Resumen

CARDOZO, Edyamira R; RODRIGUEZ, Carlos  y  GUAITA, Wilfredo. Small and Medium Size Enterprises of the Food and Agriculture Sector and Sustainable Development: Approach based on Principles of Lean Manufacturing. Inf. tecnol. [online]. 2011, vol.22, n.5, pp. 39-48. ISSN 0718-0764.  doi: 10.4067/S0718-07642011000500006.

The productive processes of forty five small and medium size enterprises that manufacture guayanés telita cheese, located in two rural municipalities of the Bolivar State in Venezuela were analyzed. The objective of the study was identifying the principles of lean manufacture and the application of the concept of the Five "S": i) environmental protection; ii) waste management; iii) development and maintenance of areas of clean and safe work; iv) training and dissemination of this culture of self-regulation processes; and v) implementing best practices for food production. The study was of the descriptive type and a questionnaire was applied to the forty five companies. The results show that these small and medium size enterprises have limitations in their production systems that prevent their competitive participation in the market.

Palabras clave : SMEs; food production; dairy industry; lean manufacturing.