Eliminating Transportation Waste in Food Distribution: A Case Study

This article describes how to identify and reduce waste in transporting refrigerated food. The authors describe the origins of lean manufacturing in which there is continuous improvement in the elimination of waste, the description of a waste reduction scheme, and implementation and results as it relates to the distribution of frozen goods of a Mexican food company. Among the areas cited for inefficiency or wastefulness were a high average container waiting time at the plant; low capacity utilization, high vehicle waiting time for unloading at regional distribution centers; and, a high use of transportation outsourcing due to low vehicle time and capacity utilization. Suggested strategies for improvement include: reassigning excess vehicles to zones currently using outsourcing; improving the unloading process to reduce container waiting time at plants; and collaboration with other firms to increase capacity utilization.