Improving Operational and Sustainability Performance in a Retail Fresh Food Market Using Lean: A Portuguese Case Study

Abstract

This paper presents a real application of a lean–green improvement initiative conducted at a large Portuguese hypermarket store. It explores how lean tools and techniques may be used to not only improve the operational performance, but also sustainability. A case study was carried out in one store of a multinational retail enterprise, with the aim of enhancing both the operational and sustainability performance in the cold meat section, one of the most relevant areas of the fresh food markets. The Gemba Kaizen event approach, which comprises three main stages, was adopted. During the workshop stage, the structured problem-solving methodology was followed, and was recorded in an A3 format. As a consequence of this project, food waste in the cold meat market was reduced by half, whereas the out-of-stock index decreased by a third. In addition, the pilot store hit top performance within all stores of the company in Portugal, ranking first in all key indicators for the cold meat market. The lean–green scope and performance improvement procedures developed and implemented in the pilot store were later deployed to other stores of the company. This is one of the first publications regarding the application of lean management in the food retail sector for improving both the operational and sustainability performance.

A Lean Manufacturing Progress Model and Implementation for SMEs in the Metal Products Industry

“…For example, lean thinking was extended to a large supermarket with a green improvement program aimed at improving the operational and sustainability performance of the cold meat department. The improvement process used traditional lean methods and tools, such as problem-solving analysis reports, to optimize the roadmap and document the steps involved in each improvement phase [12].…”

Lean Optimization Techniques for Improvement of Production Flows and Logistics Management: The Case Study of a Fruits Distribution Center

“…Lean tools involve all employees positively, through change, and in creating value for the customer. At the same time, it means that there will be fewer errors and more efficient and methodical workflows [2].…”

“…Over the past ten years, the approach to business management around the world has undergone a profound change. To combat the politico-economically unstable environment, organizations have sought to find new ways and means of responding based on knowledge, market research, and study, as well as creating and adapting to new work methodologies through metrics-driven management [1,2]. Organizational survival depends on the construction and integration of knowledge promoting adaptation and stimulation of the environment, as well as change through the firm's knowledge and practices [3].…”

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“…Distribution actors are often coupled with production companies since some also handle distribution in-house (Lermen et al, 2018;Nabhani & Shokri, 2009). Lean practices by retailers are rarely examined and are limited to large, modern retailers based on the analysis of the collected literature (Bloom & Hinrichs, 2017;Marques, Carvalho, & Santos, 2022). Besides traditional actors along the supply chain, this literature review also discovered external stakeholders' involvement in applying lean practices in the agri-food chain.…”

“…Furthermore, Vlachos (2015) maintained the importance of management support to ensure the positive impact and implementation of lean thinking in the food supply chain. In addition, the creation of dedicated teams consisting of representatives of actors in the supply chain (Taylor, 2006) and the use of facilitative approaches with the help of Lean Coaches (Barth & Melin, 2018) can also help smoothen the implementation of lean practices and increase concept understanding (Manzouri et al, 2013;Marques et al, 2022). The least mentioned factors of lean method implementation are technology and decision support (Sarri et al, 2020).…”