Continuous improvement in the supply chain

There are many references dealing with implementation experiences of continuous improvement (CI) in companies, with improvement teams or other Personnel Participation Systems (PPS). Nevertheless, there are very few references about CI processes between companies in a supply chain (SC), although many authors have stated the importance of a joint management of the logistic systems as a tool for competitiveness. To demonstrate the sustainable advantage contributed by CI in the SC, we present some experiences of companies that have been implementing CI processes, not only within their own organisation, but also with other companies in their SC. We will specifically analyse the cases of two Spanish companies in the food industry, and will describe the CI programme's characteristics, which was carried out with improvement teams, its structure and its evolution. Finally, the results are discussed and conclusions are presented.