industrial engineering in salad agriculture

BUSINESS PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING

AT WATERFALL FARM IN

KWAZULU NATAL

by

LUZAHN VISAGIE 29051879

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

BACHELORS OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

at the

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA

SUPERVISOR: E. VAN WYK

November 2013

ii

Executive Summary

WATERFALL grows a variety of lettuces and herbs for distributors in KZN. The quality,

effectiveness and efficiency of the operation can only be managed through the consistent

execution of the business and management processes.

The As-Is business and management processes at WATERFALL were neither efficient nor

consistent because of the lack of process documentation. There was no awareness of Lean

manufacturing and the importance of mapped processes.

The As-Is processes were mapped and compared to best practises in the industry. There

were a range of potential improvements identified. WATERFALL was provided with all the

As-Is process maps and the potential improvements.

The business had a trial period to test the potential improvements specified. The

improvements led to higher profits, increase the productivity on the farm and also shorten

the cycle time. Once the improvements were implemented WATERFALL delivered better

product quality.

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary .................................................................................................................... ii

Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................... iii

List of figures ............................................................................................................................. vi

List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. vi

CHAPTER 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background .................................................................................................................. 1

1.1.1 The Production ..................................................................................................... 1

1.1.2 The Client basis .................................................................................................... 2

1.1.3 The Labour utilisation .......................................................................................... 2

1.1.4 Conventional vs. Sustainable farming....................................................................... 2

1.2 Problem Statement .......................................................................................................... 2

1.2.1 No processes are currently documented. ................................................................ 3

1.2.2 Current processes are not efficient .......................................................................... 3

............................................................................................................................................ 3

1.2.3 No awareness of the importance of mapped processes. ......................................... 3

1.2.4 No exposure to Lean thinking. .................................................................................. 3

1.3 Project Aim ....................................................................................................................... 4

Objectives: ......................................................................................................................... 4

1.4 Project Scope ................................................................................................................... 4

1.5 Research design and deliverables .................................................................................... 5

1.6 General Project Activities and Deliverables ..................................................................... 5

1.7 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 6

CHAPTER 2: Literature Review ................................................................................................... 7

2.1 Why Industrial Engineering is necessary in Agriculture .................................................. 7

2.1.1 Definitions ................................................................................................................. 7

2.1.2 The need for Industrial Engineering in South-Africa’s Agriculture ........................... 8

2.1.3 What an Industrial engineer achieved in an Agriculture environment .................. 12

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2.1.4 To summarise, the need for Industrial Engineering in Agriculture ........................ 13

2.2 Business Process Re-engineering ................................................................................... 14

2.2.1 What is Business Process Re-engineering .............................................................. 14

2.2.2 Where BPR started:................................................................................................. 15

2.2.3 Methodology of a BPR. ........................................................................................... 15

2.2.4 Human Factors in BPR ............................................................................................. 19

2.2.5 Expected Results and Benefits of BPR .................................................................... 19

2.2.6 BPR Summary .......................................................................................................... 20

2.3 Lean Manufacturing ....................................................................................................... 21

2.3.1 What is lean?........................................................................................................... 21

2.3.2 Where does lean come from? ................................................................................ 21

2.3.3 The seven types of waste ........................................................................................ 22

2.3.4 The implementation and transformation to a lean process................................... 24

2.3.5 The three stages of lean.......................................................................................... 24

2.3.6 Lean Manufacturing Tools and Techniques ............................................................ 24

2.3.7 Lean Manufacturing Summary ............................................................................... 25

2.4 Conclusion on the Literature Review ............................................................................. 26

CHAPTER 3: Re-engineering Preparation (Step 1) ................................................................... 27

3.1 The expectations of the customer ................................................................................. 27

3.2 WATERFALL’s Visions and Mission statements ............................................................. 28

3.3 The Processes that will be investigated will include: .................................................... 28

3.4 Culture Change Program ................................................................................................ 29

3.5 The 3 Main groups of lettuce ......................................................................................... 29

3.5.1 Group A: Crisp Lettuce ....................................................................................... 30

3.5.2 Group B: Exotic Lettuce .......................................................................................... 30

3.5.3 Group C: Baby Leaves ............................................................................................. 31

3.6 Preparation Conclusion ............................................................................................. 32

CHAPTER 4: Document and Analyse the As-Is Processes (Step 2) .......................................... 33

4.1 Group A: Crisp Lettuce .............................................................................................. 33

4.2 Group B: Exotic Lettuce ............................................................................................. 37

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4.3 Group C: Baby Leaves ................................................................................................ 41

4.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 44

CHAPTER 5: Design the To-Be Processes (Step 3) .................................................................... 45

5.1 Change in the Soil Preparation phase ............................................................................ 45

5.2 To-Be process for Crisp Lettuce ..................................................................................... 47

5.3 The hole punching method ............................................................................................ 49

5.4 Re-engineered processes conclusion ............................................................................. 50

CHAPTER 6: Implementation and Future Improvements ........................................................ 51

CHAPTER 7: Lean Awareness Plan ...................................................................................... 52

7.1 Understanding Lean at WATERFALL: ............................................................................. 52

7.2 Future Work: Lean Manufacturing Tools and Techniques ............................................ 54

7.3 The Culture Change Program: ........................................................................................ 55

7.4 To summarise the Lean Awareness plan ....................................................................... 57

CHAPTER 8: Conclusion and Future work ................................................................................ 59

References ............................................................................................................................... 61

Appendix A: Project Plan.......................................................................................................... 64

Site Visits .............................................................................................................................. 64

Appointments with Sponsor and Project Leader ................................................................. 64

Resources ............................................................................................................................. 64

Primary Resource ............................................................................................................. 64

Industrial Sponsor ............................................................................................................ 64

Project Leader .................................................................................................................. 65

Other Resources ............................................................................................................... 65

Budget .................................................................................................................................. 65

Appendix B: Project Plan in form of a Gantt chart. ................................................................ 66

Appendix C: Complete To-Be Processes ................................................................................. 67

Group A: Crisp Lettuce ......................................................................................................... 67

Group B: Exotic Lettuce ....................................................................................................... 68

Group C: Baby Leaves .......................................................................................................... 69

Appendix D: Detailed design of planting tool ......................................................................... 70

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List of figures

Figure 1 Agricultural regions of South Africa ............................................................................. 8

Figure 2 Surface water withdraw ............................................................................................. 10

Figure 3 SA exports by volume ................................................................................................ 11

Figure 4 Number of farm workers in SA .................................................................................. 12

Figure 5 The 5 step methodology ............................................................................................ 17

Figure 6 The Seven Wastes of Lean ......................................................................................... 22

Figure 7 Iceberg Lettuce .......................................................................................................... 30

Figure 8 Cos Lettuce ................................................................................................................. 30

Figure 9 Butter Lettuce ............................................................................................................ 30

Figure 10 Frilly Salad ................................................................................................................ 31

Figure 11 Oak Lettuce .............................................................................................................. 31

Figure 12 Baby Spinach ............................................................................................................ 31

Figure 13 Rocket Leaves ........................................................................................................... 31

Figure 14 Mizuna ..................................................................................................................... 32

Figure 15 Crisp Lettuce As-Is Process....................................................................................... 33

Figure 16 Exotic Lettuce As-Is process ..................................................................................... 37

Figure 17 Baby Leaves As-Is Process ........................................................................................ 41

Figure 18 As-Is Soil Preparation Process .................................................................................. 45

Figure 19 To-be Soil Preparation Process ................................................................................ 45

Figure 20 As-Is bed shaping process ........................................................................................ 47

Figure 21 To-Be bed shaping process ...................................................................................... 48

Figure 22 Tool operated by one or two persons ..................................................................... 50

List of Tables

Table 1: The variety of lettuces and herbs produced at WATERFALL ....................................... 1

Table 2 The responsibilities of the workers. .............................................................................. 2

Table 3: The key activities and possible deliverables ................................................................ 5

Table 4 Five different methods for BPR ................................................................................... 16

Table 5: The 7 wastes ............................................................................................................... 23

Table 6 Word translation. ........................................................................................................ 55

Table 7: Planned site visit dates. ............................................................................................. 64

Table 8: Estimated Project Budget .......................................................................................... 65

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CHAPTER 1: Introduction

This section introduces the report by providing a brief background of the Company’s

business and motivating the necessity of the project.

1.1 Background

1.1.1 The Production

WATERFALL is a 33ha start-up, situated in Middelrus, close to Mooiriver, KZN. The farm

produces a variety of lettuces and different herbs, as listed in Table 1, for distributors in

KwaZulu Natal. The farm plants approximately 18 500 units per week of which 6 000 units

are Tropical Emperor (also known as Iceberg Lettuce). The remaining 12 500 units are

divided into a 70-30 split of green and red exotic lettuce. The growing period of the crisp

plants are up to eight weeks and of the exotic plants only six weeks.

WATERFALL does not currently have any specific area available for seedlings, but the farm is

busy preparing an area for growing and transplanting their own seedlings. The seedling

growing process takes up to five weeks.

WATERFALL has an opportunity to double its production levels after April 2013. Thus the

exotic planting quantity will reach 25 000 plants per week and the planting quantity of the

Tropical Emperor will reach up to 18 000 plants per week. The following are the variety of

lettuces produced at WATERFALL:

Table 1: The variety of lettuces and herbs produced at WATERFALL

Lettuce Varieties Herbs and Baby leave Varieties

Iceberg Lettuce Baby Spinach

Cos Lettuce Rocket

Butter Lettuce Mizuna

Red Oak

Green Oak

Green Frilly

Dark Green Frilly

Red Frilly

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1.1.2 The Client basis

Currently WATERFALL only supplies lettuces and baby leaf products to one main company;

Littlemore Farm, who is responsible for the processing and packaging of the lettuces. Due to

Littlemore farm’s high demand, WATERFALL is unable to supply lettuces to other clients.

Littlemore farm supplies lettuces for various chain supermarkets.

1.1.3 The Labour utilisation

At this stage WATERFALL can only afford to employ 10 workers; of which eight of the

workers are female and two of them male workers. A member of the family volunteered to

convert the farm into a winning business. The following table (Table 2) will explain what

responsibilities each employee has.

Table 2 The responsibilities of the workers.

The Worker Responsibilities

Manager-Family member Operations Manager

Land Preparation

Cultivation

Transportation

Male Workers (2) Transportation

Mixing of chemicals

Female Workers(8) Plantation

Harvesting

1.1.4 Conventional vs. Sustainable farming

WATERFALL strives to be a sustainable farming operation that applies sustainable farming

practices. At this stage, WATERFALL is probably a combination of conventional and

sustainable farming, as they are still in the early stages, and no processes or practices have

been mapped.

1.2 Problem Statement

The quality, effectiveness and efficiency of an operation can only be managed through the

consistent execution of the business and management processes. The following factors will

be considered in this project.

3

1.2.1 No processes are currently documented.

WATERFALL does not have any of its existing processes documented. If a business wants its

product quality to be consistent, it needs to have a specific process to follow. By

documenting all the processes, it will increase the quality and effectiveness of the business.

Another reason why a business should map all its processes is, to identify opportunities to

become more efficient.

1.2.2 Current processes are not efficient

.

The current business and management processes at WATERFALL are neither efficient nor

consistent because of the lack of process documentation. According to Gerke & Associates

Inc, the main reason why businesses fail in mapping their processes is because management

believes that everybody in the organisation understands the processes perfectly (Gerke &

Associates, 2009).

1.2.3 No awareness of the importance of mapped processes.

Neither the management nor the employees at WATERFALL are aware of the importance of

mapped processes. According to Martine (2009), it is important to map your processes as

all businesses would like to be successful. It is also essential to keep all processes updated

from the top to the bottom. If everyone in the organisation understands all the processes

connected to them, the business will have a better chance for success in the long-term

(Martine, 2009). According to ISO 9001, the idea of mapping all business processes is to

reduce the variation in the product quality.

1.2.4 No exposure to Lean thinking.

At WATERFALL there is no Lean awareness, thus there is no form of Lean implemented on

the farm. According to T. Melton (2005) the term ‘Lean’ defines a production process that

requires “half the human effort, half the manufacturing space, half the investment and half

the engineering hours to develop a new product in half the time’. There are five steps to

start ‘Lean thinking’ in a business, of which the first step is to document current processes

(Melton, 2005). When implementing lean manufacturing, there are five primary elements

to consider; process control, organization, manufacturing flow, metrics, and logistics (Feld,

2000). By implementing Lean on the farm, the business will have financial, environmental

and social benefits. The aim of this project is not to implement the full lean processes, but

to create an awareness of lean. This will ease the implementation in the future. An in-depth

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investigation into Lean Manufacturing will be discussed in Chapter 2 as part of the Literature

Review.

1.3 Project Aim

The aim of the project is to improve the production processes by mapping and re-engineering

the current processes in order to reduce unit costs that would result in an increase in the

profits. During this project, the aim will also be to establish lean awareness at WATERFALL.

Objectives:

1. Document all As-Is processes.

2. Re-Engineer As-Is processes.

3. Lean culture and awareness plan.

1.4 Project Scope

The scope of the project will be limited to WATERFALL’s core business processes and the

critical management processes that are performed on a daily basis. This will include the

documentation of the value chain and value stream, to identify the value and non-value

adding activities in all the business processes.

This project will cover a study in the form of a Literature Review (Chapter 2). The Literature

Review will be an in-depth investigation into: Industrial Engineering in Agriculture; Business

Process Re-engineering (BPR) and Lean Manufacturing.

The first step of the re-engineering process is the preparation phase; this phase will cover

the formulation of the customer expectations and WATERFALL’s vision and mission

statement for the re-engineering process and defining the three different groups of lettuce

produced on the farm.

The As-Is processes will be mapped on a program called Bizagi Process Modeller. Bizagi

Process Modeller is open-source software that is used to diagram and document processes

using the Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN) standard notation.

The As-Is processes will be compared to the best practises in the industry. Afterwards

selected processes will be re-engineered. The To-Be designs will be analysed in terms of cost

of improvement, time to implement improvement, method of improvement, and the impact

of improvement. Improvements results will be presented in the final section.

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A conclusion and recommendation will be delivered to WATERFALL as well as a conclusion

on the full impact of the project.

1.5 Research design and deliverables

The deliverables of this project will consist of a study of business process re-engineering

techniques, the salad production processes and the implementation of a lean awareness.

The project will provide the best practice frame work for process management. All As – Is

processes will be mapped and analysed. The As – Is processes will be re-engineered and the

possible improvements will be designed. Solutions will be provided to WATERFALL to

implement the findings.

1.6 General Project Activities and Deliverables

In Table 3 are the listed key activities that will be envisaged for the execution of the project,

although the initial literature study during project scoping might indicate that a different

approach may be required:

Table 3: The key activities and possible deliverables

Project Activity Key Deliverable

Conduct a study of existing literature on

business process re-engineering (BPR), lean

manufacturing, business process

management, process levels of abstraction,

and the aforementioned in Fast Moving

Consumer Goods (FMCG).

Best Practice Framework for process

management in Fast Moving Consumer

Goods (FMCG) environments.

Preparation for Re-engineering: Identify and

document existing (As-Is) business and

management processes.

As – Is process maps.

Re-engineer the business processes: Design

the To – Be processes.

Re-engineered process (To - Be) maps with

procedure documents.

Establish a basic lean manufacturing

philosophy in the workplace by teaching on.

Just to set up awareness, to ease the

implementation in the future.

Lean Awareness plan.

6

Please see in Appendix A for more on the research methodology, activities and tasks,

resources and the planned budget. The Gantt-Chart will be found in Appendix B.

1.7 Conclusion




The following factors will be considered:

WATERFALL does not have any of its existing processes documented. By

documenting all the processes, it will increase the quality and effectiveness of the

business.

The current business and management processes at WATERFALL are neither efficient

nor consistent because of the lack of process documentation.

Neither the management nor the employees at WATERFALL are aware of the

importance of mapped processes.

No form of Lean has been implemented at WATERFALL, by implementing Lean in the

future; WATERFALL will have financial, environmental and social benefits.

The project will add value to the business by documenting and re-engineering the business

processes, whilst establishing a lean awareness at WATERFALL.

The remainder of this report is structured as follow:

Chapter 2: Literature Review on concepts such as Industrial engineering in agriculture,

Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) and Lean Manufacturing.

Chapter 3: The first step of BPR the preparation phase.

Chapter 4: The documenting and analysing of the current processes.

Chapter 5: The design of the To-Be processes.

Chapter 6: The implementation and future improvements of BPR.

Chapter 7: The lean awareness plan.

Chapter 8: The final conclusion on the findings of this project.

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CHAPTER 2: Literature Review

The following chapter introduces the key concepts such as Industrial engineering in

agriculture, Business Process Re-engineering and Lean Manufacturing.

With the aim to successfully re-engineer processes at a company, it is essential to first

understand and appreciate the environment in which the processes will be operated. The

purpose of this literature review is to realise the importance of industrial engineering in

agriculture.

After the importance of industrial engineering in agriculture is emphasised, an in-depth

study was done on; what exactly is Business Process Re-engineering, how it can be used to

increase efficiency, and how the improved process can be implemented at the business to

become market leaders.

As a final part of this chapter, an in-depth study was done on; what exactly is Lean

Manufacturing and how this industrial engineering tool can be used in an operation.

2.1 Why Industrial Engineering is necessary in Agriculture

2.1.1 Definitions

Industrial engineering and Agriculture defined by Webster (2013) as follows:

Industrial engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with the management and

creation of processes and systems that integrates people, materials and machines in the

most productive ways.

Industrial Engineering employs several techniques, including: facility layouts; optimising the

utilization of energy, time, money and knowledge; controlling the quality and quantity of

the products produced.

Agriculture is the art and science of cultivating soil, producing different types of crops and

raising different livestock. Agriculture is better known as “farming”.

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2.1.2 The need for Industrial Engineering in South-Africa’s Agriculture

South Africa’s economy depends on a healthy agricultural industry because it contributes to

food security, job creation, ecotourism, social welfare and it contributes to the gross

domestic product (GDP). However the health of the agricultural sector depends on the

sustainability of farming methods. The farming practices should not only protect the long-

term productivity of the land, but must also ensure well-being for farmers and farm workers

(Goldblatt, 2012).

The agricultural regions in South Africa

South Africa is a prosperous

and diverse country. The

farming activities in South

Africa range from sheep

farming in the dry areas to

cattle ranching in the

“bushveld” to intense crop

production in the high rainfall

areas, see the agricultural

regions in figure 11.

Only 12% of South Africa

consists of arable land, and

only 25% of this land is fertilised (Goldblatt, 2012). Most of South Africa’s land surface is

suitable livestock.

Sustainable Farming

Sustainable farming is not just about meeting the needs of today, but also being able to

meet the needs in the future. Food prices recently had a global rise that just highlighted the

magnificence impact the agricultural sector have on the economic and social stability

(Goldblatt, 2012).

The need is just increasing and the consumption of food is changing

It is expected that South Africa’s population will reach the 80 million mark within the next

20 years. Thus the food supply will have to double to be able to feed the nation, but at the

1 FAO Corporate Document Repository

Figure 1 Agricultural regions of South Africa

9

same time the amount of natural resources in the current processes should decrease. Many

things in the agriculture sector have changed since 1970 and thanks to post-apartheid the

country’s middle class has increased by 30% between 2001 and 2004. This had an influence

on all the different fresh products; the consumption of Chicken increased from 6 to 27kg per

person per year, the consumption of eggs doubled, fruit and vegetable consumption

remained the same, while the consumption of red meat had a decrease (Agricultural

Statistics, 2008).

One of the biggest factors, limiting the agricultural sector in South Africa is the shortage of

water. Due to the climate change and the increasing demand, it seems like the problem is

going to become an issue if things don’t change. If South Africa can reduce the wastage and

food loss it will not be necessary to produce so much more. Plenty of food is lost between

the field and the dinner-table (Goldblatt, 2012).

One of the toughest jobs around is being a conventional farmer in South Africa.

The following is some of the challenges faced by farmers on a daily basis (Goldblatt, 2012):

The Farmer does not have any control on the external factors that leads to an

increase in the input costs.

All the limited natural resources (water scarcity, increasing loss of soil).

A smaller amount of extension support, lack of subsidies for established commercial

farmers.

No predictability in the market.

Increase in the competition and rivalry.

High farm-murder rates.

Exposure to toxic chemicals.

The negative predications towards the climate changes.

An emerging trend – sustaining living farms

The farming industry in South Africa requires a more sustainable approach – both current

and future generations are at risk. Mismanagement and intensification could compromise

food safety and increase the unemployment rate (Goldblatt, 2012).

In contrast, the aim of sustainable agricultural practices is:

To manage the use of water and land, so that the productivity is optimised and

sustained.

10

Figure 2 Surface water withdraw

To have a positive influence to social-well being and the economics.

To supply high-quality and safe agricultural products.

To provide farm workers with descend living standards.

To care about the ecosystems.

To adapt to the climate changes.

The benefits of sustainable farming should be:

Input costs will be reduced

Yields will stabilise

Pollution will decrease

Increased water use efficiency

Increased soil fertility

Soil erosion will decrease

Ecosystems will be protected

South Africa has a history of change, the country can adapt to political and social changes. It

is essential to realise that everybody’s health is related to the agricultural sector. As one

country everybody should commit to optimise the resource utilisation and change for the

better (Goldblatt, 2012).

The agricultural sector faces the following issues:

LAND AND SOIL: South Africa has limited usable land. To achieve the best crop yields most

farmers have to enhance the fertility of their soil, whereas other farmers with fertile soil still

needs to maintain the fertilely of their soil because frequent cropping depletes the nutrients

in the soil. The method to maintain and improve the soil quality depends on the farmer’s

sustainability of their operation (Goldblatt, 2012).

WATER: If the current trend of increasing

consumption and food production

continues, South Africa is about to face a

frightening crisis. Irrigation is the sector

that uses the most water; see figure 22.

Irrigation is the age-old method farmers

use to increase the agricultural

2 Water Accounts for South Africa, 2000

11

productivity and it’s believed that irrigation increases the crop frequency (Goldblatt, 2012).

The fact that South Africa has no surplus water will constrain all future development.

According to the current growth in the demand for fresh products, the farmers will have to

double their water usage by the year 2050, if they keep on using the same practises.

Everyone needs to start using water more efficiently to avoid the crisis. Farmers need to

promote sustainable farming if the agricultural sector wants to survive into the 21 century

(Water Accounts for South Africa, 2000).

BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEMS: Over the last 50 years, land transformation has

threatened 35% of South Africa’s ecosystems and thousands of species. The ecosystems

plays a massive role in the farming industry, it provides free and essential agricultural

services to farmers. If no action is taken, this will have a huge impact on the productivity of

farming in the future. It has been shown that genetically modified crops (GMO) increase the

crop yield and the crop quality but it threats the environment (Goldblatt, 2012).

ECONOMICS: Over the past 15 years South Africa’s agriculture has undergone major

structural changes. Framers started to produce high volumes of low quality products. This

had an impact on the food prices and food availability. There was a dramatic increase in the

volume of agriculture exports for several products, see in figure 33.

Currently Game ranching is the fastest growing branch of agriculture is South Africa. The

amount of land covered by private game ranching farms is way more than the amount of

land covered by the Kruger Nation Park and all nature reserves (Goldblatt, 2012). According

to the Products act of 1996, game forms part of agriculture products.

3 SA Yearbook, 2008/2009

Figure 3 SA exports by volume

12

The increase in the fuel prices has a magnificent impact on the input costs of farming. So

does the increase on the electricity price. The negative impact of intense farming does not

reflect in the input costs. These impacts include; all types of pollution, erosion, loss of soil,

climate change and transport costs, to name a few. Eventually it is the individual taxpayer

and the generation of the future that will have to pay up the real price of these inputs

(Goldblatt, 2012).

SOCIAL CONSIDERATIONS: South Africa deals with high unemployment, crime and poverty

rates. Most of these issues play out on farm level. It is essential to address and meet the

needs of these people. The basic human rights should protect the health of the people on

and off the farms (Goldblatt, 2012).

Agriculture plays an enormous role in the creation

of jobs in South Africa, but sadly the amount of

people employed on farms has dropped over the

last years (figure 4 4) due to the minimum rates

and more farms became more mechanised.

According to the Agricultural Statistics (2008), the

total number of farm employees has dropped

from 1, 6 million in 1971 to 628 000 in 2005.

Farmers changed their way of employment; from

permanent to irregular and temporary, leaving the employees insecure (Goldblatt, 2012).

Thus where possible, the farmers should encourage new farming methods that rely on

labour-intensive methods.

2.1.3 What an Industrial engineer achieved in an Agriculture environment

Industrial Engineering (IE) techniques have been successfully applied in various areas. In

general the different techniques have a great impact on the performance of businesses.

Many companies use these techniques to lower the costs and also improve the quality of

the products produced (Mostafaeipour, 2011).

Value Engineering:

Value Engineering (VE) is a systematic effort to optimise the life cycle costs and to improve

the value of the project, system or product. It is a process to identify the unnecessary costs

and to ensure the quality and reliability to the customers. The two main goals of VE is to

4 Agricultural Statistics, 2008

Figure 4 Number of farm workers in SA

13

firstly function at the lowest costs and secondly to avoid narrow thinking. Teamwork is the

key to success when it comes to implementing VE (Mostafaeipour, 2011).

The case study that was examined is about the application of VE for farm management on a

Pistachio tree farm in Iran. Most of the Pistachio tree farms used the old traditional ways of

farming and had no knowledge of the new systems that improves quality and reduces costs.

In this project the unnecessary cultivation costs were reduced by implementing VE and

several other factors that led to inefficient use of resources could be resolved

(Mostafaeipour, 2011).

It was recommended to use Indian Neem pesticide because it is environment friendly and it

was economically feasible (Mostafaeipour, 2011).

2.1.4 To summarise, the need for Industrial Engineering in Agriculture

This section provides a short summary of the overwhelming evidence that the agriculture in

South Africa needs more eco-friendly practises, if they want to ensure ongoing production.

It was not attempted to identify every issue with major detail, but rather to give a wider

view of all the problems that agriculture needs to address.

Literary evidence supports the fact that the agricultural has sector developed systems and

processes that are ecologically and economically unsustainable. These systems and

processes cause depleting of South Africa’s natural resources. The natural resources need to

be used more efficiently.

Future arrangements will need to take place throughout the value chain in the agriculture

sector, to ensure that all food products are produced in a way that is healthy, affordable and

sustainable. To create processes that takes the environment in consideration and helps not

to destroy the natural resources.

It is proposed to arouse debate and catalyse collaboration throughout the agricultural value

chain.

14

2.2 Business Process Re-engineering

2.2.1 What is Business Process Re-engineering

In general, the steps in Business Process Re-engineering involves the discovery of the

current processes used, identify how the processes can be changed by getting rid of wastes

and to increase the efficiency, and then lastly how the improved process will be

implemented to become the market leaders.

Sherwood- Smith (1994) concluded that the main aim of Business Process Re-engineering is,

“seeking to devise new ways of organising tasks, organising people and redesigning IT

systems so that the processes support the organisation to realise its goals”.

Whereas Hammer & Champy (1993) defines Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) as the

fundamental rethinking and radical redesigning of business processes to achieve dramatic

improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance such as cost, quality,

service and speed.

Davenport (1993), also known as one of the BPR fathers has a different definition for

‘business process redesign’; his approach is to rather aim to design processes and workflows

between and within organisations. He believed all business activities can be sub-grouped

into processes which can be designed for maximum effectiveness.

The focus of BPR is on the processes and not on the people, jobs or tasks. A business is only

as effective as its processes. A process is a collection of interacting components that

transform inputs into outputs with the same purpose or goal. The documentation of

processes is extremely important for any project because it illustrates the work flow

structure. The As-Is business process maps can be used to re-design and re-engineer the

processes.

After the As-Is processes are documented, the next step is to decide which processes are

required to be re-engineered and in which order. According to Muthu (1999), the three

points which can help a business to decide which processes must be re-engineered first, is

the following:

Dysfunction – which processes are functioning unsatisfactory?

Importance – which processes are the most critical and will influence customer

satisfaction?

Feasibility – which processes are most likely to be successfully reengineered?

15

2.2.2 Where BPR started:

BPR originally started in the 1880’s, when Frederick Taylor advised managers to use process

re-engineering methods to optimise and maximise productivity. However it was agreed that

BPR only became industrial attention in 1990, when M. Hammer (1990) and T. Davenport

(1990) published their papers. Three years later they published two key books, which made

BPR an even more emerging field.

In the 1980’s and early 1990’s it was believed that BPR was the answer to the economic

crisis (Butler, 1994). Butler (1994) also describes the 80’s as the time for financial re-

engineering and the 90’s as the time for technological re-engineering.

Hammer and Champy (1993) believes that BPR will help companies to become market

leaders.

Before the creation of BPR and still now in recent times, it is suggested to break the work

processes down into its simplest tasks; this will help with the managing of the different

processes.

2.2.3 Methodology of a BPR.

BPR is world-wide applicable technique. According to Zigiaris (2000), there are a few key

actions that need to take place before BPR can be implemented into an enterprise. Firstly,

select the strategic processes that need to be re-designed, optimise and simplify the

processes, assign a role for the process coordinator and split employees into teams, then

organise the workflow, assign roles for each employee, automate the processes, train the

teams to operate the new processes and then lastly introduce the re-designed processes

into the business organisational structure.

In Table 4, five different methods will be introduced, based on literature studies done up to

date.

16

Table 4 Five different methods for BPR

METHODS

1 2 3 4 5

REFERENCE Underdown (1997) Harrison (1993) Manganelli (1994) Furey (1993) Mayer (1998)

STEP 1 State the strategy and the vision

Set goals for the processes and determine the customer requirements

Preparation Identify a direction Motivate Re-engineering

STEP 2 Find a desired way of doing business

Document and evaluate the existing processes

Identification Determine the baseline and Benchmark

Justify Re-engineering

STEP 3 Integrate and improve enterprise

Analyze and change the existing processes

Vision Create a vision Plan Re-engineering

STEP 4 Develop technology solutions

Develop a re-engineered process

Technical and Social design

Start projects to solve problems

Launch Re-engineering

STEP 5 Implement the re-engineered process

Transformation Develop improvements

Describe and analysis As-Is processes

STEP 6 Implement the changes

Develop To-Be processes

STEP 7 Improve continuously

Implement the re-engineered processes

17

It can be concluded from Table 4, it is clear that most re-engineering methodologies share

common elements, but a small difference may have a significant impact on the success or

failure of a business.

Muthu (1999) consolidated a five step methodology (Figure 5) from the five methods

discussed above, in Table 4.

Figure 5 The 5 step methodology

1. Prepare for

Re-engineering

2.Document and

Analyse the As-Is Processes

5 Continuous

Improvement

4. Implement the Re-engineered

Processes

3.Design To-Be

Processes

Step 1: Prepare for Re-engineering

Planning and preparation is essential for a task or activity to be successful. Muthu (1999)

said: “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Firstly the company should ask itself, “Is re-

engineering truly necessary?”. The process should have a major need, before it should be

re-engineered (Mayer, 1998).

This step is started with the agreement on the importance of re-engineering and the link

between the business goals and the re-engineering projects. Set a game plan, on how re-

engineering is going to take place. Use some of the key players to create cross functional

teams. Make sure everything within the organisations is functioning as normal, without the

key players used in the functional teams (Harrison, 1993). It is important to receive guidance

from the top (Muthu, 1999).

It is essential to understand where the current process fails to conform to the customer

requirements and expectations. Once the company understands the expectations of the

customer, the company can formulate a vision and mission statement. The vision can be

seen as a motivation for the progress and what the company believes the re-engineering

outcome will be (Muthu, 1999).

Step 2: Document and Analyse the As-Is Processes

Before re-engineering can proceed, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of the current

processes. Document the As-Is processes and analyse them, to identify where there is room

for improvement. The improvements should have remarkable results for the re-engineering

to be worthwhile (Muthu, 1999).

18

Process models are mapped, by using different modelling methods. The main aim in this

step is to identify all value added and all the non-value added activities and to determine

whether re-engineering is required (Muthu, 1999).

Step 3: Design the To-Be Processes

Once it’s decided to proceed with re-engineering and all the business goals are set, the idea

is to design one or more alternatives of the current process, which will satisfy the set

business goals (Muthu, 1999).

Benchmarking is the first phase in this step. Benchmarking is when a company compares the

organisations process performance and the way the processes are conducted with the

relevant peer organisations to obtain ideas for improvement. (Manganelli, Raymond, Klein

& Mark, 1994). It is not necessary to only involve competitors and market leaders into the

benchmarking comparison, any innovative practise can be used to compare performance

(Muthu, 1999).

Once the potential improvements are identified, the To-Be process can be designed.

Simulation models and activity based costing is used to calculate the cost and time of each

activity in the re-engineering process. Analyse the different alternatives of the To-Be

processes and selected the best one to be implemented (Muthu, 1999).

Step 4: Implement the Re-engineered Processes

One of the biggest challenges in BPR is the implementation of the re-engineered process. In

general, changes are forced onto the workers in the working environment and for this

reason most employees disapprove of change in the working environment. It is suggested to

initiate a culture change program in the preparing phase (step 1) to ease the

implementation. It is crucial that everyone involved in the new process should be convinced

that the change is essential and everyone within the company will benefit from the changes

(Muthu, 1999).

A transition plan should be develop to emphasise the re-engineering results. The transition

plan must consist of the following; the re-engineered process, the information systems,

business rules and measure and the organisational configuration. To ensure success the

information system is required to support the process (Muthu, 1999).

A comparison between the As-Is process and the To-Be process can be mapped. The initial

changes that need to be implemented should be listed. Define a changeover plan and test

19

the preliminary versions. It is essential to start training programs before the re-engineered

process is implemented on full scale (Muthu, 1999).

Step 5: Continuous Improvement

To ensure success, continuous improvement is vital. The first stage in this step is to monitor

the changed process. It is crucial to monitor the results and the progress of action, to

observe whether the change in the environment was accepted (Muthu, 1999).

The process should continuously be re-mapped, re-analysed and re-design where necessary.

BPR can be combined with Total Quality Management (TQM) for continuous improvements

(Muthu, 1999).

2.2.4 Human Factors in BPR

While implementing BPR there is a probability of failure because of the issues such as

human, cultural, organisational and political issues (Corrigan, 1996).

Resistance towards change

One of the biggest barriers in the BPR process is the resistance towards change (Corrigan,

1996). The resistance towards change is a barrier because employees feel threatened that

they may lose their jobs. The question usually asked by the employees is: “why the working

process should be changed?” Stewart (1993) states BPR will be successful, if the workers

involved in the process that will be changed, have part in the creating the changes so that

they can support the change.

2.2.5 Expected Results and Benefits of BPR

After BPR is implemented at an enterprise the following results can be expected (Zigiaris,

2000):

Processes will be reallocated, combined and will be executed into a natural order.

The company structure will be reorganised.

Processes become more flexible for customer needs.

The changes named above will automatically result in cost reduction and an increase in

product and service quality. After the BPR, the business will also have a fully documented

model, thus the business will benefit from the changes (Zigiaris, 2000).

20

The expected results, from a BPR process that was successful, should be a business concern.

The changes that are caused by the redesigning of the processes, comprises people's jobs

and working relationships, but it is very often that jobs are eliminated and the entire

process is not valuable for all (Zigiaris, 2000).

2.2.6 BPR Summary

BPR originally started in the 1880’s, when Frederick Taylor advised managers to use process

re-engineering methods to optimise and maximise productivity. However it was agreed that

BPR only became industrial attention in 1990. Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) is

defined as the fundamental rethinking and radical redesigning of business processes to

achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance such as

cost, quality, service and speed.

The focus of BPR is on the processes and not on the people, jobs or tasks. A business is only

as effective as its processes. The documentation of processes is extremely important for any

project because it illustrates the work flow structure. The As-Is business process maps can

be used to re-design and re-engineer the processes.

After the literature study it is clear that most re-engineering methodologies share common

elements, but a small difference may have a significant impact on the success or failure of a

business.

Muthu (1999) consolidated a five step methodology from the five different methods as

discussed in the literature study. This will be the methodology that will be used.

21

2.3 Lean Manufacturing

2.3.1 What is lean?

The term “Lean” refers to a process that makes use of a less amount of inputs, but with the

same or even better outputs created by the mass production process (Womack, Jones, and

Roos, 1990). George (2002) describes a lean process as a process in which the value-added

time in the process is 25% or more of the total lead-time of the specific process. According

to Liker (1997), lean manufacturing is an operational strategy oriented towards achieving

the shortest possible cycle time by eliminating all the wastes. The business or company will

benefit by implementing lean (Liker, 1997).

According to Greenhouse (2012), a lean specialist in the UK, lean will deliver an increase in

productivity and efficiency. A Lean process will deliver a better performance and will reduce

re-work. Greenhouse (2012) also states that by implementing lean at a company, it is not

only about getting rid of all the wastes, but also about respecting people. Lean leadership is

about teaching all the employees at the company to have pride in their work, to empower

the people and to help them grow. It is also about setting targets for the workers and then

coaching them to meet these targets.

2.3.2 Where does lean come from?

Lean production has its roots in Taylor’s work and is part of Henry Ford’s invention of the

conveyor belt. The latter was the basis for mass production, which dominated the last

century (Voss, 1995).

F. W. Taylor was first to apply scientific principles to the manufacturing environment

(Dennis, 2002). According to Taylor’s theory, the efficiency of a production can be improved

by observing the employees, to identify the value added and non value added activities.

Once the value stream is identified, the wasted time and motion should be reduced or even

eliminated where possible. It is recommended, by Taylor, that the management of a

company should develop the ideal process and determine the productivity level. Taylor

states that it is the management’s responsibility to encourage all employees to suggest any

improvements or changes in each process. If the suggested improvements are better

compared to the old method, the improvements should be implemented as the standard

method for the complete production (Chase, Aquilano, Jakobs, 1998). According to Dennis

(2002), the innovations of the Taylor’s theory made the assembly line possible.

22

Mass production was allowed by the Ford plant’s conveyor system (Tapping, 2007). The car

was brought past the inactive worker by the moving assembly line (Dennis, 2002). The

assembly line linked sequential processes and reduced the walking time. Therefore all fast

employees were slowed down and the slow employees were sped up. According to Tapping

(2007) and Dennis (2002) the Ford plant had the greatest technology, and there was no

other company that could compete with them, thus they were the industry leaders.

According to Dennis (2002), during the year of 1950, Eiji Toyoda visited Ford’s plant; he

inspected and explored the complete plant. After his return to Japan Eiji Toyoda and Taiichi

Ohno realised that the mass production is not going to work in Japan, because they knew

that their employees were their most valuable resource. Ohno improved the novel idea by

involving the rest of the Toyota team. The well known Toyota Production System (TPS) was

the answer to the needs of Toyota. Today, throughout the world, the TPS is used in parallel

to “lean manufacturing” (Tapping, 2007). Dennis (2007) stated that Ohno’s system is the

most relevant system designed ever.

2.3.3 The seven types of waste

By implementing lean, the ultimate target is to get rid of all the non-value added activities,

also known as wastes. Wastes are anything that adds no value to the product but increases

the production costs (Tapping, 2002). Figure 6 The Seven Wastes of Lean

5

5 Ohno, 1998

23

In figure 6 and table 5 Toyota’s 7 types of wastes are discussed (Tapping, 2002).

Table 5: The 7 wastes

The 7 types of wastes: Definitions

1.Overproduction When products are produced without any

order placed for these products, thus the

production rate doesn’t match the demand.

Overproducing increase staff, inventory and

transport costs.

2. Over- processing Doing more than what is required by the

customer. It occurs when a process has too

many stations for inspection. Over-

processing increase cycle time and

production costs.

3. Transport Refers to when the products are moved

unnecessary, for instance in and out

inventory storage and when the process flow

are not in a logical sequence.

4. Waiting Wasting time while waiting for other

operations, better known as idle time. For

example: Waiting for a tool change, waiting

for a design approval or even waiting for

maintenance and repairs.

5. Defects When produced products have defects and

needs to be rework. Defects will increase the

production costs and the cycle time, thus it

will delay the process.

6. Motion Unnecessary movements by the workers, for

instance searching for something, stretching,

handling products more than what is

necessary and having to walk to other

stations.

7. Inventory When the inventory levels are unnecessarily

high. This will increase the costs and lead

times.

George (2002) states that if these wastes exist, it will only increase the production cost, and

will add no value to the product. Ohno rates the overproduction wastage as the

24

fundamental wastage (Liker, 2004). If one operation produce more than the demand,

somewhere down the process line, inventory will build-up (Liker, 2004).

2.3.4 The implementation and transformation to a lean process

When considering a lean transition, it is essential to understand what the company will

become after lean is implemented (Henderson & Larco, 2003). The second thing to take

note of is to understand that the transition will take time (Womack & Jones, 2005). A

successful lean transformation will not just happen overnight. Before a company starts the

transformation, management should get the people together and make sure everyone that

forms part of the process, understands what’s happening and what can be expected

(Henderson & Larco, 2003).

As stated earlier, if a task doesn’t add value to the production process, it is considered as

wastage and it should then be eliminated (Womak and Jones, 1996).

To improve the end results, the only way is to improve the process tasks and its elements

(George, Rowlands, & Kastle, 2004). An appropriate place for a company to start the lean

transition is to design a continuous and smooth process flow (Liker, 2004). It is crucial to

map the value stream on paper, it makes it easier for the workers to visualise the best

process. This visual tool will give the workers the opportunity to work more efficiently. As

soon as the company has continuous flowing processes, the cycle times will be at its

minimum and this will result in; top quality, reduced costs and the fastest delivery times.

2.3.5 The three stages of lean

Tapping (2002) classifies the application of lean into three stages namely: Demand Stage,

Flow Stage and the levelling Stage.

The demand stage is a stage where it very important to understand the demand of the

customers. To know the exact quantity of products that is needed. The flow stage; to be

able to meet customer demands, a process flow should be implemented to deliver the

correct product on the right time. In the levelling stage, it is about dividing the workforce,

to be able to meet the demand challenges over a shift or day.

2.3.6 Lean Manufacturing Tools and Techniques

Once a company has identified the wastes in the processes, there are a few tools and

techniques that can be used to reduce and eliminate these wastes, namely; just-in-time

25

(JIT), Kaizen, Kanban systems, work cells, production smoothing method and automation

(Monden, 1993).

Just-in-time (JIT) refers to the concept where everything arrives at the right time, thus

when it is needed (Ohno, 1988). JIT is one of the main concepts in the Toyota way. It’s used

to get rid of wastes such as over stocked inventory and defects (Nahmias, 1997). JIT is used

in distribution and purchasing departments.

The Japanese word for continuous improvement is Kaizen. The main goal in the Kaizen

method is that everyone is involved in the continuous improvement strategy without any

big financial investments (Ohno, 1988). Kaizen strategy mainly focuses on the people and

this method makes use of the 5S Housekeeping tool (Levinson & Rerick, 2002). The 5S

housekeeping rules are used to clean and tidy the workplace. If the workplace is tidy, no

time is wasted on searching for tools.

The Kanban system is a tool used to get everything in the process on time (JIT) (Monden,

1993). This system makes use of cards with all the information about the part or product on

the cards. It was develop by Toyota, to get rid of wastes and to reduce costs.

Cellular operations designed the Work Cell method; machines were arranged in the order of

the production process (Levinson & Rerick, 2002). The work cell method has various

benefits; firstly it reduces labour costs and inventory and it increases the product quality

and work force efficiency.

Production Smoothing involves planning and levelling the demand while the production

level is constant over a period of time. Production smoothing works in parallel with the

Kanban method (Monden, 1993).

Automation, better known in Japanese as Jidoka. It is “automation with a little bit of a

human touch” (Levinson & Rerick, 2002). The main goal of automation is to achieve zero

defects, as soon as a problem occurs the machine automatically stops. This tool was also

designed by Toyota (Monden, 1993).

2.3.7 Lean Manufacturing Summary


same or even better outputs created by the mass production process.

26

By implementing lean one of the ultimate targets is to get rid of all the non-value added

activities, also known as wastes. Wastes are anything that adds no value to the product but

increases the production costs. The well known 7 types of wastes are; Overproduction,

Over-processing, Transportation, Waiting, Defects, Motion and extra Inventory.

Lean it is not only about getting rid of all the wastes, but also about respecting people. Lean

leadership is to teach all the employees at the company to have pride in their work, to

empower the people and to help them grow. Before a company starts the transformation,

management should get the people together and make sure everyone that forms part of the

process, understands what’s happening and what can be expected.

When considering a lean transition, it is essential to understand what the company will

become after lean is implemented. The second thing to take note of is the transition will

take time. A successful lean transformation will not just happen overnight.

Once a company has identified the wastes in the processes, there are a few tools and



(Monden, 1993).

2.4 Conclusion on the Literature Review

The aim of the Literature Review was to form a theoretical outline for the project, to define

important definitions and concepts to understand the Industrial Engineering techniques that

are used in this project.

Industrial Engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with the management and

creation of processes and systems that integrates people, materials and machines in the

most productive ways.

Two tools that were identified to be used in this project by industrial engineers are Business

Process Re-engineering (BPR) and Lean Manufacturing. The BPR will be designed in

combination with a Lean approach.

Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) is defined as the fundamental rethinking and radical

redesigning of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical,

contemporary measures of performance such as cost, quality, service and speed. The term

“Lean” refers to a process that makes use of a less amount of inputs, but with the same or

even better outputs created by the mass production process.

27

CHAPTER 3: Re-engineering Preparation (Step 1)

This step is started with the agreement on the importance of re-engineering and the link

between the business goals and the re-engineering projects.

It is essential to understand where the current processes don’t conform to the customer

requirements and expectations. Once the company understands the expectations of the

customer, the company can formulate vision and mission statements. The vision can be

seen as a motivation for the progress and what the company believes the re-engineering

outcome will be (Muthu, 1999).

3.1 The expectations of the customer

Customers expect the freshest quality products without any defects. A consumer wants the

lettuce to stay fresh for as long as possible. The condition of fresh lettuce relates to the

general appearance, the flavour and the nutritional quality. Consumers judge fresh products

by its firmness and its colour appearance before buying the product.

The quality of fresh products can be divided into different types of attributes. It can be

divided into external, internal and hidden attributes.

External Quality Attributes are visual, these attributes are generally linked to the

‘appearance’ of the product and to what the product ‘feels’ like. Internal Quality Attributes

are sensed with the first ‘bite’ or the first cut of the product. The internal attributes are

linked to the human senses, for instance: taste. Hidden Quality Attributes consists of the

safety of the product and the nutritional value of the product.

To conclude the expectations of a consumer can be defined as:

The customer wants the lettuce to have the following characteristics at the lowest cost. The

lettuce should be firm, with the perfect colour and must have the perfect taste.

28

3.2 WATERFALL’s Visions and Mission statements

Vision Statement:

WATERFALL’s vision is to become an admired and profitable enterprise in the Middelrus

region.

Mission Statement:

The first mission is to become the preferred partner for Little More Farms. WATERFALL

would like to produce high quality salad and leaf products. By achieving this mission it will

drive the enterprise to become more profitable.

The next mission is to become the preferred employer in the Middelrus area by providing

decent work and a meaningful work experience to the people of this region. By achieving

this mission WATERFALL will become an admired enterprise in the Middelrus region.

After implementing BPR at WATERFALL, it will ensure better quality and this will lead to a

faster turnaround. WATERFALL could become a preferred partner to several clients if they

can assure top quality.

By implementing Lean manufacturing at a business, it will create a pleasant work

environment; this way WATERFALL will be able to become a preferred employer in the

region.

3.3 The Processes that will be investigated will include:

The following four core business processes will be investigated:

1. The soil preparing process

2. The Planting process

3. The Caring and Maintenance process

4. The Cutting and Harvesting process

For each of the above named processes, the actors and business rules will be identified. The

aim is to reduce the cycle time where possible and to map the flow of activities in each

process.

29

It will further be essential to identify the support processes, as these affect the general

effectiveness of the farming operations.

3.4 Culture Change Program

In general, changes are forced onto the workers in the working environment and that is why

most employees disapprove of change in the working environment. This is why it is

suggested to initiate a culture change program in the preparing phase (step 1) to ease the

implementation. It is crucial that everyone involved in the new process should be convinced

that the change is essential and everyone within the company will benefit from the changes

(Muthu, 1999).

At WATERFALL all the employees are from the Zulu origin, thus the only language what the

workers understand 100% is Zulu. Well known Japanese-lean nomenclature will be changed

to the Zulu word with the same meaning. This way the workers at WATERFALL will not only

have a better understanding of the relevant words but they will also experience greater

inclusivity in the workplace. This will help contribute towards WATERFALL’s mission to

become a preferred employer.

By considering the workers culture, they will appreciate the change. The translation to Zulu

words will be included in the next section.

3.5 The 3 Main groups of lettuce

In the preparation for Re-engineering phase (step 1 of BPR), it is essential to understand the

product before you can start with the re-engineering process. The business re-engineering

attempt is going to include 3 different groups of products produced at WATERFALL.

The lettuce produced at WATERFALL was divided into the 3 main groups; Group A, B and C.

It was decided to categorise the lettuce into these groups according to the different

production processes. Thus the different types of lettuce and leafs products in each group

follows an identical production process.

Each group and its products will be discussed in detail below.

30

3.5.1 Group A: Crisp Lettuce

1. Tropical Emperor/Iceberg lettuce

Product Description: The iceberg lettuce is a spherical head of crisp

leaves as seen on the picture, Figure 7. The lettuce is firm, with a mild

flavour and a crunchy texture. It has a light green colour. The iceberg

lettuce is the most common lettuce and it’s also the most economical

choice, because it lasts longer in the refrigerator. It can be used in

different salads and on sandwiches (Norman, 2012).

Icebergs have high water content and are also a source of vitamin A, vitamin C, iron,

potassium, calcium and fibre (Norman, 2012).

3.5.2 Group B: Exotic Lettuce

1. Cos Lettuce

Product Description: Cos lettuce is also known as Romaine. Cos lettuce

grows in a long head of sturdy leaves (Figure 8). In the centre of the long

leaf there is a rib down the leaf. This leaf was originated on the Greek

islands, where it got its name from. Unlike most other leaf varieties, the

Cos lettuce can tolerate heat. The leaves have a slightly darker green

colour and tastes more like herbs. Cos lettuce can be used in salads

(mostly Caesar salad) and in sushi vegetable rolls (Norman, 2012).

Cos also has a high water content with various types of nutrition’s. Cos

lettuce consists of 5 times more vitamin C than iceberg lettuce (Norman,

2012).

2. Butter Lettuce

Product Description: Butter Lettuce is also known as a Butter head or

even Boston Bibb. It has a sweeter flavour than the normal Iceberg

lettuce. The leaves are bigger and thicker. The head grows in a head

shape (figure 9), but the leaves are loose. It is also a light green colour.

To test whether the leaves are sweet or bitter, one can scratch the

leaves to smell what it tastes like. It is recommended to use these

lettuces in various salads and on gourmet sandwiches (Norman, 2012).

Figure 7 Iceberg Lettuce

Figure 8 Cos Lettuce

Figure 9 Butter Lettuce

31

3. Frilly

Product description: The frilly lettuce, figure 10, comes in three

different colours: Red, Green and darker Green. The leaves grow

loose from one another and are less crisp than iceberg lettuce. The

edges of the leaves are fringed and crinkled, that’s where it gets its

name from. Frilly lettuce is mostly used in salads (Norman, 2012).

4. Oak Lettuce

Product description: Oak Leaf lettuce looks very similar to the Frilly

lettuce; it is also a loose-leaf lettuce and is available in green and red

(figure 11). The leaves are harder and firmer compared to icebergs.

Oak lettuce is also used in salads and it is the best to mix them with

different types of lettuces in a salad (Norman, 2012).

3.5.3 Group C: Baby Leaves

1. Baby Spinach

Product description: Baby Spinach leaves are sweet and tender. It can

be enjoyed raw or cooked just as the consumer prefers it. The

consumer can add it in a salad or even in a warm dish. The leaf is

small and grows on a stem; thus loose from one another (figure 12). It

is high in nutrients and is not well known yet (Norman, 2012).

2. Rocket leaves

Product description: Rocket Leaves are versatile, it can be served

with hot or cold dishes such as; pizza, pastas or in salads. The leaves

grow on their own stems, loose from one another (figure 13). The

flavour is strong and peppery. Rocket leaves have a great role in

Italian cuisine. It also contains compounds called Glucosinolates

which are believed to have a possible protective role against certain

types of cancers (Norman, 2012).

Figure 10 Frilly Salad

Figure 11 Oak Lettuce

Figure 12 Baby Spinach

Figure 13 Rocket Leaves

32

3. Mizuna

Product description: The Mizuna leaves, figure 14, can be found

in a light or dark green. The leaves have a soft texture and mild

mustard flavour. It can be used with cooked meat or plain. It plays

a great role in Japanese food (Norman, 2012).

3.6 Preparation Conclusion

This chapter gives an understanding of what are the customer’s expectations, objectives for the

re-engineering, and what WATERFALL expect as a result from the re-engineering process. It also

explains the Culture Change program and describes the three main groups of products produced

on the farm.

Figure 14 Mizuna

33

CHAPTER 4: Document and Analyse the As-Is Processes

(Step 2)

Before re-engineering can proceed, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of the current

processes. This is done by documenting the As-Is processes and analysing it, to identify

where there is room for improvement.

4.1 Group A: Crisp Lettuce

Figure 15 Crisp Lettuce As-Is Process

34

Each process element of figure 15 is listed below with a short description of each element.

SOIL PREPARATION

Start the Crisp Lettuce (Group A) production process.

PLOUGH

Plough is an action to enrich the soil by turning the soil around and burying the organic matter. This is only done when the piece of land was not utilized for a very long period.

DICING SOIL

A disc-harrow is used to even out the soil, dicing grass and weeds. The texture of the soil will be finer but still filled with clots.

GRASS AND WEEDS

The grass and weeds are removed from the process.

SHAPE SEED BEDS

To shape the seed beds, the farm creates a 1.8m ridge of which the centre piece is removed to draw lines and shape a 1.5m raised planting area.

ROTOVATE

The rotovator is used to run over the raised seed bed to create a fine seed bed without any

clots or coarseness in the soil. The planting area will now be soft and ready for planting.

PLANTING

IRRIGATE SOIL

Lightly irrigate soil to ensure that the seeds beds are moist enough for planting the Crisp

Lettuces.

QUICK SURFACE PREPARATION

Use a rake to loosen and even out seed bed.

PUNCH HOLE

Use a stick to punch holes (6-8 cm deep, 7-8 holes per row) in seed bed.

REMOVE LUG-PLANT FROM TRAY

Remove moisturised Crisp Lettuce lug-plants from lug trays and loosen soil around roots.

ADD MICROBIAL CARBON FERTILIZER

Add 15 grams of microbial carbon pellets into each hole.

35

PUT LUG INTO HOLE

Place the Crisp Lettuce lug into the holes that were punched.

CLOSE HOLE (SHOVEL)

Use a garden spade to carefully cover the Crisp Lettuce lug plants.

MOISTURISE

Moisturise the soil containing the newly planted Crisp Lettuce lugs in order to ensure that the roots can settle.

MAINTENANCE

IRRIGATE DAILY

Irrigate the seedbeds daily to satisfy the needs of Crisp Lettuce through the sprinkler

system.

ADD FERTILIZER SIDE DRESSING

Add 2:3:4 fertiliser side dressing to each seed bed.

ADD WATER SOLUBLE

Add water soluble fertiliser (Calcium nitrate & Hydropaunica) 2 times per week (Usually on Tuesdays & Thursdays).

ADD FOLIAR FEED AND PESTICIDES

Add a mixture of foliar feed along with pesticides 3 times per week.

Mondays - Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphor and Nitrogen

Wednesdays - Nitro spray

Fridays - Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphor, Nitrogen, Bravo720 and Fenvalerate.

HARVESTING

SELECT HARVEST READY BED

Select a bed of which the Crisp Lettuces have reached the required maturity level.

SELECT MATURE PLANTS

From the selected bed, select the most mature Crisp Lettuces.

36

CUT AT STEM

The Crisp Lettuce plants are cut at the stem. The plant as one whole needs to be harvested.

REMOVE DAMAGED LEAVES

Remove the damaged leaves from the Crisp Lettuce head but not all as they form part of protection for the remaining good quality leaves.

PLACE PLANT INTO BOX

Place heads into a box, 8 – 9 Crisp Lettuce heads per layer and fill the boxes with two layers.

READY FOR TRANSPORT TO STORAGE

The Crisp Lettuce boxes exit the process and will be stored, ready for delivery.

37

4.2 Group B: Exotic Lettuce

Figure 16 Exotic Lettuce As-Is process

38


SOIL PREPARATION

Start the Exotic Lettuce (Group B) production process

PLOUGH


DICING SOIL

To even out the soil a disc-harrow is used. The texture of the soil will be finer, but still filled with clots.

GRASS AND WEEDS


SHAPE SEED BEDS


ROTOVATE



PLANTING



IRRIGATE SOIL

Lightly irrigate soil to ensure that the seeds beds are moist enough for panting the Exotic

Lettuce.

PUNCH HOLE

Use a stick to punch holes (6-8 cm deep, 7-8 holes per row) in seed bed.

REMOVE LUG-PLANT FROM TRAY

Remove moisturised Exotic Lettuce lug-plants from lug trays and loosen soil around roots.

39

ADD MICROBIAL CARBON FERTILIZER

Add 15 grams of microbial carbon pellets into each hole.

PUT LUG INTO HOLE

Place the Exotic Lettuce lug into the hole that was punched.

CLOSE HOLE (SHOVEL)

Use a garden spade to carefully cover the Exotic Lettuce lug plant.

MOISTURISE

Moisturise the soil containing the newly planted Exotic Lettuce lugs in order to ensure that the roots can settle.

MAINTENANCE

IRRIGATE DAILY

To satisfy the needs of the Exotic Lettuce, the seedbeds need to be irrigated every day by

using the sprinkler system.

ADD FERTILIZER SIDE DRESSING

Add 2:3:4 fertiliser side dressing to each seed bed.

ADD WATER SOLUBLE






Fridays - Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphor, Nitrogen, Bravo720 and Fenvalerate.

40

HARVESTING


Selects a bed of which the Exotic Lettuces have reached the required maturity level.


From the selected bed, select the most mature Exotic Lettuce plants.

CUT AT STEM

The Exotic Lettuce is cut at the stem. The whole plant is harvested.

REMOVE DAMAGED LEAVES

All the damaged leaves need to be removed from the Exotic Lettuce plants, but not all of the leaves because the outer leaves protect the remaining good quality leaves.

PLACE PLANT INTO BOX

Place Exotic Lettuce heads into a box; 8 – 9 heads per layer and fill the boxes with two

layers.


The Exotic Lettuce boxes can be stored and shipped to the customer.

41

4.3 Group C: Baby Leaves

Figure 17 Baby Leaves As-Is Process

42


SOIL PREPARATION

Start the Baby Leaf (Group C) production process.

PLOUGH


DICING SOIL

To even out the soil a disc-harrow is used. The texture of the soil will be finer but still filled with clots.

GRASS AND WEEDS


SHAPE SEED BEDS


ROTOVATE



PLANTING



DRAW LINES

Use stick to draw lines (15cm apart) in the seed bed.

SEED BY HAND

For Rocket and Mizuna: Seeding is staggered (2cm apart). For Baby spinach: throw seeds in lines (64000 seeds per 150m2).

43

COVER SEEDS (SHOVEL)

Use a small garden spade to carefully cover Baby spinach seeds.

RAKE SEED BEDS

Use a rake to create a series of lines spaced closely together in which Rocket and Mizuna

seeds can be planted.

COVER SEEDS (RAKE)

Carefully rake ground over newly planted Rocket and Mizuna seeds.

SPRINKLE FERTILIZER

Add 2:3:4 fertilisers to the newly planted seeds.

MAINTENANCE

IRRIGATE DAILY

Irrigate the seedbeds daily to satisfy the needs of baby leafed plants, through the sprinkler

system.

ADD WATER SOLUBLE






Fridays - Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphor, Nitrogen, Bravo720 and fennel venerate.

44

HARVESTING


Selects a bed of which the baby leaf products have reached the required maturity level.


From the selected bed, select the most mature leaves.

PICK OR CUT THE LEAVES

For the baby leaf products, only the leaves are removed. This means that new leave can

grow and the plants can be reused for 3 cycles.

PLACE LEAVES INTO BUCKET

The picked leaves are placed in a bucket as it is too small and falls through openings in the

boxes and crates.

EMPTY BUCKET INTO PLASTIC BAG

Move the leaves from the bucket to a plastic bag in which it can be stored and transported to the customer.


Baby Leaves are now ready for transportation.

4.4 Conclusion

The lettuce produced at WATERFALL was divided into the three main groups; Group A, B

and C. It was decided to categorise the lettuce into these groups according to the different

production processes. Thus the different types of lettuce and leafs products in each group

follows an identical production process.

In this chapter all the As-Is processes were mapped and each step was discussed in detail.

45

CHAPTER 5: Design the To-Be Processes (Step 3)

Once it’s decided to proceed with re-engineering and all the business goals are set, the idea

is to design one or more alternatives of the current process, which will satisfy the set

business goals (Muthu, 1999).

Benchmarking is the first phase in this step. Benchmarking is when a company compares the

organisations process performance and the way the processes are conducted with the

relevant peer organisations to obtain ideas for improvement. (Manganelli, Raymond, Klein

& Mark, 1994). It is not necessary to only involve competitors and market leaders into the

benchmarking comparison, any innovative practise can be used to compare performance

(Muthu, 1999).

5.1 Change in the Soil Preparation phase

As-Is Process:

All three the product groups identified in Chapter 3 (Group A, B and C), followed the exact

same process to prepare the soil before the planting process can be started (figure 18).

Figure 18 As-Is Soil Preparation Process

Benchmarking:

It was recognized that there are 2 steps in the soil preparation process, which needs to be

switched. The soil preparation process for Group A will also follow this process but there is

minor detail that will be re-engineered, see Chapter 5.2.

TO-BE PROCESS

Figure 19 To-be Soil Preparation Process

46

The soil preparation process will be as follow (also see figure 19):

SOIL PREPARATION

Start the production process (Group A, B and C.)

PLOUGH

Plough is a very old method that is use to enrich the soil by turning the soil around and

burying the organic matter. This is only done when the piece of land was not utilized for a

very long period because plough has a harmful effect on the soil. Plough can lead to an

increase in soil-erosion.

DICING SOIL

To even out the soil a disc-harrow is used. The texture of the soil will be finer but still filled

with clots.

GRASS AND WEEDS


ROTOVATE

The rotovator is used to run over the land to create a fine soil without any clots or

coarseness in the soil. The planting area will now be soft and ready to be shaped.

SHAPE SEED BEDS

To shape the seed beds, the farm creates a 1.8m ridge of which the centre piece is removed

to draw lines and shape a 1.5m raised planting area.

Reasons for changing the process:

It was decided to switch these two activities as the rotavator evens out the already raised

bed too an extent where it is not that much raised. We need beds to be raised as it

promotes drainage in soils and the lettuce need frequent moisture but should not be

drowned. This action protects the plant against illnesses. If the water drainage is better,

there is minimal excess water on the bedding surface. Excess water on the bedding surface

would promote diseases and bakeries that would have a bad influence on the plant. Higher

beds will also protect the plants against flood water because the water will run down

between the seed beds and not over the plants.

With this change in the process, will not reduce the costs at WATERFALL but it will lower the

risk of losing plants, it will save time and it will help to ease the planting process. Please see

the complete To-Be processes in Appendix C.

47

5.2 To-Be process for Crisp Lettuce

As-Is Process:

Group A (Crisp Lettuce) followed the soil preparation process as defined in chapter 4.1, thus

the Crisp- and Exotic Lettuce had the same planting method with a few minor differences.

The seed beds were shaped with a ridger (bed shaper) that is 1.8m wide, of which the

centre piece is removed to draw lines and shape a 1.5m raised planting area (seed bed).

Then a wooden stake was used to 'punch' the holes into the soil. The wooden stake punches

6cm - 8cm deep holes and 6 – 7 holes in one row. Thus there was 7 plants in one row, on

one surface bed, see figure 20.

Benchmarking:

After WATERFALL’s processes were compared to best practises in the industry, it was

noticed that most farmers use a different method for the Crisp Lettuce for various reasons.

It was decided to re-engineer the shaping of the seed beds for the Crisp Lettuce.

Figure 20 As-Is bed shaping process

48

To-Be Process:

Group A will follow the soil preparation process as re-engineered in chapter 5.1. The only

difference in the process will be in the “shaping seed beds” step. The seed bed will be

shaped with the ridger (bed shaper) that is 1,8m wide. The ridger has 4 tines that is static

will be used to create 4 “ridges” in one seed bed (1,5m wide). Thus each ridge will be

0,375m wide. The seed bed will now only have one Crisp Lettuce on the ridge, 30cm apart

of the next head of lettuce, down one ridge, see figure 21 on the next page.

Reasons for changing the process:

When Crisp Lettuce is planned, it is better to plant the Crisp Lettuce one head on its own

because the plant tends to grow as normal, but when the head gets bigger it is likely to hang

over to one of its sides. In the As-Is process, the lettuce started to limit each other’s growth

due to the shortage of space.

Crisp Lettuce is more susceptible to rot, pests and diseases, during the growing period. The

To-be process will provide the head more than enough space to grow and the head gets the

required amount of oxygen. The seed beds will protect the plant against flood water

because the water will run down between the seed beds and not over the plants.

Figure 21 To-Be bed shaping process

49

With this change in the process, WATERFALL will not directly reduce costs, but it will lower

the risk of losing plants, it will save time and it will help to ease the planting process.

This change in the process will have a superior influence in the final product. The growing

period of the plant will be faster because the plants have a healthier environment to grow

in. The head size will automatically be bigger and heavier. There will be an increase on

percentage yield. This will lead to a higher profit because of the better product quality.

5.3 The hole punching method

As-Is Process

For Group A and B WATERFALL currently uses a wooden stake to 'punch' the holes into the

soil. The wooden stake punches 6cm - 8cm deep holes and 6 – 7 holes in one row.

Benchmarking:

This process takes too much time; it can be done so much faster and increase the

productivity at WATERFALL. Due to the whole new method for Crisp Lettuce (see chapter

5.2), the next alternative will only be suitable for the To-Be process of Group B (Exotic

Lettuce).

To-Be Process:

It is recommended to create a tool that punches 6 planting-holes at once. This will speed up

this step in the planting phase.

Things to keep in mind for the designing of the tool:

Women should be able to handle the tool; therefore the tool cannot be heavy.

If possible only one woman should be able to handle the tool, otherwise a maximum

of two women.

The tool should have the strength to punch the holes deep enough (6 - 8cm deep).

The tool should punch 6 planting holes at once.

The tool must be as cost-effective as possible.

The tool must be safe to use.

The tool must be portable.

The tool must be ergonomic friendly for the workers.

The following design (Figure 22) is just a concept design to give an idea of what can possibly

work.

50

Figure 22 Tool operated by one or two persons

The manufacturing of the concept design (Figure 22) is not part of the scope of this project.

Please find the detailed designs with specifications in Appendix D.

Reasons for changing the process

This change will not reduce costs to WATERFALL, but it will not be an expensive project to

manufacture this tool. This tool will ease the planting process as well as speed it up. The

seed bedding geometry will render it more effective when it comes to identifying the

matured plant, because it will be easier to spot the right sized product to be harvested.

5.4 Re-engineered processes conclusion

The three As-Is processes were compared to best practises in the industry. There were 3

potential improvements identified. All mapped processes will be given to WATERFALL,

please see the complete To-Be processes in Appendix C.

The potential improvements will lead to higher profits, increase the productivity on the farm

and also shorten the cycle time. The one potential improvement will ensure better product

quality.

51

CHAPTER 6: Implementation and Future Improvements

One of the biggest challenges in BPR is the implementation of the re-engineered process. It

is crucial that everyone involved in the new process should be convinced that the change is

essential and everyone within the company will benefit from the changes (Muthu, 1999).

A comparison between the As-Is process and the To-Be process can be mapped. The initial

changes that need to be implemented should be listed. Define a changeover plan and test

the preliminary versions. It is essential to start training programs before the re-engineered

process is implemented on full scale (Muthu, 1999).

WATERFALL was provided with all the As-Is process maps and the potential improvements.

WATERFALL run a trial period to test the three potential improvements identified in

Chapter 5.

WATERFALL decided to implement these changes because the changes made the planting

process easier, lowered the risks of losing plants, led to better quality products and

increased WATERFALL’s profitability.

To ensure success, continuous improvement is vital. The first stage in this step is to monitor

the changed process. It is crucial to monitor the results and the progress of action, to

observe whether the change in the environment was accepted (Muthu, 1999).

The process should continuously be re-mapped, re-analysed and re-design where necessary.

BPR can be combined with Total Quality Management (TQM) for continuous improvements

(Muthu, 1999).

There is a relationship between Lean Thinking and TQM. This is where the Lean awareness

plan (Chapter 7) fits in to the project.

52

CHAPTER 7: Lean Awareness Plan

As referred to in the problem statement, there are five steps to start ‘Lean thinking’ in a

business, of which the first step is to Document current Processes (Melton, 2005). This

chapter will introduce the Lean awareness plan for WATERFALL. The aim of the plan is to

generate a Lean awareness on the farm for future work.

The lean awareness plan will be implemented together with a culture change program. In

general, changes are forced onto the workers in the working environment and that is why

most employees disapprove of change. This is why it was suggested to initiate a culture

change program in the preparing phase, to ease the implementation process. It is crucial

that everyone involved in the new process should be convinced that the change is essential

and everyone within the company will benefit from the changes (Muthu, 1999).

7.1 Understanding Lean at WATERFALL:

When considering a lean transition, it is firstly essential to understand what WATERFALL will

become after lean is implemented. The second thing to take note of is to understand that

the transition will take time. A successful lean transformation will not just happen overnight.

Before WATERFALL starts the transformation, management should get all the employees

together and make sure everyone that forms part of the process, understands what’s

happening and what can be expected.


same or even better outputs created by the mass production process. The main aim of lean

manufacturing is to achieve the shortest possible cycle time by eliminating all the wastes.

WATERFALL will benefit by implementing lean.

According to Greenhouse (2012), a lean specialist in the UK, lean will deliver an increase in

productivity and efficiency. A Lean process will deliver a better performance and will reduce

re-work. By implementing lean at WATERFALL, it is not only about getting rid of all the

wastes, but also about respecting the employees on the farm, this is where the culture

change program will fit in. Lean leadership is about teaching all the employees at the

WATERFALL to have pride in their work, to empower the people and to help them grow. It

is also about setting targets for the workers and then coaching them to meet these targets.

The best place for WATERFALL to start with the lean transition is to design a continuous and

smooth process flow. According to Taylor’s theory, the efficiency of a production can be

53

improved by observing the employees, to identify the value added and non value added

activities, which was done in Chapter 4.

It is crucial to map the value stream where it is visual for the workers, because this will make

it easier for them to understand the bigger picture of the best process. This visual tool will

give the workers the opportunity to work more efficiently. Once the value stream is

identified, the wasted time and motion should be reduced or even eliminated where

possible. As soon as WATERFALL has continuous flowing processes, the cycle times will be at

its minimum and this will result in; top quality, reduced costs and the fastest delivery times.

It is the management of WATERFALL’s responsibility to determine the productivity level and

to encourage all employees to suggest any improvements or changes in each process. If the

suggested improvements are better compared to the old method, the improvements should

be implemented as the standard method for the complete production.

By implementing lean, the ultimate target is to get rid of all the non-value added activities,

also known as wastes. Wastes are anything that adds no value to the product but increases

the production costs (Tapping, 2002). The 7 wastes are: Overproduction, Waiting,

Transport, Over processing, Motion, Inventory and Defects. Later in this chapter these

wastes will be discussed and translated to Zulu as part of the culture change program.

The fundamental wastage at WATERFALL will be overproduction, if WATERFALL over

produce a certain amount of lettuce then WATERFALL will lose a lot of profit because the

lettuce will rot and be unusable.

Lean can be classified into three stages namely: Demand Stage, Flow Stage and the levelling

Stage.

The demand stage is a stage where it is very important to understand the demand of the

customers, and to know the exact quantity of products that is needed. The flow stage; to be

able to meet customer demands, a process flow should be implemented to deliver the

correct product on the right time. In the levelling stage, it is about dividing the workforce,

to be able to meet the demand challenges over a shift or day.

54

7.2 Future Work: Lean Manufacturing Tools and Techniques

Once WATERFALL has identified the wastes in the processes, there are a few tools and



(Monden, 1993). This is only brief overviews of the different tools. An in depth study of the

different tools can be done in the future.

Just-in-time (JIT) refers to the concept where everything arrives at the right time, thus

when it is needed (Ohno, 1988). It’s used to get rid of wastes such as over stocked inventory

and defects. JIT is used in distribution and purchasing departments.

The Japanese word for continuous improvement is Kaizen. The main goal in the Kaizen

method is that everyone is involved in the continuous improvement strategy without any

big financial investments (Ohno, 1988). Kaizen strategy mainly focuses on the people and

this method makes use of the 5S Housekeeping tool (Levinson & Rerick, 2002). The 5S

housekeeping rules are used to clean and organize the workplace. If the workplace is tidy,

no time is wasted on searching for tools.

The Kanban system is a tool used to get everything in the process on time (JIT) (Monden,

1993). This system makes use of cards with all the information about the part or product on

the cards. It was develop by Toyota, to get rid of wastes and to reduce costs.

Cellular operations designed the Work Cell method; machines were arranged in the order of

the production process (Levinson & Rerick, 2002). The work cell method has various

benefits; firstly it reduces labour costs and inventory and it increases the product quality

and work force efficiency.

Production Smoothing involves planning and levelling the demand while the production

level is constant over a period of time. Production smoothing works parallel with the

Kanban method (Monden, 1993).

Autonomation, better known in Japanese as Jidoka. It is “autonomation with a little bit of a

human touch” (Levinson & Rerick, 2002). The main goal of autonomation is to achieve zero

defects, as soon as a problem occurs the machine automatically stops. This tool was also

designed by Toyota (Monden, 1993).

55

7.3 The Culture Change Program:

At WATERFALL all the employees are from the Zulu origin, thus the only language the

workers understand completely, is Zulu. Well known Japanese and English lean

nomenclature will be changed to the Zulu phrase with the same meaning. This way the

workers at WATERFALL will not only have a better understanding of the relevant words but

they will also experience greater inclusivity in the workplace. This will help contribute

towards WATERFALL’s mission to become a preferred employer (Chapter 3).

By considering the workers culture, they will appreciate the change. The translation to Zulu

words will follow in table 6: Table 6 Word translation.

English Japanese Zulu

Lean Manufacturing 5 S to Organise the work area

Sort: To eliminate the things that is not used.

Ukulahla

Set in order: Organise the remaining things.

Ukulungisa

Shine: Clean and inspect work area.

Ukuhlanzeka

Standardise: Set standards to meet.

Ukukwenza into ngedlela

Sustain: Apply the standards Ukwenza izinto nxono

The 7 deadly wastes

Wastes: Anything that adds no value to the product.

Muda Izinto ezingasafunakaliyo

Overproduction: When products are produced without any order placed for these products, thus the production rate doesn’t match the demand. Overproducing increase staff, inventory and transport costs.

Izinto eziningi ezingasoze zisebenze

Over processing: Doing more than what is required by the customer. It occurs when a process has too many

Ukwenza izinto ezingafunwa ngabazothenga

56

stations for inspection. Over-processing increase cycle time and production costs.

Transportation: Refers to when the products are moved unnecessary, for instance in and out inventory storage and when the process flow are not in a logical sequence.

Into ongasebenzisa ukuhambisa izinto ngayo

Waiting: Wasting time while waiting for other operations, better known as idle time. For example: Waiting for a tool change, waiting for a design approval or even waiting for maintenance and repairs.

Ukulinda

Defects: When produced products have defects and needs to be rework. Defects will increase the production costs and the cycle time, thus it will delay the process.

Izinto ekingayenzangwa ngedlela

Motion: Unnecessary movements by the workers, for instance searching for something, stretching, handling products more than what is necessary and having to walk to other stations.

Into ezingabalulekanga

Inventory: When the inventory levels are unnecessarily high. This will increase the costs and lead times.

Ukuthenga izinto ukwenzela ngabazothenga

Deming’s Cycle

Plan: Establish a plan and expected results.

Ukulungiselela

Do: Implement the plan. Ukwenza ukulugisela

Check: Verify the outcomes/results.

Ukubona ukuthi zilungiswe kahle

Act: Keep on doing it. Ukuphinda phinda

Tools and Techniques

57

Just-In-Time: Refers to the concept where everything arrives at the right time

Ufike ngesikhathi

Continuous Improvement: Kaizen strategy mainly focuses on the people and this method makes use of the 5S Housekeeping tool

Kaizen Indlela abasebenza ngayo

Pull System: The Kanban system is a tool used to get everything in the process on time.

Kanban Ufike ngesikhathi

Autonomation: The main goal of automation is to achieve zero defects, as soon as a problem occurs the machine automatically stops

Jidoka Ungakwenzi okungalunganga

Error Proofing: Goal to achieve zero defects

Poka-yoke Ungakwenzi okungalunganga

General Words

Work place Gemba Lapho engisebenzela khona

Working Sebenza

7.4 To summarise the Lean Awareness plan


same or even better outputs created by the mass production process.

By implementing lean, one of the ultimate targets is to get rid of all the non-value added

activities, also known as wastes. Wastes are anything that adds no value to the product but

increases the production costs. The well known 7 types of wastes are; Overproduction,

Over-processing, Transportation, Waiting, Defects, Motion and extra Inventory.

Lean it is not only about getting rid of all the wastes, but also about respecting people. This

is where the culture change program fits in. Lean leadership is to teach all the employees at

WATERFALL to have pride in their work, to empower the people and to help them grow.

Before WATERFALL starts the transformation, management should get the people together

and make sure everyone that forms part of the process, understands what’s happening and

what can be expected. When considering a lean transition, it is essential to understand

what WATERFALL will become after lean is implemented. The second thing to take note of is

the transition will take time. A successful lean transformation will not just happen overnight.

58

Once WATERFALL has identified the wastes in the processes, there are a few tools and



(Monden, 1993).

The culture change program will consist of the translation of well known Japanese and

English lean nomenclature to the Zulu phrase with the same meaning. This way the workers

at WATERFALL will not only have a better understanding of the relevant words but they will

also experience greater inclusivity in the workplace.

59

CHAPTER 8: Conclusion and Future work




The following factors were considered:

WATERFALL did not have any of the old processes documented. The quality and

effectiveness of the business was not up to standard.

The old business and management processes at WATERFALL were neither efficient

nor consistent because of the lack of process documentation.

Neither the management nor the employees at WATERFALL were aware of the

importance of mapped processes.

WATERFALL did not have any form of Lean Awareness on the farm.

The 5 step BPR methodology was conducted. The first step was the preparation phase; in

this step it was identified what are the customer’s expectations, the objectives for the re-

engineering, and what WATERFALL could expect as a result from the re-engineering process.

The lettuce produced at WATERFALL was divided into the three main groups; Group A, B

and C. It was decided to categorise the lettuce into these groups according to the different

production processes. Thus the different types of lettuce and leaf products in each group

follow an identical production process. All the As-Is processes were mapped and each step

was discussed in detail.

The three As-Is processes were compared to best practises in the industry. There were three

potential improvements identified. WATERFALL tested the potential improvements to see

whether the improvements let to better results. It was found that the potential

improvements made the planting process easier, lowered the risks of losing plants, led to

better quality products and increased WATERFALL’s profitability. WATERFALL decided to

implement the three improvements. The As-Is processes were updated to the To-Be

processes. The To-Be process maps were given to WATERFALL.

For future work, a lean awareness plan was outlined to initiate an awareness of lean

terminology to easy the implementation of lean in the future. The awareness plan was

combined with a culture change program. . If WATERFALL can implement a full Lean

process in the future; WATERFALL will have financial, environmental and social benefits.

60

This project added value to WATERFALL by documenting and re-engineering the business

processes, whilst establishing a lean awareness on the farm.

61

References

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS, 2008. Directorate: Agricultural Statistics of the National Department

of Agriculture, Private Bag X144, Pretoria, 0001.

Butler, C. (1994). "The Role of UT in Facilitating BPR: Observations from the Literature", in

(Glasson et al., 1994), pp. 147-160

Chase, Richard B., Aquilano, Nicholas J., Jakobs, F. Robert; 1998; Production and Operations

Management, Manufacturing and Services; Eighth Edition, Irwin McGraw-Hill.

Corrigan, S. (1996). "Human and Organisational Aspects of Business Process Reengineering",

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Appendix A: Project Plan

Site Visits

Table 7: Planned site visit dates.

Site Visit number Date

1 24 March 2013 – 27 March 2013

2 18 July 2013 – 21 July 2013

3 During September – Final date to be confirm

Appointments with Sponsor and Project Leader

The industrial sponsor, requested to meet with the primary resource once every two weeks.

In the two week period it is the Primary Resource’s responsibility to have made progress in

the project.

Appointments with the project leader will be scheduled as required, at least twice before

any project report (phase) deadline.

Resources

The following resources will only be a projection; the chances are good that it might

increase during the project.

Primary Resource

Name and Surname: Miss L Visagie

Phone number: 0845004258

E-mail address: [email protected]

Industrial Sponsor

Name and Surname: Mr A Liebenberg

Phone number: 072 319 3278


mailto:[email protected]

65

Project Leader

Name and Surname: Miss E van Wyk

Phone number: 012 420 6708


Other Resources

Internet

Journals

Books and textbooks

Budget

The budget is an estimated total that is expected to be paid during the project as seen in

Table 8.

Table 8: Estimated Project Budget

Budget entry Estimated Amount

Site Visit Petrol (6 Trips – 3 x There and Back) R 0 (Sponsored by Industrial Sponsor)

Accommodation (3 Visits) R 0 (Sponsored by Industrial Sponsor)

Site Visits Extras (3 Visits) R 1 500

Internet expenses R 500

Telephone expenses R 500

Printing and Binding (All Phases) R 1 500

Stationary R 300

Total expenses R 4 300

mailto:[email protected]

66

Appendix B: Project Plan in form of a Gantt chart.

67

Appendix C: Complete To-Be Processes

Group A: Crisp Lettuce

68

Group B: Exotic Lettuce

69

Group C: Baby Leaves

70

Appendix D: Detailed design of planting tool

industrial engineering in salad agriculture

Documents

management processes

importance of mapped

waterfall farm

current processes

executive summary waterfall

industrial engineering

faculty of engineering

lack of process documentation