- We are a medium-sized engineering firm (employing 350 people) with big ambitions. One of our major objectives over the coming two years is to differentiate ourselves from our competitors in what is becoming an increasingly crowded marketplace. To that end, we embarked on a continuous improvement programme about four months ago.
The senior management – including myself (I'm production director) – got together and decided to start with 5S and a suggestion scheme. The results so far have been particularly encouraging. The factory is so much tidier than it used to be, it exhibits excellent visual management and the layout is more logical.
On top of this, our workforce has taken to the suggestion scheme with gusto. We only introduced it three months ago, but we have already had more than 100 suggestions, many of which will save us money and a couple of which could even make us money. All this early success has given my fellow directors the confidence to want to press on with more CI initiatives. They are talking about introducing our own bespoke production or operating system, maybe pinching (with pride) ideas and initiatives from forward-looking companies like Toyota, Bosch and Honeywell.
However, I'm not convinced that this is the right move for us. I believe that we should pause and take stock, and maybe employ an independent outside consultancy to steer us in the right direction. It seems to me that we are going 'balls out' for all this change, but there is no real strategy behind it and I wonder whether we might find it will run out of steam or hit the rocks sooner rather than later.
I know that, once a CI initiative starts to go wrong, its failure tends to be self-fulfilling and I really want to avoid this happening at my company.
What should we do? Continue with our initiative, perhaps getting help with the operating system implementation, abandon our current initiative and start again with a clearer strategy, or is there a third way?
- CI Solution - Jeremy Richardson of Suiko gives the expert view…
First, well done – you have made a strong start on your journey of establishing a continuous improvement programme and it's great you recognise the need for a road map rather than just adding more tools.
Keeping the momentum now is incredibly important. You have achieved excellent engagement thus far and experience dictates that it would be far easier to keep going. If you were to re-start the process, you would need to gain buy-in all over again.
Clearly, I would advise using outside support as the professionals you choose should have the necessary experience to hit the ground running. If you were building a house you would use an architect for the design and project management – there really is no difference here.
The experts witness these dilemmas every day and should be able to point you in the right direction with regard to tools and templates. More importantly, they can advise you on the most effective way to implement and embed the change needed.
The successful implementation of continuous improvement programmes depends heavily on an organisation's ability to develop a holistic approach. This centres on incorporating the right process with employee engagement.
Multiple studies have shown that around 70% of large change programmes fail to deliver the target outcome and, therefore, we strongly believe that the output should lead to an integrated, joined-up programme that will result in a sustainable and common journey towards the vision.
Our approach starts with a strategic framework, which ensures:
- The linkage of the programme to the business strategy.
- Why you want/need to change.
- A map of the 'journey'.
This is the bit we recommend you focus on. Ensure there is a clear, simple, measureable stepped approach to achieving the vision – ideally with a results and practices assessment built in. The tools (such as 5S) would fit very well into this stage and so we strongly advocate you build on what you have already achieved here.
Effective programme management is a critical success factor and should include robust governance, tracking and planning of the actual implementation. I suggest after developing a strategic framework and road map, the detailed plan of how to implement is the next activity.
Select an area of the business to be the pilot to prove your process and drive it to success. Benefits of this approach include:
- You can use it as reference during roll out.
- It acts as a showcase for customer visits, etc.
- It is a smaller area so it is easier to provide more support.
I would only advise a larger scale roll-out on the back of a successful pilot. In summary, I recommend your next steps are as follows:
1. Embed what you have done and ensure you keep that going.
2. With or without external support, develop a road map for your programme.
3. Establish a robust governance process – steering, tracking and auditing.
4. Build a detailed implementation plan for the pilot area (including the resource needs).
5. Then think about the group operating system.
Good luck with your implementation.
