Incorporate These Four Elements To Ensure A Successful Continuous Improvement Program
Problems, customer issues, productivity issues, and making decisions are an inherent part of daily life in every organization. Many organizations do an outstanding job and can resolve issues and make decisions very efficiently and quickly. However, there are still many organizations that struggle to resolve the simplest of issues. Why is it that some organizations are so much better than...
Read MoreImprovement Methodologies: PM, Six Sigma, DFSS, Lean – Choosing the Right One
Organizations have a variety of tools and methods available to improve their products, services, and processes. Deciding on which methodology to use can often become confusing because management does not understand how these methodologies are separated or used. In this article, I’ll try to alleviate some of this confusion by providing you some examples of when it is appropriate...
Read MoreA New Paradigm Shift Is Still Unthinkable In Many Organizations
A management paradigm is the way people think and act in conducting business. It consists of the values, beliefs, practices, methods, tools, etc. that members of a social group construct to integrate the thoughts and action of its members. Paradigms typically change slowly. Science evolves as new theories are advanced. Current views are regarded as more valid and truthful. As science...
Read MoreFix Low Hanging Fruit To Build Momentum
When starting any improvement initiative, it’s important to have early successes in your efforts. The saying, “Nothing motivates a team like success” is so very true. If a team has to wait months before it sees improvement in the process it’s working on, there will likely be a drop in motivation for the team. To make sure this doesn’t happen teams should begin...
Read MoreUse Gemba Walks to Uncover Problems & Promote Accountability
Gemba is a Japanese word that means the real place where value is created. A gemba walk is a management tool whose purpose is to have managers walk the front line where they can see problems as they are occurring, ask questions and allow them to create follow-up on problems and promote accountability. Problems are most visible where they occur and the best ideas for solving them will come...
Read MoreImportance of Monitoring Processes and Having Good Data
We’ve all been taught that without data our understanding of problems is just an opinion and in order to understand a problem or make a decision we must have good data. During our training in continuous improvement and Lean Six Sigma we are taught the importance of a good data collection plan, having an accurate measurement system and the need to establish operational definitions if...
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