Increasing productivity based on quality management: Baked goods sector example

This paper investigates productivity and quality management challenges in the food industry, illustrated by a case study of an SME-sized company in the Danish baked goods sector. Companies in the food industry are faced with challenges related to short shelf-life and changing customer demands as well as intense cost pressures. Quality control is largely manual and often based on the bakers’ intuition. Problems with reusing dough, production stops and quality issues contribute towards waste. This paper addresses the research question “Is there a relation between the dough, production stops, and quality control?”. The paper illustrates the effectiveness of the current quality set-up and examines the productivity challenges based on data from the case company, specifically production data from January to the summer of 2013. Significant suggestions for increasing productivity and reducing waste through improved quality management are detailed. The paper concludes with recommendations for further research.