Assessing Lean Adoption in Food Companies: The Case of Morocco

Abstract

Many studies have been conducted on the improvement of operational performance through the implementation of lean manufacturing in the agri-food industries in developed countries. However, only a few have been carried out in Morocco. This approach is not just suitable for the automotive or other specific sectors of the discrete industry; it can now be adapted to other industries, provided that the characteristics of the field of application and the selection of best practices that suit them are taken into consideration. The purpose of this study is to determine the current state of the lean principles adopted by Moroccan food companies (small, medium, and large-sized enterprises). Nine food businesses were contacted, and interviews were conducted with their quality systems managers, operations managers, and chief executives using a structured questionnaire. Results reveal that companies are aware of the importance of continuous improvement tools. Moreover, they partially adopt lean practices, even if they do not call them “lean”. Such an encouraging environment, including the implementation of the quality approach and performance assessment tools (dashboard), can be a preamble to the implementation of a lean approach by these organizations. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the application of lean practices in Moroccan food companies.