Using DMAIC Methodology and Lean Manufacturing Tools in the Brewing Industry in Northwest Mexico to Increase Delivery Times and Sales

Abstract

An investigation was made in a brewery industry of the Ensenada city, Baja California, Mexico, located in the northwest of the Mexican Republic, to evaluate the percentage of punctuality in deliveries of different styles of craft beer, at various stages of the manufacturing lines. Currently, a low rate of 56.7% was presented, in the first six months of 2023, which represents a poor productive performance of the personnel and machinery in the manufacturing area and indicates that the established goals are not being met. This has caused delays both in internal areas of the evaluated company, as well as in delivery to the client, causing a decrease in sales and causing concern in the management, supervision and cost areas, due to the fact that an additional cost of $10,000 dollars was generated until March 2023, compared to the income projection if deliveries were timely. Based on this, the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) methodology was applied using lean manufacturing improvement tools to improve on-time delivery performance and thus minimize additional costs and increase production efficiency. This occurred once this methodology was applied, presenting an 89% rate of on-time delivery, and thus increasing sales.