Hi Zeeshan,
I think 5S is an important starting point for any continuous improvement programme. It gets your plant physically clean, tidy and organized but importantly it is very simple and allows you to involve all operators, so quite quickly you can begin to get the discipline and the fundamentals of lean into operator’s minds. It’s a great platform to build on. As a tip I would not even mention the Japanese words – I would still use the process but use your own language.
I would also early on explain the Continuous Improvement process either as a briefing or in some more in depth training covering the basic concepts of Continuous Improvement and to give them an understanding of why, who, where, when, what. I am attaching a briefing I gave some years back for a newsletter as the company I worked for embarked on a Continuous Improvement drive.
World Class Service…Right First Time – Every Time!
There is a need for all businesses to have an active and effective process of Continuous Improvement in place if they are to survive and thrive. If we are to fulfil our goal of providing customers with a World Class Service…Right First Time – Every Time! - We must be actively working on improvements. And when I talk about providing customers with a World Class Service…Right First Time – Every Time! - This applies equally to our internal customers. If we cannot satisfy our internal customers we cannot ever hope to satisfy our external customers.
So what is Continuous Improvement?
Continuous Improvement quite simply means ‘change for the better’ and covers all processes in a company including engineering, IT, financial, technical, commercial and customer service processes, as well as manufacturing. Continuous Improvement involves making continual small improvements by way of changes to the uses of manpower, machinery, methods, materials and money to eliminate waste and improve business efficiency. What Continuous Improvement is not is making people work harder – that would be stupid…
So if Continuous Improvement is about ‘change for the better’ what sort of changes are we talking about?
It’s basically about the elimination of waste such as:
defects – errors or flaws in the product causing rework or needing to be scrapped
non standard work – different working methods for the same task
transportation – moving materials or products about
inventory – keeping too much or the wrong stock
motion – people moving or travelling excessively
waiting times – allowing products to wait for processing
overproduction / underproduction – making too much or too little
over processing – doing too many processes during manufacture
I would add another to the list which is the waste of talent, knowledge and experience of employees – if they are not involved in Continuous Improvement
How are we going to go about Continuous Improvement?
Improvements happen every day but in addition we will be working on a number of specifically identified projects which we will work through in a structured way:
1. Assemble the improvement team – good mix of knowledge, skills and authority for the project
2. Identify and describe the project in measurable terms e.g. Problem X is costing us £10,000 per month we aim to reduce this by 50% within 3 months
3.Find the root causes of the problem – there are usually many causes, but usually only a few will be significant
4.Test possible solutions – did they work?
5. Make solutions permanent e.g. develop procedures, change specifications, carry out training, ensure ongoing monitoring so that changes stay in place
6. Celebrate Success – share knowledge, publicise success, give recognition to the team
Going from Good to Great!
Company X is a good company, we have fantastic people and we do things very well. What we are talking about here is taking the company to the next level. To do this requires a clear vision and a huge commitment in terms of time, effort and sometimes money. The benefits are numerous and will bring about improvements in product quality, health and safety, reduction of waste, faster response times to customers, it will allows us to become more competitive by driving down costs and help us to retain/gain customers through innovative products and services.
Importantly to me it will allow us all to work together towards a common goal and I’m sure this participation over time will improve teamwork within the company. We are at the beginning of a long road. It will be difficult at times, but I believe we will be successful and we can have a lot of fun on the way. That’s the challenge; I hope you will join me in our quest.
Suggestion schemes are great but from experience this scatter gun approach is little more than an exercise for letting people get things off their chest. Improvement projects should be targeted based on business need e.g. reduce quality defects, customer service and then chosen by pareto principal. An improvement project should then be worked on using a recognised root cause problem solving approach such as DMAIC. One project at a time done effectively is the only way for me.
There is a saying ‘he who chases two rabbits catches none!’ – well not exactly as you always must have more than one project on the go but limit the number and do them properly and methodically for lasting results.
A few ides to get started on the discussion.
Regards,
Simon
