Question : Is continuous improvement always costly and complicated? 

Not necessarily!  It’s possible to undertake a Lean approach, the objective of which is to optimise processes as quickly as possible. Continuous improvement is possible even in a context of very limited financial, human and material resources. Let us recall the Pareto principle that 80% of the effects are often attributable to 20% of the causes. Thus, eliminating significant waste can restore the performance of failed processes.

The steps

Regardless of the scope of continuous improvement projects, they steps are often very similar: defining the need, mapping the process, identifying causes and effects, and then finding a solution. An action plan and a control plan provide a framework to ensure the success of the process.

In fact, it is mainly the complexity of the problem and the availability of resources that will determine the ideal format for the process.

Question: When undertaking a continuous improvement process, should all operations be reviewed?

Answer :

Small changes can have a quick impact without disrupting your daily activities or requiring significant effort.  If you can reduce the length of a process, eliminate unnecessary tasks, or lower the cost of manufacturing a product, you’ll see long-term gains.  It all comes down to an analysis of the situation or, if you prefer, a diagnosis of the process.  For example, if employees have to leave their workstations to speak with their supervisors, this results in production stoppages, wasted time and unnecessary travel. A simple and effective solution would be to bring the telephones closer to the workstations, thus increasing the company’s productivity. 

Big Benefits

Never forget = a small change (20%) can generate big benefits (80%).  A training on best supervision practices helps support everything in order to implement good habits of participative management on the ground.  Simple, inexpensive and advantageous solution for all!

The solution to waste can be simple to implement and may not require any particular investment in terms of resources.

In short, it is essentially about:

• The right thing
• At the right time
• In the right place
• No more, no less

This maximizes value added (VA) and eliminates non-value added (NVA).

• VA = What the customer wants, a critical activity that directly contributes to meeting their need.
• NVA= Everything else, any non-essential activity.

A few simple and effective tools

• 5S (Separate-Sort, Locate-Store, Sparkle-Clean, Standardize, Follow-Involve)
• Kaizen, kaizen-blitz, Rapid Improvement Event (waste identification workshops with employees on the floor)
• Process mapping (method used to illustrate and sort the activities of a work process)
• Kanban (visual management, just in time)
• Bottlenecks (value production can only be increased by increasing production capacity at the level of a bottleneck).

All these continuous improvement tools are based on the same simple and effective principles:

• Constantly trying to do better.
• Knowing you are never perfect, but knowing perfectly well that you will be better than before.
• It’s an endless loop with an intensity that varies according to your company’s priorities.

To resume, it’ isn’t always necessary to use expensive means to solve a problem.  A good diagnosis of your production system, proven process optimization methods and training on best supervisory practices can, more often than not, help you achieve your performance goals.

Quote of the Week: “There is nothing more useless than doing very effectively something useless” (Peter F. Drucker)