Categorizing WIP inventories in the food industry

Abstract

Purpose

The food and beverage industry, particularly the agro‐processing and packaging industry, plays a critical role in the economies of Latin America and Caribbean countries. To remain competitive and to increase competitiveness, companies operating in this industry must achieve operational efficiency – where one contributing factor would be the efficient management of their work‐in‐progress (WIP) inventories.

Design/methodology/approach

Constructs from related manufacturing management research areas such as manufacturing strategy and coordination theory, are incorporated into a conceptual framework to examine the reasons WIP are needed in food plants. The framework is used to inform the development of an audit tool, which is applied in a case study.

Findings

An audit tool is proposed, which can be used by practitioners to review the structural and infrastructural decisions that impact WIP.

Research limitations/implications

The audit tool is applied in one case study. Further application of the tool will test its overall comprehensiveness.

Practical implications

The audit tool can be used as part of a structured decision making process.

Originality/value

The paper brings together a number of constructs to create an audit tool that can be used in both greenfield and existing plants in the food industry.

Citation

Wilson, S. (2013), "Categorizing WIP inventories in the food industry", Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 27-48. https://doi.org/10.1108/20440831311321647