What is Continuous improvement?
Continuous Improvement is an ongoing process to enhance the product quality, services and
manufacturing processes. It works on the assumption that further improvements are always possible. The
objective is to increase quality and reduce wastage in quest of small improvements during the process.
History of Continuous Improvement
Japan was badly defeated in the World War II which led to instability of the nation. United States sent top
specialists to support the nation to rebuild and re-establish itself. Dr W. Edwards Deming was sent to
leverage his experience in minimizing US waste in war manufacture. He therefore, presented his advices
to re-establish the developing industries.
In the mid 1950’s, Dr Edwards started visiting Japan regularly. He taught businesses to concentrate on
processes rather than outcomes. His main focus was concentrating on the hard work of everyone in the
organization to constantly improve bottlenecks at each stage of production process. By 1970, most of the
Japanese businesses had embraced Dr Edwards’s opinions. The most prominent of them was Toyota
which initiated continuous improvement practices such as Just-In-time (JIT) and Total Quality
Management (TQM).
Theories, Models and Tools for Continuous Improvement
Kaizen: It is a philosophy that increases improvement in productivity as a gradual and methodical
process.
PDCA Cycle: The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle is a management process which was promoted by Dr
Edwards. It is used to implement continuous improvement in almost all the processes.
Total Quality Management: TQM is the integration of all processes within an organization in
order to achieve continuous improvement for the quality of goods and services. The objective
however is to enhance customer satisfaction.
Lean Manufacturing: This philosophy focuses on elimination of waste and includes Just-In-Time
technique.
Six Sigma: It is designed to eliminate errors and improve processes.
SMAIC Model: Select, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control cycle is used for monitoring
product quality and identifying any errors in the production
process.
Continous Improvement Life Cycle
The diagram on the right, illustrates the continuous improvement
process that begins with assessing the problem, designing the
improvement, implementing the improvement and evaluating result.
Assess: Gather information on the areas where improvement
is needed. Conduct surveys at all levels including customers,
employees and competition. Always remember Kaizen
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