A survey of structured continuous improvement programs in the Canadian food sector

This paper presents the results of a quantitative survey of structured continuous improvement programs in the Canadian food sector, including the motivational factors underlying the implementation of such programs. Surveys were distributed to a sample of corporate, manufacturing and quality professionals within the Canadian food industry. More than one-half of the respondents indicated that the organization by which they were employed used continuous improvement methodologies. Company ownership and size were not significant in predicting a company’s use of such programs, but processed food companies were 10% more likely to use them than non-processed food companies. Companies that used continuous improvement were less likely to have product recalls than companies that did not. All motivational factors assessed in this study, with the exception of speed to market of new products and line item fill rate, influenced an organization’s decision to implement continuous improvement.