Empirical Investigation of Lean Manufacturing Adoption and Operational Performance in Nigerian Food Processing SMEs

This study empirically investigates the relationship between lean manufacturing adoption levels and operational performance outcomes in small and medium-scale food processing enterprises across Nigeria's South West and South East geopolitical zones. While lean manufacturing research has generated extensive evidence in developed economy contexts, empirical studies examining its adoption patterns and performance impacts in Nigerian manufacturing SMEs remain sparse, creating an evidence gap that limits the quality of policy and managerial guidance available to practitioners in this context. This research employs a positivist cross-sectional survey design, administering a structured questionnaire instrument to production managers and quality officers in one hundred and twelve food processing SMEs operating in Lagos, Ogun, Anambra, and Imo states. Lean adoption is operationalised using a twenty-four-item scale encompassing five lean practice dimensions, validated through confirmatory factor analysis. Operational performance is measured across quality, delivery, flexibility, and cost dimensions. Structural equation modelling is used to test hypothesised relationships between lean practice dimensions and performance outcomes, controlling for firm size, age, and export orientation. Results confirm significant positive associations between lean adoption and quality and delivery performance, with a weaker but statistically significant effect on cost performance. Contrary to prior findings in developed country studies, flexibility performance shows no significant association with lean adoption in this sample. Keywords: lean manufacturing, food processing SMEs, structural equation modelling, operational performance, Nigeria