Continuous Improvement Program Workshop

Continuous Improvement Workshop
Chase Sowden, LSSBB, PMP, CSM
Supply Chain Architect, Barcoding Inc.
“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change is!”
- JohnWooden

“First rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an
efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation
applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. ”
- Bill Gates

“Excellence is not a destination; it’s a continuous journey that never ends.”
- Unknown

“A corporation is a living organism; it has to continue to shed its skin. Methods
have to change. Focus has to change.Values have to change.The sum of these
total changes is transformation.”
- Andrew Grove

“Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.”
- MarkTwain

Creating a Continuous Improvement Culture
• What is Company Culture?
 Formed by the organizations values, vision, norms, systems and
beliefs. It is the collective behavior and habits of the employees
of an organization.
• “How we do what we do!”
• It’s why people stay with an organization
 Money will get an employee in the door, but it’s the culture that
will make them stay and grow.

• What is Continuous Improvement?
 A long-term systematic process by which an organization
involves its employees, as individuals and members of a group,
in improving organizational effectiveness in the
accomplishment of the organization’s mission and goals.
• “Continuous Improvement = Continuous Change!”
 Once you complete one you move onto the next.
 What’s the next opportunity that will drive better
value and results for our customers?
Success is the sum
of small efforts,
repeated day in
and day out!

• Misconceptions about Continuous Improvement
 Only for managers
 Quick deployment = quick results
 It’s a marathon and not a sprint
 One and done
 The squeaky wheel gets the grease
 The squeaky wheel might be the symptom and not the root cause

• Benefits of Continuous Improvement
 Small wins
 Encourage learning that is rooted in the daily routines
 Small wins make large wins possible
 Do more with the same or less
 Time Savings
 Higher quality goods and services
 Revenue Generation
 Improved customer, staff, vendor satisfaction
 Cost Savings
Increase revenue,
drive efficiency &
improve customer
experience!

• Tried Continuous Improvement Before and it Failed!
 Lack of Management Buy-In
 Orders come in and products are shipped out
 Perception is “everything”

 Orders come in and products are shipped out
 Management must feel the pain on the floor

 Change brings unknowns. Unknowns cause anxiety and then
resistance to change.
 People don’t fight change they fight being changed!

 Organizations don’t share why we are doing it and thus no
employee buy-in.
 Business case
 Data points

 Organizations don’t share why we are doing it and thus no
employee buy-in.
 Leaders should provide the “what” and the “why.” Employees
provide the “how.”

• The Customer is the Epicenter
 The customer is the primary focus of continuous improvement –
it’s not that the customer is always right; it’s that the customer is
everything.

• DefiningValue
 Anything the customer is willing to pay for is called Value Added
 Anything else is called Non-Value Added or Waste
Receive Order Receive Payment
“I’d like to
upgrade
my phone!”
• How DoesYour Customer DefineValue?
 Right product/service
 Time promised/expected
 Quality/defect free

• How DoesYour Customer PerceiveYourValue?
 The Ultimate Question
 How likely are you to recommend
our organization to a colleague or
friend?
Perception is
everything!

Where to Find Opportunities
How would you define Supply Chain?

Supply Chains are how organizations operate and compete
and covers “quote to cash.”

Supply Chain Challenges are Everywhere
All workflows can be more
efficient, accurate, connected
• System issues
• Information not readily available
• Manual processes everywhere
• Excessive manual reports
• Limited integration of info
• Product not ready to ship
• Parts are short for work orders
• MRP providing inaccurate numbers
• Inventory dollars climbing
• Ineffective collaboration with interfacing departments

• KPI’s
• Customer feedback
• Top 5 “Pain Points” survey by department
• Market analysis
• Benchmarking analysis
• Profit and loss analysis
These are no longer
opportunities and
this is being reactive!

Be Proactive and Not Reactive
Identify improvement while it’s still an opportunity and before it
becomes a problem.
Change faster and
more effectively than
your competition, or
go out of business!

Identify Supply Chain Waste
• Transportation
 Transportation waste in a service/product environment is
unnecessary and non-value-added movement of people, goods,
and information in order to fulfill the service obligation to your
customer.

• Transportation
• Waiting
 If people, systems, materials or information are waiting, that’s
waste.

• Transportation
• Waiting
• Overproduction
 Are your services/products producing sooner, faster or in greater
quantities than the customer is demanding or requiring?

• Transportation
• Waiting
• Overproduction
• Defects
 Defective services/products are those that do not deliver the
correct requirements to the customer, the first time.

• Transportation
• Waiting
• Overproduction
• Defects
• Inventory
 Do you have service/build products no one wants?

• Transportation
• Waiting
• Overproduction
• Defects
• Inventory
• Movement
 Are activities, paperwork, and other efforts unnecessarily juggled?

• Transportation
• Waiting
• Overproduction
• Defects
• Inventory
• Movement
• Extra Processing
 How much extra paperwork of effort do people go to in order
to deliver the service/product? Could any steps be eliminated?

• Transportation
• Waiting
• Overproduction
• Defects
• Inventory
• Movement
• Extra Processing
• Safety
 Safety is the foundation of all activities. People must be able to
deliver value to the customer without injury. Evaluate areas
within the supply chain to ensure safety of all.

Focus on a Total Solution
“First rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient
operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an
inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. ” - Bill Gates

How to Get Started
• LeadershipTakes the Reigns
 This is the number #1 success factor
 Explain
 Why new improvements are important
 Why they will make for a happier work environment

How to Get Started
• Start Small
 Smaller scale pilot projects breeds a successful track record
 Focus on one department
 Allows the kinks to be worked out of the process

How to Get Started
• Start Small
• Encourage Participation
 Employees are the bread and butter of continuous improvement
 Solicit ideas
 Implement as soon as possible to show the organization is serious

How to Get Started
• Start Small
• Encourage Participation
• Develop Robust Communications
• Identify the Root Cause

How to Get Started
• Assess people
 Available skillsets? Knowledge levels of best
practices and standards? Expertise levels
with tools and methods?
• Assess business processes
 Inputs, outputs, resources, constraints? Process maps and
metrics?
• Assess technologies
 IT environment, platforms, systems? Engineering, manufacturing,
supply chain productivity software products in use? Levels of
performance, scalability, availability, security, integration?
Remember the
three-legged
stool!

How to Get Started…..People
• Too many organizations see change as a mechanism
 Set the strategy
 Turn the handle
 Everything then falls into place

• Too many organizations see change as a mechanism
• Organizations are a group of people behind a common
vision or purpose
 Unless you engage the people in that common purpose then the
road ahead will be hard
 Make it easier from boardroom to floor to your customer
 Get everyone engaged so they can see the contribution they are
making

• People want to feel they are being listened to and taken
seriously
• The people doing the job are the ones who know best
 Tap into their expertise
 Allow this to enter into your strategies
 They’ll be more aligned and on board
 Do this across the entire organization
 Ignites passion
 Energy and excitement throughout all layers of an organization
 Makes achieving your goals that mush easier
Focus on delivering
value to your
customer everyday!

• Develop People
 Encourage and foster learning and teaching at all levels
 Build knowledge in problem solving thinking
 Innovation is required, so encourage it
 Develop a “what’s next” way of thinking
 Sustaining improvements and the urge to improve again and again
 It’s cultural and not superficial

• AttitudeTowards Failure Utmost Importance
 Reward failure

 Reward failure, if not…..
 People won’t take risks and make breakthroughs
 People will hang onto a doomed idea for fear of
consequences – this wastes time and saps an
organizations spirit

 Reward failure
 Everyone fails from time to time
 Treat as a learning experience
 Failure cannot be avoided
 It’s necessary learning that must occur

How to Get Started…..Process/Workflows
• Designed around How the Customer DefinesValue
 First you must understand the customer requirements

Hands-On Process Exercise
• Customer Requirements
 No one is to touch the tennis ball more than once.
 Everyone must touch the tennis ball.
 The order of who touched the tennis ball must always be the
same.
 There must be no drops (defects).
 Once everyone has touched the tennis ball the last person places
the tennis ball in the container.
 Preform this process as quickly as possible.

How the Process was Improved
• What helped improve the process the most?
• What did you eliminate from the process?
 Distance
 Throwing
 Catching
 Flight time

Purpose of Exercise
• Brainstorm process improvement ideas
• Identify ways to take time out of the process
• Demonstrate how quality is defined by the client
 Value added steps

 Avoid focusing on a single root
cause
 Focus on systemic issues not
individuals
 Avoid bias caused by current
knowledge
 Avoid jumping to quick
conclusions
 Why did the Challenger
explode?

• Value Stream Mapping
 This simple tool enables you to understand a current process and
make improvements with the help of the process owners and
users.

• Value Stream Mapping
 Break down the
process to capture
the steps
 Collect time
estimates for each
step
 Identify issues and
challenges with
each step
 Evaluate the
process and
suggest solutions

How to Get Started…..Technology
• What happens when you depend solely on technology to
fix problems?
• Technology is the foundation that anchors an organizations
processes allowing your people to perform with increased
efficiency and accuracy.
 The technology should support the behavior your
trying to encourage on the floor.
 Don’t try and fit a square peg in a
round hole.
• The empowerment of people builds the better
process and technology.

• Communication
 Face-to-face, two way flow of information
 Make the meetings meaningful and not just to have a meeting.

• Communication
 Face-to-face, two way flow of information
 NOT e-mail!
 Very impersonal
 Left to interpretation
 Good as a follow-up after face-to-face

• Recognition
 For individual employees
 For taking action and innovating
 As part of every meeting
 Applaud.Announce.Applaud again!
 Evaluate and distribute throughout the organization

In Summary
• Plan Do Check Act
 Make the right change
 Carry out change
 Verify the desired change
 Sustain and learn from the change

What Opportunities are Available
• When was the last time you asked…..
 “How well are we doing?”
• Opportunity Self Assessment
 https://sca-by-barcoding.typeform.com/to/wL76R7

Thank you!
#SupplyChainGeek
Chase Sowden
Barcoding Inc.
chase.sowden@barcoding.com
Leave no stone unturned & leave your fear behind!
• Opportunity Self Assessment
 https://sca-by-barcoding.typeform.com/to/wL76R7

Continuous Improvement Program Workshop

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