Alterações de processos produtivos em rede de lanchonete do Ceará: um estudo de caso

Abstract

Changes in production processes bring challenges for managers. The complexity lies in the breadth of what must be taken into account in the change process, that is, technical and human aspects. As a result, not all projects achieve their objectives, requiring route corrections. This work aimed to describe and analyze changes in the production process of a chain of snack bars located in Ceará. Called Express, these transformations sought to reduce costs with employees at points of sale (POS), standardize products and reduce waste of inputs. Its main characteristic was the separation between the time and place of production and consumption, where the pastries and calzones were produced in a central kitchen, frozen, stored and later sent to the snack bars, where they were reheated, fried and served; unlike the previous method, where the entire product was made at the POS. In order to know these changes in depth, a case study was used. Through semi-structured interviews, open questionnaires and observations, it was possible to collect data from professionals from different positions in the company and obtain a detailed picture of the project and analyze its results. Of the three objectives, the company achieved two of them: standardization of the product and reduction of employees at a point of sale. The third, waste reduction, was not achieved. Incidentally, the high waste during the Express was the main reason for it to be discontinued and the snack bars to return to producing in the traditional way. There was also no acceptance by some employees, who complained about the quality of frozen products.