SW North America, CNC Machines and Automation
Updated Published

5 Ideas for Continuous Improvement

These suggestions for manufacturing process improvements are based on Kaizen ideas that call for never-ending improvement from the entire organization.

Share

Continuous Improvement (CI) of the people and processes under my authority” is the fourth point of my internal compass. The Kaizen concept is usually explained to Americans as meaning “improvement.” While this simplification overlooks the role of maintenance and standardization in the Japanese implementation of Kaizen, it can be understood that a major component of Kaizen strategy is the call for never-ending efforts for improvement that involves everyone in the organization—managers and workers alike.

light bulb and hand sketching
 

Here are five ideas to help you understand whether your organization is focused on continuous improvement or suffering from continuous pain because of a lack of a process for generating progress and improvement.

5) It’s about the process, NOT the results. If you concentrate on nurturing the process, the results will come as a natural consequence. Everyone has processes and every process can be improved. Unintended variation in our processes leads to undesirable variation in the outcomes of our processes.

The proper continuous improvement focus is to simplify our processes to reduce or eliminate these potential variations. This is what makes lean manufacturing and 5-S successful—the elimination of unwanted variation.

4) Frozen practices versus “Freedom with Fences.” At least part of the current malaise in Detroit these days is a consequence of the major OEMs’ insistence on frozen practices. They are simultaneously demanding cost reductions from “savings” that their frozen practice procurement systems are structurally designed to prevent.

“Freedom with Fences” is a term used at Harley-Davidson. It enables employees to understand both the limits and the latitude they have to make improvements in their work processes while protecting their downstream customers. Would your people say that you are a “freedom” company or a “fences” company? Or, would they say that you, like Harley-Davidson, are a “Freedom with Fences” company? What will you do about it?

3) Have the courage to take risks. Thomas Edison had countless failures in his work to find the ideal filament material for the incandescent light. Yet, he looked at each of those failures as “lessons that taught us what won’t work” rather than as failed experiments.

There will always be risks associated with change. There are no guarantees. But there are inevitable long-term risks to avoiding change as well. One can intelligently manage risk through the use of facts and data.

risk sign
 

Who has access to facts and data in your shop? Do they know that failure is survivable? An organization that is truly committed to continuous improvement is filled with people who are comfortable with learning from what doesn’t work. An organization where people are afraid of consequences will never be successful at continuous improvement.

2) Continuous improvement is a process. Processes have owners. Owners are empowered to maintain and improve that which they own. Who owns continuous improvement in your business? Who owns continuous improvement in your shop? Who owns continuous improvement in your chip-spinning department? What evidence exists to show that all employees are working on continuous improvement?

1) Every day, some kind of improvement should be made somewhere in your company. Many small, incremental improvements over time will out-achieve a few large “breakthrough” projects over the long run. They will also be easier to sustain and will probably cost less, too. Do you know where the last continuous improvement idea was implemented in your company? Do you know when? Did you congratulate the team that implemented it? Why or why not?

team holding up arrow
 

Continuous improvement is synonymous with progress. Without continuous improvement, there can be no progress, only decline as the rest of the world continues its drive to better/faster/cheaper.

Continuous improvement is the engine that drives our economy through improved customer satisfaction, reduced variability, reduced waste and higher profits. The above ideas for continuous improvement ought to give you an indication of the status of continuous improvement in your company. It’s time to get to work.

Also read: ‘Five Questions for Continuous Improvement.”

YCM Alliance
SW North America, CNC Machines and Automation
Campro USA
Marubeni Citizen CNC
World Machine Tool Survey
Kyocera
SPC Innovations, In-machine gaging and attachments
Star swiss-type automatic lathes

Related Content

Basics

Important Machining Factors of Carbon Steels

Learn the factors that contribute to carbon steels and their machinability as well as the 1214 steels, 1215 steels and 1018 steels, other grades, and more.  

Read More
Basics

Reducing Variation: The Only Way to Reduce Production Cost

Hidden variation in production is what increases costs in manufacturing. Here are four tips for reducing variability.

Read More
Grinding

5 Grinding Considerations for Improving Surface Finish

Improving surface finish can be done by making adjustments to one or more of these points: operational parameters, wheel dressing, grit size, coolant delivery and machine condition.

Read More
Basics

Metalworking Fluid Management and Best Practices

Cutting metal is a complex process involving many critical factors to be successful. Correctly applied metalworking fluids, including oils or coolant, is one of these critical factors.

Read More

Read Next

Lean

Video: Adopting Continuous Improvement as Company Culture

Continuous improvement is an ongoing investment into identifying opportunities for boosting efficiency and reducing waste. This article shares advice from machine shop managers to other machine shop managers about continuous improvement plans that have worked for their companies and the benefits they are enjoying as the fruits of their labor.

Read More

Maintain to Improve

Continuous improvement begins with understanding and maintaining the capabilities of what we have. Deciding what to do as a business manager is a high-risk, low-reward activity.

Read More
Tooling

The Value of Swiss-Types Milling Rectangular Medical Parts

High-speed spindle technology was key to effective milling of small cardiac monitoring components complete on a CNC sliding-headstock machine platform instead of running them across two mills.

Read More
Campro USA