Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Identifying Muda in a fast food service process in Spain

Identifying Muda in a fast food service process in Spain Identification and elimination of Muda (any activity adding cost but not value from the customers’ perspective) is one of the main objectives of Lean service. Whilst there is significant research on implementing lean in manufacturing and some service industries, there is little information related to its application to the fast food service industry. The purpose of this paper is to try to fill in this gap by answering the research question: What type of Muda could be identified from the customers’ perspective within the service production processes in the fast food restaurant industry in Spain?Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory case study has been conducted. Three multinational companies were selected and several sites observed in Madrid, Spain. Three methods were used to gather data: document analysis; direct and participative observation and semi-structured interviews.FindingsThe paper identifies the seven types of Muda: defects, movements, process, inventory, overproduction, transport and delay. The results are discussed for Cases A, B and C, showing that A and B present higher potential for Muda, compared C.Practical implicationsThreefold value for practitioners and managers: waste identification is an opportunity for non-efficient processes improvement; observation/analysis from the customers’ perspective reveals that customers perceive these inefficiencies; a guideline/audit tool for future assessments.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the limited existing literature on lean service in fast food industry and disseminates this information to provide impetus, guidance and support toward increasing the productivity, efficiency, consistency and quality of service. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences Emerald Publishing

Identifying Muda in a fast food service process in Spain

Download PDF
26 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/identifying-muda-in-a-fast-food-service-process-in-spain-T0ranCJRRp
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
1756-669X
DOI
10.1108/ijqss-10-2019-0116
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Identification and elimination of Muda (any activity adding cost but not value from the customers’ perspective) is one of the main objectives of Lean service. Whilst there is significant research on implementing lean in manufacturing and some service industries, there is little information related to its application to the fast food service industry. The purpose of this paper is to try to fill in this gap by answering the research question: What type of Muda could be identified from the customers’ perspective within the service production processes in the fast food restaurant industry in Spain?Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory case study has been conducted. Three multinational companies were selected and several sites observed in Madrid, Spain. Three methods were used to gather data: document analysis; direct and participative observation and semi-structured interviews.FindingsThe paper identifies the seven types of Muda: defects, movements, process, inventory, overproduction, transport and delay. The results are discussed for Cases A, B and C, showing that A and B present higher potential for Muda, compared C.Practical implicationsThreefold value for practitioners and managers: waste identification is an opportunity for non-efficient processes improvement; observation/analysis from the customers’ perspective reveals that customers perceive these inefficiencies; a guideline/audit tool for future assessments.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the limited existing literature on lean service in fast food industry and disseminates this information to provide impetus, guidance and support toward increasing the productivity, efficiency, consistency and quality of service.

Journal

International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jun 12, 2020

Keywords: Service; Lean; Waste; Fast food; Muda; Continuous improvement; Process

References

  • Glean lean: how to use lean approach in service industries?
    Abdi, F.; Khalili Shavarini, S.; Seyed Hoseini, S.M.
  • Review on just in time techniques in manufacturing systems
    Agrawal, N.
  • Lean service operations: translating lean production principles to service operations
    Ahlstrom, P.
  • Shifting to lean service: stealing a page from manufacturers’ playbooks
    Allway, M.; Corbett, S.
  • Waste identification and elimination in HEIs: the role of lean thinking
    Ann Douglas, J.; Antony, J.; Douglas, J.
  • Sustainable waste management in the food and drink industry
    Bates, M.; Phillips, P.
  • Managing our way to higher service-sector productivity
    Biema, M.V.; Greenwald, B.
  • Lean” service: in defense of a production-line approach
    Bowen, D.E.; Youngdahl, W.E.
  • Design of a rapid response and high efficiency service by lean production principles: methodology and evaluation of variability of performance
    Cuatrecasas, L.
  • Increasing competitiveness of service companies: Developing conceptual models for implementing lean management in service companies
    Damrath, F.
  • Waste identification diagram and value stream mapping: a comparative analysis
    Dinis-Carvalho, J.; Guimaraes, L.; Sousa, R.M.; Leao, C.P.
  • Complementary strengths
    Duffy, G.L.; Wong, A.K.
  • Building theories from case study research
    Eisenhardt, K.M.
  • Better thinking
    Emiliani, M.L.; Stec, D.; Grasso, L.; Stodder, J.
  • New-product development in food service: a structured approach
    Feltenstein, T.
  • Embracing the five lean principles
    Godsell, J.
  • Part I: the culinary innovation process, a barrier to imitation
    Harrington, R.J.
  • Lean six sigma in healthcare
    Koning, H.; Verver, J.P.; Heuvel, J.; Bisgaard, S.; Does, R.J.
  • Asociación española de franquiciadores
  • Production-line approach to service
    Levitt, T.
  • The industrialization of service
    Levitt, T.
  • Lean principles in IT services: a case study on implementation and best practices
    Malladi, S.; Dominic, P.; Kamil, A.
  • Consumer perceptions of quick service restaurants
    Mason, K.; Jones, S.; Benefield, M.; Walton, J.
  • The product innovation process of quick‐service restaurant chains
    Ottenbacher, M.C.; Harrington, R.J.
  • What is a processual analysis?
    Pettigrew, A.M.
  • An evaluation of fast food restaurant satisfaction
    Pettijohn, L.S.; Pettijohn, C.E.; Luke, R.H.
  • Lean transformation in the pure service environment: the case of the call service centre
    Piercy, N.; Rich, N.
  • Assessing lean adoption in food SMEs: evidence from Greece
    Psomas, E.; Antony, J.; Bouranta, N.
  • Benchmarking leagility in mass services: the case of a fast food restaurant chains in Iran
    Rahimnia, F.; Moghadasian, M.; Castka, P.
  • SimLean: utilizing simulation in the implementation of lean in healthcare
    Robinson, S.; Radnor, Z.J.; Burgess, N.; Worthington, C.
  • Quantifying and ranking the ‘7-Deadly’ wastes in a warehouse environment
    Salhieh, L.; Altarazi, S.; Abushaikha, I.
  • A systematic literature review of lean six sigma in different industries
    Sreedharan, V.R.; Raju, R.
  • In search of ‘muda’ through the TKJ diagram
    Suárez-Barraza, M.F.; Dahlgaard-Park, S.M.; Rodríguez-González, F.G.; Durán-Arechiga, C.
  • Implementation of Lean-Kaizen in the human resource service process: a case study in a mexican public service organization
    Suárez-Barraza, M.F.; Ramis-Pujol, J.
  • Lean service: a literature analysis and classification
    Suárez-Barraza, M.F.; Smith, T.; Dahlgaard-Park, S.M.
  • A morphological analysis of research literature on lean six sigma for services
    Sunder, M.V.; Ganesh, L.S.; Marathe, R.R.
  • Why are we still underperforming?
    Toussaint, J.
  • Applying lean thinking in the food supply chains: a case study
    Vlachos, I.
  • Case research in operations management
    Voss, C.; Sikriktsis, N.; Frohlic, M.
  • Improving the 1040 process by applying lean principles: a case study
    Walters, L.; Nickerson, M.; Hall, L.
  • Lean in healthcare from employees’ perspectives
    Drotz, E.; Poksinska, B.