CI DILEMMA FEBRUARY 2019
CI Dilemma
Converting the non-believers
A company has dabbled with lean concepts, to some success, but has never had a formal
approach to continuous improvement – until new recruits attempt to implement fresh ideas
AAindustry,s a Tier 2 supplier to the automotive
industry, we were told to implement
lean almost 20 years ago by our
customers (and their customers!).
Like many companies, we gained some
good benefi ts from our initial dalliances
with lean techniques. However, amongst
both senior management and the staff
on the shopfl oor, the process was always
regarded as a customer requirement.
It felt a bit like achieving the TS
16949 Quality Standard, which aims to
encourage better quality control through a
continuous improvement approach, rather
than something that we really believed in
as a company.
More recently, however, we have taken
a number of good new employees who
have seen great lean successes in other
companies. As a result they have been left
disappointed with the rather jaundiced
long been a symptom of our culture.
CI Solution By Paul Bell, managing director, Manufacturing Excellence
We would suggest a four-stage process
here, because culture change may sound
easy, but it requires substantial eff ort!
Firstly, you should promote that the
company is going to do something big
and long lasting, and show that there is
a three-year or even a fi ve-year roadmap.
The road map should demonstrate that
everyone is going to be involved, and
that there is real ownership from MD
downwards. You can promote the
benefi ts, but you don’t need to have any
detail at this stage. If the word ‘lean’
has negative connotations within the
business, don’t be afraid to use diff erent
name for this process, and do consider
using something very positive
Next, we strongly recommend that
you run some training games that
demonstrate the eff ectiveness of the
techniques, and that are fun. The purpose
of these is to prove that there are some
good things out there. The games should
be enjoyable, and should demonstrate in
a quantitative way that there are real and
tangible benefi ts available.
For the follow-up, we need to
demonstrate that the theory from the
games can be applied to real businesses
to make those businesses exceptional.
There are a number of ways in
which this can be done, and it is
well worth using a number of
these. They can include
entering and attending
awards events such as the
Manufacturing Champions
Awards, going to
conferences and exhibitions
about improvement and
visiting exemplar companies,
such as those featured in
Manufacturing Management’s Experience
Days or EEF visits, providing published
stories about successful improvement
programmes, and making available
suitable books about improvement.
All of these build on the same message.
approach to improvement that has
They have arrived full of great ideas
and an appetite to make improvements,
but have discovered that we don’t
necessarily have any formal vehicle for
implementing their proposed changes.
As directors, we have realised that
our business could really benefi t from
a substantial commitment to properly
implementing lean techniques, but we
know that the impact will be much lower
unless we can change the culture and
engage our workforce. Aside from the
new arrivals, this is an alien concept for
most of our staff , so getting them on
board with the changes we want to make
will be a long, hard road.
Any ideas on what we could do to
engage our employees with a CI mindset
would be much appreciated!
Finally, you should choose one or two
of the very best improvement initiatives
that have been successfully implemented
in your own company, and then promote
these internally, to show that not only
does the theory work and that other
companies can do well using the
theory, but that their own
factory can also fl ourish.
At all costs avoid anything
that you have struggled to
sustain! If you choose to
develop an exemplar area,
it should be clear from
your roadmap that this is
only the start of a process
that will include everyone,
and avoid words like ‘pilot’ – this
suggests that this is a trial rather than
the start of a substantial process.
Provided that you then have a realistic
timeframe and goals for your latest
improvement journey, you can then sit
back and enjoy the benefi ts!
HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you agree with our expert? How would you engage your workforce with a new idea such as lean manufacturing?
Send us your views and you could appear here next month. Email: chris.beck@markallengroup.com
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