Lean Philosophy “Quick Wins”: A Case Study in a Non-alcoholic Beverage Company

The non-alcoholic beverage industry stands out as one of the fastest-growing agroindustrial sectors, despite the difficulties generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with optimistic projections in the coming years. Its importance lies in the economic, productive, and social contribution and the social responsibility programs companies carry out for their interest groups. However, the industry faces challenges such as competition, government restrictions related to the environment, quality and safety of products and processes, and product diversification due to changes in consumer demand for more natural products. Therefore, companies in the non-alcoholic beverage sector must establish and implement appropriate strategies to maintain the quality of their products, optimize costs, and satisfy continuous and changing customer requirements. The present study presents the application of the Lean Manufacturing methodology as a philosophy of continuous improvement aimed at achieving early victories in terms of quality and productivity. It costs through three-phase methods, which consisted of 1) diagnosis of the current state of the production line, 2) identification of the types and sources of waste that affect the efficiency and quality of the process, 3) Action Plan and implementation of appropriate Lean Manufacturing techniques and, 4) Evaluation of the impact of the improvement proposal on time, cost, quality, and customer satisfaction indicators. The case study is presented in the process of changing the flavor of a non-alcoholic beverage company, which is of high value in Latin America and is part of one of the largest companies worldwide. The results evidenced significant improvements in time lost due to flavor change, which went from 234 min to 170 min, decreased costs due to a reduction in time lost in flavor change went from USD 258,750 to USD 203,500, and improvement in a corporate culture focused on quality and continuous improvement, with an impact on reducing non-value added times or waste times.