Continuous improvement process

A continuous improvement process (CIP or CI) is an ongoing effort to improve products, services, or processes. These efforts can seek "incremental" improvement over time or "breakthrough" improvement all at once.^[1] Delivery (customer valued) processes are constantly evaluated and improved in the light of their efficiency, effectiveness and flexibility.

Some see it as a meta-process for most management systems (Business Process Management, Quality Management, Project Management). Deming saw it as part of the 'system' whereby feedback from the process and customer were evaluated against organisational goals. The fact that it can be called a management process does not mean that it needs to be executed by 'management' merely that it makes decisions about the implementation of the delivery process and the design of the delivery process itself.

Some successful implementations use the approach known as Kaizen (the translation of kai (“change”) zen (“good”) is “improvement”). This method became famous by the book of Masaaki Imai “Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success.”

• The core principle of CIP is the (self) reflection of processes. (Feedback)
• The purpose of CIP is the identification, reduction, and elimination of suboptimal processes. (Efficiency)
• The emphasis of CIP is on incremental, continuous steps rather than giant leaps. (Evolution)

Key features

Key features of Kaizen include:

• Improvements are based on many, small changes rather than the radical changes that might arise from Research and Development
• As the ideas come from the workers themselves, they are less likely to be radically different, and therefore easier to implement
• Small improvements are less likely to require major capital investment than major process changes
• The ideas come from the talents of the existing workforce, as opposed to using R&D, consultants or equipment – any of which could be very expensive
• All employees should continually be seeking ways to improve their own performance
• It helps encourage workers to take ownership for their work, and can help reinforce team working, thereby improving worker motivation

The elements above are the more tactical elements of CIP. The more strategic elements include deciding how to increase the value of the delivery process output to the customer (Effectiveness) and how much flexibility is valuable in the process to meet changing needs.^[2][3]

Implementation

The involvement of all workers require training, it is necessary to be able to distinguish between symptom and ailment so that efforts are spent solving the root causes of the problem.

One example of broad training in continuous improvement techniques is Facila, the southern European Lifelong Learning program where students learn to apply mathematics to everyday situations by preparing Kaizen style projects.

Continuous improvement in environmental management

Whereas the CIP as outlined above is a concept of Quality Management, the CIP-concept is also known in Environmental Management Systems (EMS), such as ISO 14000 and EMAS. Several differences exist between these two concepts. Most of all: CIP in EMS aims to improve the natural consequences of products and activities, not the products and activities as such. Also, there is no client-orientation in EMS-related CIP. And - very important - CIP in EMS is not limited to small, incremental improvements as in Kaizen, it also contains innovations of any scale (Gastl)^[4]

See also

• Benchmarking
• Kaizen
• Learning-by-doing
• ISO 14000

References

1. ^ ASQ: Learn About Quality — http://www.asq.org/learn-about-quality/continuous-improvement/overview/overview.html
2. ^ Imai, Masaaki (1986). Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success. McGraw-Hill/Irwin. ISBN 0-07-554332-X.
3. ^ Imai, Masaaki (1997). Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense, Low-Cost Approach to Management, 1st edition. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-031446-2.
4. ^ Gastl, René: CIP in Environmental Management, an Abstract of Gastl, René: Kontinuierliche Verbesserung im Umweltmanagement, 2nd Edition, 2009, vdf, Zurich