Improvement Model for the Production Area to increase Labor Productivity through Lean Manufacturing tools in a bakery company

Abstract

The global bakery industry faces persistent productivity challenges due to its high dependence on manual operations and limited technological adoption, creating substantial opportunities for process optimization. The company under study, dedicated to the production of healthy cookies made from Peruvian grains, exhibits a labor productivity of 1.46 kg/man-hour—less than half of the sector benchmark of 3 kg/man-hour—resulting in an annual economic impact of approximately 146817 USD. Key contributors to this gap include excessive setup time, prolonged cycle time, and a high defective rate. This research proposes an integrated process improvement model designed to enhance productivity in low-automation bakery environments. The model includes workplace organization through the 5S methodology, reconfiguration of preparation tasks supported by SMED principles to reduce setup time and Standardization through Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). Beyond operational improvements, the study contributes to engineering practice by demonstrating a quantitative framework for validating process changes through simulation, enabling data-driven decision‐making in resource‐constrained food manufacturing contexts. The findings show significant improvements: labor productivity increases by 105%, cycle and setup time decreases by 46% and 49% minutes respectively, and the defective rate drops by 86%. These results confirm that the proposed model is technically and economically viable and provide a scalable roadmap for productivity enhancement and evidence‐based engineering intervention in SME bakery enterprises.