Lean manufacturing and production efficiency of the food and beverages sector in Nigeria

Abstract

The dilemma of waste management across man, material and money has remained a burden especially in the food and beverage industry in Nigeria. This constituted the academic enquiry into understanding the power of lean manufacturing to engender production efficiency. Secondary data were collected from the dominant manufacturing companies: Unilever, Nestle and Cadbury Nig. Plc. Data envelopment analysis efficiency frontier software was used to test the assumption that lean manufacturing system affects operational efficiency. The results showed that the operational efficiency of Nestle and Cadbury Nigeria Plc improved vis-a-vis Unilever that first instituted lean thinking. The study recommends institutionalisation of lean manufacturing to drive operational efficiency but gradual adoption is preferred to escape the liability of newness and enhance a harvesting of experience gained during the learning process.