Improvement of acquisition processes for highly perishable products by using lean, TRIZ and kano model

Abstract

The high competitiveness of the fishing sector, combined with the economic and environmental crises, together with the search for customer satisfaction and for increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of internal processes, makes companies constantly try to implement continuous improvement processes, to guarantee their survival in the sectors in which they operate. The present study was developed in a company of fresh fish processing and freezing industry, aiming to improve the fish acquisition process and to reduce the loss of freshness quality throughout it. Several instances for improvement were identified, analyzed, and prioritized whilst several proposals for improvement were also developed and implemented. For this purpose, TRIZ analytical tools were used to resolve contradictions that arose in the search for opportunities to implement improvements in situations highlighted by customer complaints, the Kano Model was used to assess the necessary requirements to implement such improvements, and finall several support tools to the Lean philosophy were used to carry out the implementation of the necessary improvements. A standard operating procedure for the evaluation of the freshness quality was developed together with the introduction of a rigorous traceability method, and complaints concerning the discrepancy in freshness quality levels, between the place of purchase and the factory decreased in number from 8 to 3 in 10 daily receptions. Consequently, the number of batches produced at the same purchased quality was increased by 62.5%. The waiting time to initiate production after reception was reduced from one hour to twenty minutes resulting in a 67% improvement of this process. Moreover, the number of calls made between buyers and the factory decreased, from 5 to 3 daily calls per purchase, improving by 40%. The full implementation of the proposals will allow the company to improve processes, increase employee motivation whilst reducing waiting and setup times.