Status of lean manufacturing in Philippine small bakery enterprises in Manila City

• Main Authors: Espiritu, Angeline G., Lopez, Raemond Rayen S., Shin, Jungwoon, Victoriano, Beatrice Ann S.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2014
• Subjects: Lean manufacturing—Philippines—Manila; Bakeries—Philippines—Manila; Business Administration, Management, and Operations
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/18592; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etd_bachelors/article/19105/viewcontent/Status_of_Lean_Manufacturing_in_Philippine_Small_Bakery2.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

There is a lack of study on lean manufacturing in the Philippine setting. Given the importance of lean in reducing waste and creating added value, the researchers were prompted to look into small bakeries in Manila City considering their presence in many areas and the fact that many risks are involved in their operations with the aim of still being profitable. For this reason, the researchers decided to determine the status of lean manufacturing in Philippine small-scale bakery enterprises in Manila City. This is supported by the successful research that determines the stage of maturity and the level of performance of lean manufacturing in Philippine small bakeries in Manila and the establishment of whether there is a significant association between these two. To better understand the status of lean manufacturing in small bakeries in Manila, the researchers distributed surveys comprising of two parts: a self-assessment survey lifted entirely from the Boston Consulting Group (2010) to determine which among the 4 stages of maturity small bakeries in Manila belong to and a performance assessment survey inspired by the study of Viswanathan and Littlefield (2009) which served as a guide in assessing their performance levels in terms of process, organization, knowledge, technology, and performance. The standards of each element were based on the standards taken from the United Nations. The results of the survey determined that small bakeries in Manila City are at stage 3 of maturity in lean manufacturing in a scale of 4 stages, which means that they are continuously finding ways to produce more using less materials, having 6 less costs, and having zero waste. For level of performance, they are at level 4 or the highest level, which connotes that bakeries conform to the standards or criteria that are expected of them to follow. Furthermore, whether the link between lean manufacturing maturity stage and level of performance exists or not has been proven using the linear regression analysis. Small bakeries have shown that there is a link between the two, meaning that a higher stage of maturity translates to a higher level of performance. Taking into account the situation among micro bakeries however, shows that there is no link between stage of maturity and level of performance. The results of this study have proven that because small bakeries have the potential to grow further, the researchers encourage the creation of a regulating body for bakeries in the Philippines to promote and improve these firms. Training provided by the Department of Trade an Industry and government agencies might prove to be a crucial factor to further promote the growth of small enterprises. Being a relatively new study in the Philippines, it may serve as a guideline to future research on lean manufacturing locally. This could be used to transform lean practices of large enterprises to fit for small enterprises.