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The aim of this study is to identify the readiness factors of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) for the food manufacturing industry. A multi-method qualitative approach was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve quality practitioners and three case food companies to identify and explore the LSS readiness factors in the food manufacturing industry. Twenty-eight factors were identified and classified into six LSS readiness factors (RF) in the food manufacturing industry context, namely, management support and leadership, organisational culture readiness, process management, project management, employee involvement, and external relations. This study could benefit managers in the food business as a diagnostic tool to evaluate their readiness to implement LSS prior to investing in the programme. The proposed framework identifies LSS readiness dimensions and their attributes to enable food businesses to conduct readiness level self-assessments, thereby contributing to the successful implementation of LSS in the food manufacturing industry. The determined readiness factors will potentially enable an organisational transformation to be better understood, making the implementation of LSS practices in food businesses more successful and sustainable.

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is the most current quality management approach being applied recently in many industries to improve food quality and subsequently process excellence in the businesses. The objectives of this paper are to determine the barriers and resistance to change factors of implementing LSS approach in the food industry. This study was conducted as to determine the benefits of applying LSS and comparing the trend of quality management being used in the food industry. It is also based on the application of systematic review of 113 LSS articles, involving a structured approach of data collection and data extraction. The listed barriers and resistance to change factors shown are top management support, lack of quality improvement knowledge, poor training and insufficient skills amongst employees and lack of financial budget thus causing the limitation of LSS approach in the food industry. The result mapped the current quality management approaches implemented in the food industry. The academics and the food industry practitioners may have an insight from this paper by considering their critical success factors, barriers and resistance to change factors that could facilitate towards a successful LSS implementation.

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a renowned approach for boosting operational excellence and competitive advantage through integrated core objectives of value creation and variation reduction. Despite its proven benefits in many leading companies, LSS implementation in the food sector is still behind compared with other sectors. LSS implementation is costly, and most businesses have failed due to a lack of preparation and an unsupportive organizational culture. Therefore, there is a need to identify LSS readiness factors that suit the food sector to minimize the risk of implementation failure in the industry. The current study concentrates on the LSS pre-implementation phase to determine the competency criteria to adopt LSS customized for the food business. This study will explore the LSS readiness criteria during the pre-implementation stage and critical success factors (CSFs) during the implementation stage in the food sector through Lewin's Change Theory. Twelve food sector employees who were associated with quality management activities were interviewed using a semistructured approach. The interview was recorded, transcribed and the transcription was analyzed using content analysis. The results showed six readiness themes in the food manufacturing sector with twenty-nine LSS readiness attributes, while seventeen factors out of thirty-one CSFs for the LSS at the implementation stage. The identified readiness factors are management commitment and leadership (ten attributes), organizational culture (nine attributes), employee involvement (six attributes), process management (four attributes), project management (four attributes) and external factors (three attributes). Through Pareto analysis, the most prioritized CSFs are from top management and leadership and employee involvement themes, with the training program being identified as the most important LSS CSFs (85%). This study will serve as a foundation for a benchmarking tool for managers to improve the effectiveness of an LSS implementation in the food sector.