Dated: 1 June 2008 Daphne Tan, Editor, Asia Food Journal
What do music and manufacturing have in common? Henry Ford, who first established mass car production, conceived the idea of a single product assembly line from the cut-up operations of a Chicago slaughterhouse. Japanese car-maker Toyota later reworked the system to include a range of products, achieving signifi cant productivity gains and establishing what has become the basis of manufacturing practice.
This was to mark the beginnings of "lean" a term coined to typify minimal waste, productive maintenance and consistent output in manufacturing. Cardiff Business School's food process unit, in a 2006 paper, refi ned the lean concept by identifying fi ve core characteristics: customer focus, value-add to products, strategic partnerships with customers and suppliers, continuous process and product improvement, and embracing best practices.
Returning to the setting that fi rst inspired the original assembly line, studies of fi ve conveyor belt slaughterhouse operations found that manual cutting and deboning work were best performed when line speeds followed rhythmic beats marked by precise time intervals, not unlike the metronome used to keep time in music. In such cases, worker effi ciency and quality of work improved, and ineffi ciencies were reduced. Moving to repetitive rhythms, experts believe, helps processing lines achieve those tenets of lean.
This could perhaps explain why human beings are instinctively drawn to beat-perfect mechanical movements. At the Interpack show, it was not hard to catch moments where others, like myself, were similarly mesmerized by the capacious set-ups of precision-timed, lyrically paced robotic activity.
Unilever has announced it intends to appoint Paul Polman, 52, as group chief executive. He will succeed Patrick Cescau, who retires at the end of the year.
Germany's METRO Group is making plans to open its first Metro Cash & Carry wholesale store in Kazakhstan in the summer of 2009. The Group officially agreed to the investment with the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Wednesday, a move which will extend METRO's activities to 33 countries.
Trent Ltd, the retail arm of the Tata group in India, is likely to invest around Rs 20billion ( €0.3 billion ) over the next five years in the roll out of 50 Star Bazaar hypermarket stores, according to Indian press reports.
The recent credit crunch has led all the major supermarket chains in the UK to increase promotions of cheap, unhealthy food, according to the country's National Consuner Council (NCC).
Auchan has published half year results for the first time as a result of new European regulations governing transparency. Although there has been a slow-down in mature markets, emerging markets remained buoyant for the French company and as a result sales for the first six months of 2008 were 9.4% higher than in 2007 reaching EUR18.7 billion.
Price promotions and the decision to only partially pass on food price inflation to customers have led to a downturn in second quarter margins for Ahold. Net sales for second quarter 2008 were EUR 5.8 billion, down 0.8% from the same period last year. At constant exchange rates, net sales increased by 7.3%.
