Apply lean distribution principles to food logistics

In the current scenario distribution network optimization is one of the most crucial topics about Supply Chain (SC) management (SCM). This element covers even more importance within the food industry where, both at the manufacturer’s or wholesaler’s side and at the retailer’s side, the margins are continuously decreasing and the competition is struggling. Companies require the supply chain‘s capability to adapt or respond in a speedy manner to a changing marketplace environment. The effect is an extreme research of both efficiency and flexibility in all the logistic processes. The aim of this paper is integrating the lean principles inside a food SC, introducing an innovative approach for the food distribution network management based on a linear programming model. The output is for each products category how lean is convenient to manage it inside the food distribution network; in other words if it is efficient to pull its demand within the SC with the same frequency/quantity of the customer and if it makes sense pulling its demand with direct deliveries with multi products pallets in terms of demand mix. In order to test the proposed model, a real application in a food SC is presented and a sensitive analysis of the lean-keys factors is developed.