Mexico is one of the leading citrus producers worldwide. This work presents an analysis for improving the citrus waxing process in a company dedicated to this activity, located in the town of Álamo, Temapache, in the northern part of the state of Veracruz, Mexico. This study used the ten approaches to operations analysis to find areas of opportunity where the company could improve; the implementation of lean manufacturing tools such as 5s, Kaizen, and autonomous maintenance was suggested to optimize the waxing process. As a result of this analysis, an improvement proposal was developed regarding simplifying operating procedures, improving the handling of materials, and optimal use of equipment, allowing the company to be more efficient and productive.

The Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) are independent methodologies, that can be used and developed freely, but can be an important enhancer when you want to achieve innovation if they work together. The objective of this article is to present an analysis of the customers’ requirements in a product manufactured with biodegradable materials, the output result when applying the QFD was the quality critic related to toxicity, while the input information for the matrix TRIZ’s technical contradictions were the translation of the quality critic to one of the 39 technical design parameters, corresponding to parameter 30 (Harmful factors acting on the object from outside), being considered as the transfer point between the methodologies thus achieving the integration of both.

The Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) are independent methodologies, that can be used and developed freely, but can be an important enhancer when you want to achieve innovation if they work together. The objective of this article is to present an analysis of the customers’ requirements in a product manufactured with biodegradable materials, the output result when applying the QFD was the quality critic related to toxicity, while the input information for the matrix TRIZ’s technical contradictions were the translation of the quality critic to one of the 39 technical design parameters, corresponding to parameter 30 (Harmful factors acting on the object from outside), being considered as the transfer point between the methodologies thus achieving the integration of both.

Mexico is one of the leading citrus producers worldwide. This work presents an analysis for improving the citrus waxing process in a company dedicated to this activity, located in the town of Álamo, Temapache, in the northern part of the state of Veracruz, Mexico. This study used the ten approaches to operations analysis to find areas of opportunity where the company could improve; the implementation of lean manufacturing tools such as 5s, Kaizen, and autonomous maintenance was suggested to optimize the waxing process. As a result of this analysis, an improvement proposal was developed regarding simplifying operating procedures, improving the handling of materials, and optimal use of equipment, allowing the company to be more efficient and productive.