The News
Are the improvement tools working? A survey of practice
Superior performance of improvement program is only achievable when everyone is enggaged in the day to day improvement activities and defect elimination
In a recent paper by Ron Moore, author of the highly acclaimed book: “Making Common Sense Common Practice: Models for Manufacturing Excellence”, he puts forward his findings from a survey he’s conducted across the industry in the United States. The survey asked the participants to answer a set of questions related to their improvement practices to get a sense of how well they are working.
Many of their responses were encouraging - 42% are working to apply lean manufacturing principles, of which 70% of those say its working; many are using the various tools in a sustainable way. And, more than 95% rated safety as a top priority.
However there were also disappointing findings where inconsistent practice are found. For example, from extensive data we know that reliability and safety are highly correlated – a reliable plant is a safe plant, is a cost effective plant. Yet companies are not training their resources in operating and maintenance practices at comparable level to their safety training.
The paper also discussed other facts and findings about improvement initiatives done in the US. As a conclusion, the author shared that in his experience superior performance of improvement program is only achievable when everyone is engaged in the day to day improvement activities and defect elimination.
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