Maximize Process Improvements!

Posted July 31, 2015 at 10:51 am

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A key goal for growth-oriented plant managers and company executives is to set the parameters for continuous improvement, which, ultimately, is the pursuit of profitability.

That was the message that J.R. Ryan and Donald Maida, TBR Associates, brought to a TRSA webinar titled “The Process of Process Improvement,” that aired on July 29. During the presentation, the speakers cited specific examples from daily floor operations for comparison. The webinar also examined key components, such as company culture, problem-solving techniques and the solutions necessary for positive improvements.

“Just as we need a process to load a washer efficiently and consistently to maximize throughput, and deliver the correct product and quantity, creating a standard to rely on, we also need a process to drive and prioritize the right improvements,” said Maida, senior consulting director with TBR, part of the Tingue, Brown & Co. family of companies. The process itself must be standardized to be effective. Similar to adjusting wash formulas for continuously changing wash conditions, process improvement also adapts to changing business conditions in the pursuit of perfection.

Whether a company is working on painting the breakroom or eliminating route shortages, your improvement process should be tied into both specific business goals and overall results. In other words, the process should focus on maximizing continuous improvement. Several other key components discussed during the webinar included:

  • building a positive culture, both top down and bottom up
  • using methods to identify or trace the weakness in the process
  • incorporating standard mechanisms to expose and fix mistakes.
  • using multiple problem-solving techniques.
     

“To be effective you’ve got to have the right people in the right places that can implement and manage the process,” said Ryan, president of TBR. “It’s got to be a culture that fosters continuous improvement and values improvements. The people that do the work are usually better equipped and better motivated to come up with improvements and ideas by themselves, with direction and supervision from management. But the culture must exist for those ideas to flow from the bottom up in an organization.”

Once communication is flowing both ways, you can encourage and harness employee ideas, Ryan said. When you’ve identified the root problems in the process, and any interrelated issues, you can focus on improvement efforts and generate solutions. The webinar also discussed methods for assessing, prioritizing and implementing new ideas, including

  • analyzing the feasibility of ideas
  • aligning those ideas with goals and bottom-line results, while eliminating departmental “silos.”
  • Prioritizing ideas based on ROI or ease of implementation
  • Securing resources and tracking process
     

Maida and Ryan emphasized that the primary goal for process improvement is to identify and eliminate waste, which is not the same as short-term cost cutting. The difference between eliminating waste and cutting costs is if you don’t eliminate waste you haven’t reduced the workload. So you only realize a short-term gain in terms of cost savings. Conversely, by eliminating waste, you get a long-term benefit by having less work.

The webinar concluded with ways to monitor and adjust any process improvements, apply improvements on a broader scale, and the management framework necessary for leadership and implementation teams, including progress updates and reporting responsibilities.

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