Abstract Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma initiatives (LS however, adoption in the food industry is still very low. The sector lacks familiarity with the LS it views “quality” as a safety and hygiene factor, which is one characteristic that differentiates it from other sectors. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the food industry sector's characteristics affects its adoption of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) practices and performance improvement. A survey of 145 food industry firms was conducted and then analyzed using structural equation modeling to test the research framework. Our findings suggest that LSS is relevant and effective in this sector. Food industry performance is positively affected by the adoption of LSS practices. Moreover the adoption of LSS practices in the food industry is greatly affected by the level of experience of the individual company. The level of experience moderates two performance indicators very valued by the sector (financial gains and product quality). The food industry is to a certain extent affected by the sector's characteristics. The compulsory cleaning practices restrict adoption of LSS practices such as set-up time reduction. Six Sigma role structure and Statistical Process Control dimensions are among the sector's least adopted practices. These practices require financial resources for training, which can be a challenge in a sector with low margins that primarily focuses on cost reduction, and they require statistical techniques and knowledge that is generally considered complex and too advanced in the food industry. These findings suggest that as managerial awareness of the relevance of LSS practices to food industry performance improvement increases, that managers will encourage employees to gain experience using the tools.

中文翻译：

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精益六西格码实践对食品行业绩效的影响：该行业经验和典型特征的影响

此外，在食品行业采用 LSS 实践很大程度上受各个公司经验水平的影响。经验水平会影响该行业非常重视的两个绩效指标（财务收益和产品质量）。食品行业在一定程度上受行业特点的影响。强制清洁实践限制了 LSS 实践的采用，例如减少设置时间。六西格码角色结构和统计过程控制维度是该行业采用最少的实践之一。这些做法需要财政资源进行培训，这对于主要关注降低成本的低利润行业来说可能是一个挑战，而且它们需要统计技术和知识，而这些技术和知识在食品行业中通常被认为是复杂且过于先进的。