The impact of lean manufacturing practices on the operational performance of food companies. Evidence from Greece

Purpose In the current competitive and global business environment, the food manufacturing companies are faced with difficulties related to financial, energy and health issues. The high percentage of food waste is also a major problem for the food industry. So, it is necessary for food companies to adopt appropriate management practices to become more resilient operationally and survive. The contribution of lean manufacturing (LM) practices to the operational performance (OP) of food manufacturing companies can be enormous. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the LM practices defining a holistic approach of LM on the OP of food manufacturing companies. Design/methodology/approach A survey was carried out in Greek food manufacturing companies using a structured questionnaire with regard to the implementation of LM practices and operational performance. In total, 122 fully completed questionnaires were received. Regression analysis was applied to determine the impact of LM practices on the OP of these companies. Findings The impact of LM practices implemented holistically on the OP of food manufacturing companies is statistically significant, positive and high. Research limitations/implications The small size of the sample of the food manufacturing companies which operate in a specific business environment, namely the Greek one, the subjectivity of the responses of the companies’ representatives and the fact that the present study is cross-sectional, constitute limitations that should be taken into consideration while designing future studies. Practical implications In the current era where food manufacturing companies are striving to survive, the increase of their OP can be achieved by focusing on quality improvement and waste elimination, in other words, by following a holistic LM approach and implementing the LM practices simultaneously. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that takes into consideration the holistic LM approach which is based on a comprehensive list of LM practices and determines their impact on the OP of food manufacturing companies.