

 

Using Six Sigma Tools to Reduce Pastry Variations: India

The “Use of Six Sigma Tools for Process Improvement & Reduce Pastry Variations” is a project report focused on reducing variation in pastry production at Monginis Food Pvt. Ltd. that was submitted for an MBA class.

The comprehensive project report includes:

  • Page 10 – Project Methodology
  • Page 12 – Pastry Making Process
  • Page 19 – Fish Bone Diagram for Pastry Variation Causes
  • Page 22 – Pareto Analysis of Causes Identified
  • Page 25 – Root Cause Analysis for Defects Related to Sponge
  • Pages 25 and 28 – Trials for Effect of Hand Leveling
  • Pages 31 – 35 – Deposit Operation Control Charts
  • Pages 36 – 38 Effects of Batter Density
  • Pages 39 – 40- Effects of Unfiller Machine Type
  • Pages 41 – 96 – More analysis and results
See the Table of Contents, Pages 4 -5 for complete report contents.
You can access the project report here [For ease of reading, select full screen]

 

Development of an Integrated Lean Six Sigma-Baldridge Framework for Waste Minimization: Ethiopia

In a chapter titled “Development of Integrated Lean Six Sigma-Baldrige Framework for Manufacturing Waste Minimization: A Case of NAS Foods Plc” Kassu Jilcha Sileyew and Selamawit Gebreyohanis discuss the development and application of an integrated continuous quality improvement framework for reducing biscuit waste.

The chapter includes:

  • Comprehensive Comparison of Differences and Similarities Among Six Sigma, Lean, and Malcom Baldrige
  • Methodology for Constructing Integrated Quality Improvement Framework
  • Analysis of Biscuit Waste
  • Value Added and Non-value Added Biscuit Processes
  • Biscuit Production CTQs in One Line
  • FMEA for Biscuit Processes
  • Development of Integrated Continuous Quality Improvement Model
You can access the authors’ chapter here.

 

13,500 Bread Loaves are Produced Per Hour

See an automated bread production line in this video from AMF Bakery Systems.

 

 

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