Manufacturing & Food
Lean Manufacturing and process optimisation
The manufacturing and food industries are the birthplace of Lean thinking — and remain its primary areas of application. Perfact helps manufacturing companies eliminate waste, improve OEE and implement continuous improvement on the shop floor.
From automotive suppliers to food manufacturers: we bring proven Lean Six Sigma methodologies to your production environment and ensure that the improvements are sustained.
The ROI of Lean Six Sigma in the manufacturing industry
In the manufacturing industry, Lean Six Sigma delivers the highest and most demonstrable ROI of all improvement methods. Typical results we achieve include: OEE improvements of 5–15 percentage points, a 30–60% reduction in scrap, a 20–50% reduction in lead times, and significant reductions in inventory levels.
Perfact always works on the basis of a clear business case upfront and measurable KPIs afterwards. This enables you to justify the results internally — to both the CFO and the shop floor.
What we do in Manufacturing & Food
- Lean Manufacturing implementation: 5S, SMED, TPM, Kanban and visual management
- OEE improvement: measurably increasing availability, performance and quality
- Six Sigma projects for quality improvement and waste reduction
- Lean Six Sigma in the food industry: HACCP-compliant improvement programmes
- Inventory management optimisation: FIFO, lead time reduction and buffer reduction
Common challenges in this sector
OEE remains consistently below target due to recurring faults
In many manufacturing companies, OEE is below the industry standard of 85%, yet it is unclear where the lost hours are actually occurring. Breakdowns are resolved but not analysed, meaning that the same problems keep recurring and production capacity is systematically underestimated.
Quality issues lead to product failures, repair work and customer complaints
Waste and rework are direct cost factors that erode profit margins. In the food industry, the consequences are even more severe: a quality incident can lead to product recalls and damage to a company’s reputation. Yet the root causes are rarely analysed systematically and addressed.
Stock levels are too high, but delivery reliability remains inadequate
High stock levels as a buffer against uncertainty, even though supply reliability is disappointing — a classic Lean problem. The buffers mask the real problems in the production process rather than solving them.
A Lean initiative has been launched, but results are not guaranteed
Many manufacturing companies have previously undertaken a Lean initiative with good initial results, but over time the improvements faded. The reason: standard work was not consistently followed, visual management became outdated, and there was no internal improvement programme to follow it up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Would you like to know what the ROI of Lean Six Sigma is for your production environment?
Request a Lean assessment.
