Continuous Improvement Series – Part 5 of 5

As organizations evolve through their implementation of Continuous Improvement (CI) Programs they work to create a culture of change. The approach to change is really geared to elimination of waste in the facility and process. How to do things better than we are today is the main focus of a change oriented culture.

In many CI programs initial changes involve physical adjustments to machines or changes to the layout of the plant. These are significant changes that consume time and resources. As processes mature and benefits are realized organizations start to look at operations to uncover the next level of waste.

Building on the tools described in this series of blogs gives organizations a step up in their search for better management tools. First, those tools provide an effective way to monitor the success of initial CI projects on an ongoing basis. An Accurate Data foundation combined with Alerts will ensure that plant performance does not regress. Changes brought about through CI initiatives can be complimented by monitoring systems designed to prevent a recurrence of waste.

The key is setting the next set of targets. Once large changes are completed it is then time to examine and prioritize the small changes. Once again the foundation of Accurate Data yields the insights necessary to set and prioritize targets.

Real time machine data will yield detailed information on stoppages that occur during the course of the day. Associating these stoppages with root causes and providing a downtime analytical framework will point to the next set of problems that are in the way of improved productivity.

Organizations can then select targets and use tools designed to make these visible throughout the organization. LED Board technology can focus attention throughout the plant ensuring the right employees are engaged in resolving the problems. As these problems are resolved Alerts can be created so that the systems automatically monitor the production process and report when tolerances are starting to slip.

The next series of improvements can then be implemented using the same approach. In this way focus is brought to bear on problems that show potential for impact to the organiztion while systems monitor processes to ensure there are no relapses.

It is the combination of incremental change, applied continuously using a foundation of Accurate Data that can yield truly sustainable CI programs.