Huhtamaki

Are you a Plant Manager, Department Manager, or Supervisor “saddled” with responsibility for delivering Company Continuous Improvement objectives?  Or are you one of these individuals that use Continuous Improvement to expand your problem-solving capabilities and get things done? Depending on how you answer these questions, you are using Continuous Improvement (CI), or it is using you. I will explain what I mean that CI is using you. If you are going through the motions of “Doing CI” to meet your corporate objectives and not seeing a true benefit, CI is using your time and energy wastefully. If this situation does not change, you are doing a disservice to yourself, your people, and your company.

Continuous Improvement has several titles. A few of these are Business Excellence, TPM, and Operational Excellence. These methodologies do require skills that need to be learned. If taught correctly, there will be benefits during the training process. At first, the benefits may come a little slow. You do have to commit resources to gain capability. The trick is moving past the teaching events and the events that just add a checkmark in the done column of a goal. If you cannot accomplish this prerequisite, you will always feel like Continuous Improvement is something you do in addition to your “normal job.” In today’s environment, we are all too busy to be continually doing something in addition to our functional positions within a company. You cannot allow CI to continue using you. Continuous Improvement must transition to a culture where it is the methodology that makes it easier to get results; otherwise, it will be a burden on you and others for as long as the initiative remains. Would it be better to stop the initiative? Perhaps, it is best to quit if you continue down this path of CI working you; however, there is a better solution.

You have to change your mindset. Each individual trained with a CI skill should be viewed as a person who can lighten the load of another individual, often yourself. These trained employees will have varying capabilities. As a leader, it is your job to match their abilities with the task or problem needing to be accomplished. I encourage you to challenge them. It provides more personal satisfaction for the individual or team once completed while benefiting the organization to a greater extent. If you choose your CI event leaders correctly, they will be the subject matter experts that often work closest to the equipment or situation that needs addressing.

Let me provide you with a couple of real-life examples of how this works. First, a talented and insightful Department Manager approached me many years ago when I was a Continuous Improvement Manager. He was looking for help regarding improvements prospects and problem-solving opportunities in his department. Our company had a foundation of Lean Six Sigma capabilities, but it was limited due to the program's maturity. Our Lean leaders were called Skill Coaches. Seeing an opportunity with this request, I assured him that I could help if he were willing to dedicate a few floor employees. He was more than accommodating. I trained several Skill Coaches while addressing the areas of concern and opportunity. Before long, he had a little army of Lean Skill Coaches and experienced team members in the hourly workforce. These individuals were conducting Lean events essentially unsupervised by management. They delivered results, improved their jobs, felt empowered, and gained a sense of self-accomplishment. The biggest problem that we were facing is the department was making improvements that were vastly outpacing the other parts of the factory. The other Department Managers wanted to be a part of the action. It took a bit longer for the Department Managers to catch on to the “magic” of Continuous Improvement. It was not me as an individual. It was leaders and teams that I was able to develop with the resources given to me by the Department Managers. After gaining this understanding, it was not long before Continuous Improvement worked for them.  They soon saw returns tenfold and above what they committed for resources.

"Continuous Improvement must transition to a culture where it is the methodology that makes it easier to get results"

The second example took place a few years ago.  This time, I was the Manufacturing Manager.  I had a significant opportunity if I could reduce the change over time on a machine.  Every bit of product produced could be sold. The change over time contributed to nearly a month of lost production annually. At first, I was reluctant to ask for a Lean team due to being short-staffed; however, I decided to move forward because the opportunity was too great to ignore.  Surprisingly, I easily assembled a team using volunteer overtime despite the employees working some long hours. I underestimated the machine operators' desire to improve their work even in difficult times. Frankly, these Lean events are not only rewarding; they can also be fun for the employees. The team went about the business of reducing the setup reduction time.  At the end of the event, the team showed well over a fifty percent reduction in change over time.  Unfortunately, we were not able to sustain the gains.  The change over time reverted to its original time.  This defeat could have easily been the end of our efforts, but the team had shown me that it was possible to do it in a much faster time.  I asked the team to reconvene for a couple of days to revisit the event and its results. They made a few minor changes to the procedures and saw an improvement similar to the original outcome, but it did not sustain again.  I knew that there had to be more to the story. I also knew that I had the people closest to the process working on the problem. I had faith that they could determine what we needed for this improvement.  I asked them to get together once again. This time, they drilled down to the root cause of why it was not sustaining. The team was comprised of young and energetic operators. They felt very comfortable going up and down ladders and working off from catwalks. They failed to consider the older, more senior employees that may not be as comfortable in this scenario. We needed to add more safety rails to the catwalks that still provided access to do the changeover. It was a huge success. We sustained the lower change over time and made the whole process safer in the end.

These examples highlight how CI worked for the factories where I worked and for me. They also highlight some key elements necessary to get to this situation. First, find a true champion that values the minds of their employees as much as their hands and backs. This person will be willing to invest the time and resources to improvement teams to make their area better and the employees' lives better. The improvements made with this individual as a champion will create an example for others. Next, be persistent.  Recognize the success within the failures. Though the change over time did not hold to the event's first outcome, it still was reduced during the event; therefore, it was most likely possible.  Trust and empower those employees to drive to the root cause. More times than not, they will prevail when they have your support and encouragement. Also, remember, a complete failure is one less path that needs to be traveled to get to success. Finally, seek gains that genuinely impact the business and that team members can be proud of the results. This promotes a cascading effect of improvement while covering the investment of learning.