Lean Across Borders

Lean across Borders A comparative analysis of lean management in two industries in two countries. Alexander Arroyo Pablo Alonso Nolin Sasaki 1 Executive Summary Thesis: Regardless of industry, location and size, businesses can find success when they make an effort to incorporate lean management in combination with thoughtful facility layouts and strict quality management. Companies Analyzed: 1. El Amigo, a local family mexican restaurant in Santa Clara California. Recently opened and has found great success in online reviews such as Yelp. 2. Recycling Us is a plastic recycling company who breaks down and cleans used plastic into raw material that can be reused for new plastic products. Based in Mexico City, it enjoys efficient and steady business. Course Sections Discussed: Examples for the discussed chapters; quality management, facility layout and lean management. 1. Facility layout: El Amigo's production facility is determined to be a mix of job shop and repetitive process. Their space efficient layout is designed in a way that enables productive work. Recycling Us's facility is cataloged as a repetitive process to handle large volumes. Its incorporation of specialized automation is key to reduce bottlenecks and smooth flowing production. 2. Quality management: El Amigo has a strict system of checks to insure the quality of their ingredients. They also have reached out to experts to train their staff. Recycling Us has several quality checkpoints to ensure the final product is meets their quality requirements. 3. Lean Management: El Amigo uses small lot sizes that allows supplies to be cooked and served quickly with little effort. It also has a strong sense of kaizen, to improve regardless of its current success. Recycling Us has incorporated a large focus on keeping inventory low, emphasis on housekeeping and keeping waste to a minimum. Key Takeaways: 1. Regardless of core business differences, lean management can be implemented effectively. 2. By emphasizing aspects of lean management in their businesses with a combination of efforts in improving facility layout and quality management, both businesses have built a strong foundation that encourages growth. 3. Several improvements can still be implemented such as continuing to improve the machines in Recycling Us and implementing more socially beneficial practices in El Amigo. 2 Introduction Most businesses fail. As pessimistic as that sounds, majority of new businesses do not have the knowledge, tools or resources to gain market traction and survive. For businesses to succeed in a competitive environment, they need to embrace solid operation management practices from an early age. Setting a strong foundation built upon lean management principles allows the business to grow and fulfill company goals. In this paper, we will focus on lean operations, facility layout and quality management. Lean operations allows businesses to be efficient and adaptable. Facility layout can help businesses support future infrastructure expansion. Strict quality management improves customer satisfaction and helps sustain demand. By building roots in these practices, a business can build roots in the market and gain competitive advantage. Although businesses across different industries may have different goals and backgrounds, lean management can help any business survive in the market, gain more market share, and fulfill the company mission. El Amigo Mexican Grill Business and Operations 6 months ago El Amigo Mexican Grill opened on the Alameda as a new Mexican sit down restaurant in Santa Clara. Catering towards families, they are able to differentiate from the nearby taquerias such as Vera Cruz Taqueria and Viva Taqueria. Already achieving a 4­star rating on Yelp, they have built a business model that has satisfied customers with quality dishes and quick service. Popular items include their tableside guacamole, both the amigo and vegetarian burritos, several dessert plates and tacos. However, their service has been the praised the most for being quick and friendly. In fact a classified “elite” online reviewer says “The service was probably the friendliest I have ever received from a Taqueria”. To determine how they are able to successfully provide quality dishes and efficient service we investigated their facility layout, quality management, and their efforts towards lean operations. Facility Layout Before discussing the layout design of the kitchen, we should first mention that El Amigo did not change building specifications from the previous restaurant. The El Amigo staff took the undersized kitchen and created a layout that made most efficient use of the small area. The kitchen is planned carefully to deliver their food onto the serving counter as efficiently as possible. For example, items that need to be grilled are stored under the grill in refrigerated compartments for quick preparation, a proven upgrade for improving restaurant process by the 1 British Food Journal ​. This also reduces the time and area that raw meats move. The quick transfer of raw meats to the grill greatly reduces the risks of contamination, especially from poultry. Grilled items then move to the steam table where other hot ingredients join the prepared Milena Flessas Vinicius Rizzardi Guilherme Luz Tortorella Diego Fettermann Giuliano A. Marodin , (2015),"Layout performance indicators and systematic planning", British Food Journal, Vol. 117 Iss 8 pp. 2098 ­ 2111 1 3 meats. These items include prepared beans and meats kept warm in individual compartments. Many of these items are cooked in bulk at the beginning of the day and kept warm throughout. Various dishes are kept under the steam table which allows cooked meats to move quickly through the rest of preparation. The dish then moves to the cold plate section where ingredients like lettuce are stored and join the dish. Compartments in the cold plate section are also chilled to maximize the life cycles of produce. This area is right next to the serving counter where waiters can quickly serve the finished dishes. The kitchen functions as a combination between job shop and repetitive processes. All orders are made to order and job shop process management allows for a variety of dishes to be made with the same inventory and equipment. Although the preparation for each dish may be different, they come from the same menu which allows for the cooks to use the same processes for each dish. The kitchen usually functions with two or three cooks which functions similarly to the Subway assembly line system. The product moves from station to station picking up ingredients as needed. Unlike Subway however, El Amigo has stationary employees and moves the product from one to the next when Subway moves the employee with each product through the line. The items on the menu are also generally similar in preparation techniques which allows easier cross­training of employees. Quality Management To insure that their customers enjoy their experience at El Amigo Mexican Grill, they must have customers enjoy their meal with the same consistent quality. Thus they have systemic checks to maintain the quality of their inventory and the final dishes. El Amigo purchases their ingredients at the nearby restaurant depot. The depot holds almost all locally grown produce thus the source is fresh and reliable. The owner of El Amigo purchases the ingredients bi­weekly and checks the state of the produce and meats personally. Once in the ingredients are back in restaurant, the manager does a second check of the ingredients and then stored in certified storing areas. When customers order a burrito for example, the chefs do a final check of the ingredients such as the rice, beans and meats. Furthermore, to prevent food poisoning and other possible liabilities the ingredients are prepared in designated areas. Meats like chicken, pork and beef are prepared on color coded cutting boards such as yellow, blue and red. The quality of service is also an essential aspect of El Amigo's business. To train the employees to be efficient and quick to respond to customer needs, El Amigo has recently brought on a manager with vast experience working at much larger and fast paced environments. Thanks to his training the El Amigo's service has been recommended repeatedly online by yelp reviewers and has become a key strength of the restaurant. Lean in El Amigo There are several aspects of lean operations such as product design, process design, personnel/organizational elements and elements of manufacturing planning and control El Amigo has implemented to be as efficient as possible with their resources. For product design El Amigo have menu items that share many similar ingredients, cutting down the amount of the inventory they must store and acquire. In process design, El Amigo has small lot sizes in the kitchen and storage area. Both are very close to each other and in many cases the ingredients are 4 stored in the kitchen itself. Thus all the ingredients necessary flow smoothly while being prepared. Their employees are crossed trained and are equipped to handle many responsibilities. Chefs are able to man different stations within the kitchen and waitresses serve customers from entry to exit. Regardless of the success they have achieved so far, El Amigo's manager is currently in the process of implementing a POS system to be able to automate inventory checks and forecast demand from historical data. This energy to improve strongly represents characteristics of Kaizen, a core concept of Lean management. Recycling Us Business and Operations Summary Recycling Us is a PET recycling plant located in the outskirts of Mexico City, the plant started operating back in September 2014. The plant buys plastic bottles and they separate the PET ones from the other types (HDP, PVC, etc). The PET bottles are shattered into small flakes with the use of mills. Then the flakes are washed to separate the cap pieces and the label pieces from the actual plastic flake. Then the lot is tested and graded depending on its quality. Then it is shipped to a client. Their mission is to deliver a product of quality that fulfills all of the clients’ requirements, through efficient production processes, innovative and profitable that generate welfare and personal development for all of its collaborators 2. The plant was built from the ground up based on this mission. Every aspect of the plant is made so that all of the goals are reached. Recycling Us also has the mission to have a positive impact in its community as the General Manager stated “I do not want Mexico City to drown on its own garbage, we had to do something about it” (Personal Interview). We decided to take a deeper look at their facility layout, quality management since they are aspects imbedded in the culture of Recycling Us as they strive to become a lean plant. Facility Layout The process of recycling PET can be cataloged as a repetitive process, it is high volume, there is only one product (hot washed plastic flake), worker tasks difficulties are not incredibly complex, however, there needs to be a fair amount of training. The equipment and machinery are specialised, especially the washing machine since it is purposefully built to wash plastic flakes. The best way to explain the layout of the plant would be to divide it in production lines. 1) Entrance and Reception 2 ​Aurelio Alonso. Business Plan Recycling Us. 5 2) 3) 4) 5) Selection Milling Washing Laboratory *Materials flow in a counterclockwise direction. Manual de Procedimientos Recycling Us.3 Label Translation: ­Bascula→ Scale ­Salida→ Exit ­Ingreso→ Entrance ­Prensa→ Press ­Silo→ Container ­Molido→ Milling ­Banda→ Transporting belt ­Tapanco→ Container/cage above the ground ­M1, M2→ Mill 1, Mill 2 ­Rampa→ Ramp ­Almacen→ Storage ­Polipasto→ Pulley system ­Agitador→ Agitator ­Alimentador→ Feeder ­Enjuague→ Wash ­Centrifuga→ Centrifugal Machine ­Secador→ Drier 3 ​Aurelio Alonso (2014, June). Manual de Procedimientos Recycling Us. 6 1) The truck with plastic bottles arrives to the property, it accesses it through door number 1 and then the truck is weighted in the scale fully loaded. Then the bottles are placed in the empty container from the two that make for the raw materials inventory. After having dumped all the material the truck is weighed again to get the weight of the bottles. Then the driver is paid with cash and he exits the plant through door number 2. 2) The first line is selection. The two containers holding up to 2 tons of plastic bottles connect to a transporting belt. This belt is similar to the ones found in supermarkets. The bottles are transported towards another container; however, on its way, workers separate the PET plastic bottles from the rest. The PET bottles are allowed to continue into the next container which sits 3 meters high above the ground and can hold up to 2.6 tons of plastic bottles. 3) The second line is milling. There are two operators and three mills, there are three so that the milling does not create a bottleneck. There are other two operators in the container that is above the mills. The PET plastic bottles are introduced to the mills via hoppers that have holes in the floor. The material falls with gravity and it is shredded in the mill. Below each of the three mills there is a sack placed that is filled up to 500kg of plastic flake. 4) After the milling process is completed the flakes are hot washed in the washing machine, there are two workers that supervise the flow of the flakes through the washing machine. At the end of the line there is a super sack that can hold up to 1 ton of hot washed PET flake. Then these super sacks are stocked for shipping. 5) There is a sample taken from each of the super sack. The samples are tested in order to classify each of the sacks by their quality. The clients expect the best quality in the washed flakes so in Recycling Us the standards for quality are high. There are a few issues with the layout of the plant, this layout problems come from it being a repetitive one. If something breaks in the washing machine the whole production comes to a halt. On the other hand if one mill fails there are two left so production will be slower but the plant will keep producing. Also, the washing machine is a very complex machine with different components. There are two main tanks and they are connected by other structures that help separating the label from the bottle using centrifuge force. There is another component that serves as a dryer. There are many components that could break down, hurting the production of Recycling Us. The solution would be to have a backup; however, the cost of a machine like this is extremely high. It would not be viable to have another machine unless the levels of production was to increase. The main objective for the layout of the plant was for the production to be as effective as possible. All the lines are placed in order to have a smooth flowing production. The materials are continuously moving through the line so that the bottles of plastic which could be cataloged as garbage do not stay in place for more than 24 hours, this making the plant much cleaner and effective. 7 Quality Management Quality is referred as “the ability of a product of service to consistently meet or exceed customer expectation.” Recycling Us has quality as one of the cornerstones for their business, it is absolutely vital for them to produce a high quality product. The quality of their product is measured depending the amount of wastes that can be found in the hot washed flakes. The more ppm of contaminants that are found the less pure and less usable the flake becomes. There are 4 categories A, B, C, and D. Category A is the norm in Recycling Us. There is a clear advantage in producing A quality flake, for one it is more usable, therefore more clients from different businesses would be willing to buy it. Moreover, the price for category A is higher than from any of the other lower categories. Parametros Recycling Us.4 Quality management in Recycling Us starts from the moment a tank truck comes full of water. The personnel have to evaluate the hydrometric level of the water and the level of PH. It is essential for the water to be right in order that the plastic flakes are washed correctly and in optimum conditions. If the conditions of the water are not correct a dose of chemicals are added to the water so that it can reach the optimum levels. Recycling Us also has a policy for receiving material (plastic bottles), if the truck that the provider sends has non plastic trash (e.g: fibers, carton, wood, metals, organic waste etc.) the 4 ​Aurelio Alonso (2014, July). Parametros Recycling Us. 8 plant will not pay the driver of that truck and will send the material back to the provider. This is in order to minimize any type of contaminants that may be already in the raw materials from the get go. The samples are not only taken at the end of the process, the laboratory personnel are also taking continuous samples from the mills every 30min. This is so that they can evaluate and be sure that the cuts and size of the flakes are correct. If the cuts are not within the size of the company’s standards the mill is shut down and readjustments are done to the industrial razors. The razors are also under constant observation, in order to evaluate their tear and wear. Every day in the morning the mill personnel make sure that the mills are correctly calibrated and that the razors are in good conditions. If the personnel are using the washing machine then the laboratory personnel will need to evaluate the PH of the water in each of the two main tanks, if the PH is not correct they will need to adjust it. This check up happens every 15 minutes. As the product comes out and it is stocked in the super sacks the laboratory personnel will have to take samples and evaluate the amount of contaminants that each super sack has, then they will give a grade (A, B, C, or D) and a lot number to the super sack. In an interview with the general manager of Recycling Us, he told us that the quality management was done using Six Sigma. He referred to it as the means to reach a lean operation. He explained it with a metaphor “imagine that lean is a horse and six sigma is a bird, the bird has an excellent view of the whole land and with that vision it can lead the horse through the right path.” (Aurelio Alonso). Six sigma is basically defect rates. Six sigma programs employ concrete philosophical and statistical control best­practice methods to improve quality, reduced costs, and better align a firm’s processes with its strategy. Based on this principle Recycling Us aims to become a leaner operation. Looking at the strict quality control system that the company has in place since the moment any kind of input is taken inside the plant and the rigorous standards for the amount of contaminants in its product, to the effective layout of the plant so that trash is minimized and the processes get completed in a smooth and continuous flow, Recycling Us strives to become one of the most lean operations in its sector in Mexico City. Lean in Recycling Us To have a lean operation means for the processes of production to flow smooth and balanced to meet customer demand. The plant has many aspects that try to achieve a lean operation. There is not much about product design since the product is always the same and there is only one. As for process design Recycling Us uses small lot sizes (500kg of plastic flakes), this makes it easy to keep track of the levels of production and also to have a good control of the quality that it is being achieved. Moreover, the plant is a balanced system, the workloads are relatively balance between production lines. Having two main containers for raw materials and the second “cage” like container for only the PET bottles, in addition with having three mills, helps that even if there is a bottleneck the previous lines can keep working at normal speeds. This makes for a 9 balanced and efficient layout. In Recycling Us one of the most important ideas is the one of having all the material in continuous movement. The general manager told us that the moment he leaves material still for a while, since it is basically garbage, that could bring multiple problems. The idea of minimal inventory is essential for Recycling Us and their philosophy to have the plant as clean as possible. Workers in Recycling Us are treated in the best way possible, the company recognizes that their work is what ultimately drives the whole business and they reflect it in the way they are treated. The culture of mutual respect across all position is key according to Recycling Us’s general manager. All the personnel that work with the mills and the washing machine are trained to perform both jobs in case of absenteeism or other circumstances. This gives them more flexibility and assures production to continue. Since the plant opened back in September of 2014, the amount produced has been increasing. The goal today is to produce 60 tons per month. This according to the general manager is what the plant as it stands right now is capable of producing. The idea would be have that output constant for months to come. Another big aspect that makes Recycling Us a leaner operation is the idea of PM and Housekeeping, to eliminate trash you have to get your hands dirt. This happens throughout all levels of the company, it is not a strange sight to see the general management sweeping the floor of the plant, picking up bottles or painting walls. The idea of having the workstations clean before starting to work and after work is done is very emphasized. Every month there is a day called “Dignified Plant,” it consists in that all the workers have to re paint every inch of the plant to make it look as new. The floors are swept and everything is pressure washed. This practice makes the workers care for the environment they work in and the plant looks clean and sharp. One aspect of the layout that was innovative and also helps with the idea of waste reduction is the two bin system for the raw materials. What most recycle plants do is that they have their bottles in the floor and they are picked up manually and separated. Having garbage on the floor can create many problems, for example, flies, rats, bad smells, etc. Having two containers, as the name suggest, contains the trash and does not let it touch the ground. This also helps with the idea of moving all the raw materials in inventory within 24 hours so that there is no more waste produced. As for the bottles that do not qualify to be chopped and hot washed they are sent to a hydraulic press that makes them into cubes for ease of transporting and handling. These type of plastic bottles are then thrown to the garbage (the ones that do not have use), and the ones that do are sold to a respective company which specializes in that kind of plastic. Comparison/Contrast Both Recycling Us and El Amigo are relatively young businesses. The future looks positive for both companies as well because they have already implemented strong lean management practices in everyday operations. 10 Since we studied both companies with respect to lean management practices, we should be able to compare and contrast the two companies by looking at each building block of lean management. These blocks include: product design, process design, personnel/organizational elements and elements of manufacturing planning and control. Regarding product design, the recycling plant was difficult to analyze because the end product was mostly a service. The recycling plant uses high­capability processes and concurrent engineering to ensure constant and high quality production. The plant uses the most efficient and reliable machines in the process to minimize breakdowns. Quality control is integral in each stage of production and if the machines detect a level of contaminants that is too high, the line stops. The plant for now only has one production line from start to finish. If a single part breaks down mid­production, the entire line must stop. Management does understand that this is extremely risky and unsustainable and plans to add more production lines as machines become affordable. The initial facility layout accounted for this plan and allows space for one or two more production lines. The plant also uses a sort of concurrent engineering with respect to employees. All employees at the plan are competent in even the most complex tasks like repairing broken machines. This allows for the most efficient allocation of employees. Most employees will be working in the sorting section, but any of them can break off and work where needed. This can reduce bottlenecks and eliminate the threat of production line stoppage. The plant does not use modular designs because mass customization is not necessary for the end product. Standardized parts is a part of the nature of the business so we did not consider it a tool for lean manufacturing. In the context of product design, the restaurant uses all four building blocks. The restaurant only needs to buy ingredients necessary for the dishes on the menu. Many of the dishes on the menu use similar ingredients which helps minimize the number of different items to order from suppliers. This contrasts the recycling plant because the plant receives bottles in consistently sized orders but with different order intervals. Modular designs were not as obviously implemented in the process but as we follows our orders through the production line, we could see how the tool applied. As some parts of the dish were on the grill, the rest of the ingredients were put together ahead of time. For example, the lettuce, tomatoes and peppers were assembled together in the cold plate section before the hot plate section finished. This allows the dishes to flow from the hot plate section to the service counter quickly as soon as ingredients completed cooking. High­capability processes in the restaurant comes down to the employees. If one stage of production fails to meet quality standards, of the customer, the product must move through the entire line again. In order to decrease these occurrences, each employee handles quality management at each step of production. This differs from the recycling plant, which has quality management built into the machines themselves. Similar to the recycling plant however, the kitchen at the restaurant only has one production line so if hardware breaks down the entire line stops. The machinery used in the restaurant does not break down easily as long as the area is clean. Employees generally clean their stations after each preparation. This limits the likelihood of out of control breakdowns. El Amigo shares similar characteristics with the Recycling Us with respect to concurrent engineering. The employees at the restaurant, especially within just the kitchen, can handle any station at any given time. This allows employees to move and relieve bottlenecks. However, in 11 the kitchen the main bottleneck is cooking time which does not decrease with employee allocation. In terms of process design, the recycling plant uses four of the eight tools. First of all, the lot size is as small as possible which allows for future production lines as we discussed earlier. The small lot size also reduces the distance that bottles need to move within the facility. When the bottles do need to travel, a conveyor belt system moves large volumes at quick rates which reduces effective lot size. The plant uses manufacturing cells as well. As of now, the plant only has one cell in the form of one production line. When more production lines are introduced, they will not cross over with each other at any point. This ensures production continuity even if one production line goes down for maintenance. Production volume could increase greatly with the addition of another line. The bottleneck would move from the machines to hand­sorting. An increase in labor should easily relieve this issue. Automation of the production line balances the system. By eliminating variation in production at each stage with automation, bottlenecking essentially only occurs with hand­sorting. Unfortunately, once the line is calibrated to itself, ramping up production takes a while to implement. The production line also uses a form of mizusumashi to move bottles to their respective stations. First of all, hand­sorting separates bottles, then the conveyor belt system acts as the water spider and takes the bottles to where they are needed. This allows the sorters to focus on sorting and reduce bottle travel time. Lastly the recycling plant uses minimal inventory. Luckily the plant has multiple suppliers that almost always have inventory to send. The holding area for bottles does not hold too many truckloads of inventory which relieves strain on the sorters. The plant can hold minimal inventory with the use of the two­bin system. Sorters never feel overwhelmed but inventory never runs out. The two­bin system also protects against variation in suppliers. The restaurant also uses four of the eight process design building blocks. The restaurant shares small lot sizes, balanced systems and minimal inventory with the recycling plant. As we discussed, El Amigo inherited the facility from the previous restaurant which came with a small kitchen. This allows for production to move smoothly from one station to the next. Unfortunately, the small lot size does not allow the restaurant to increase production much. The small lot size does allow for strong production flexibility. For example, if the restaurant gets a sudden influx of orders, the kitchen can quickly increase production to a certain point. The cross­training of employees also allows for some to work in both the kitchen and main area. This can help relieve strain on waiters during rush hours. El Amigo uses a bucket brigade system in the kitchen. As orders move through stations, employees move backward in the progression of a dish to eliminate stagnant time. This ensures the quickest possible production. The restaurant industry benefits strongly from the use of mizusumashi. Waiters move orders and requests from customers back to the kitchen and move dishes from service window to the tables. Finally, the restaurant also uses minimal inventory like the recycling plant. The restaurant industry generally benefits greatly from minimal inventory relative to other industries. Even with refrigeration, inventory cannot be held for long periods of time. Luckily El Amigo has reliable, local suppliers that can deliver every couple days. Both the restaurant and recycling plant use all five personnel and organizational building blocks. These include: workers treated as assets, cross­training workers, continuous 12 improvement, cost accounting systems, and project­based leadership. The five blocks build a strong foundation of employees and management that allow for future growth. The plant and restaurant for the most part also use all seven elements of manufacturing planning and control. These include: Heijunka, pull systems, visual control systems, and limited WIP. The exception is that the restaurant does not implement Heijunka. The idea behind Heijunka is to produce the same from day to day and within each day. This is not realistic for the restaurant because production should depend solely on demand as all dishes are made to order. Suggestions Both businesses of interest have relatively small lot sizes. However, the recycling plant chose to reduce lot size in the planning stage in order to allow for future production lines. The restaurant adopted the small lot size, regarding the kitchen, from the the previous restaurant. This makes it difficult to expand production without sacrificing customer areas or large sums of capital. For Recycling Us, we suggest gradual purchasing and implementation of new machines. By purchasing new machines gradually, initial investments should remain minimal while still pushing production increases5. The newly purchased machines can help relieve strain on existing machines and reduce bottlenecks. Eventually, enough machines will be purchased to form an entirely new production line. El Amigo has a harder decision to make in order to tackle the scaling problem. First, all of the effective space in the kitchen has permanent and necessary equipment. We suggest creating more storage space on the walls of the kitchen. This storage can hold plates, non­perishable ingredients etc. This would reduce the density of storage underneath and around working areas which can improve safety and quality as well as allow for some future growth. Another suggestion is to expand the kitchen backwards. As of now, the restaurant is not directly attached to another building and facility expansion is possible. Unfortunately, this would require a significant amount of capital and would be a long­term investment. The restaurant, with foundation in lean management principles, can now start to focus on social responsibility. The restaurant industry is extremely competitive and businesses have to cut costs in any way they can. Sometimes this requires using suppliers who do not necessarily emphasize sustainability and ethical responsibility in everyday practices6. Now that the restaurant has gained market traction and makes profit, it can focus on finding more responsible suppliers without as much risk of losing necessary capital. El Amiga can also start a food reclamation system where they donate the leftover food that it cannot sell to customers. With L., Arauzo­Azofra, A., Salas­Morera, L., Pierreval, H., & Corchado, E. (n.d). Recyling Plants Layout Design by Means of an Interactive Genetic Alogrithm. ​Intelligent Automation And Soft Computing​, ​19​(3), 457­468. 6 ​Stukin, S. (2007). THE LEAN, green KITCHEN. ​Vegetarian Times​, (352), 51­56. 5 ​Garcia­Hernandez, 13 orders every couple days, the restaurant can donate any food they have left over and create even more consistent order intervals and quantities. Conclusion Both businesses have built a strong foundation in lean principles that should allow for strong growth, increasing market traction and consistent demand. They followed the building blocks of lean production when possible and can now take steps to expand and feel confident to satisfy unexpected increases in demand. Although we have suggested improvements for both businesses, they most likely will be capital intensive and require long­term financial planning to make the changes. Fortunately for Recycling Us, the infrastructure allows for growth. El Amigo does not have such advantage and choosing to sustain current operations may be the best long­term approach. At this point, both businesses should feel confident they can survive in their respective markets with current operations. If desired, they can now start to shift business practices to better fulfill their company mission. Of course, they should never forget their roots in lean management and should always strive to improve them. 14 Bibliography 1. 2. 3. 4. Aurelio Alonso. Business Plan Recycling Us. Aurelio Alonso (2014, June). Manual de Procedimientos Recycling Us. Aurelio Alonso (2014, July). Parametros Recycling Us. Garcia­Hernandez, L., Arauzo­Azofra, A., Salas­Morera, L., Pierreval, H., & Corchado, E. (n.d). RECYCLING PLANTS LAYOUT DESIGN BY MEANS OF AN INTERACTIVE GENETIC ALGORITHM. ​Intelligent Automation And Soft Computing​, 19​(3), 457­468. 5. Milena Flessas Vinicius Rizzardi Guilherme Luz Tortorella Diego Fettermann Giuliano A. Marodin , (2015),"Layout performance indicators and systematic planning", British Food Journal, Vol. 117 Iss 8 pp. 2098 ­ 2111 6. Stukin, S. (2007). THE LEAN, green KITCHEN. ​Vegetarian Times​, (352), 51­56.