Continuous Improvement: Why It Is Essential to the Success of Your Business and How to Achieve It

Introduction

A substantial amount of material has been written about Continuous Improvement (CI)—why we need it, how to do it, etc. Because there is so much information readily available, the way forward is more difficult than ever for many companies when trying to implement a sustainable continuous improvement program. This is partly due to the digital revolution and consequent disruption that has emerged as the 21st century began. This disruption has forced companies to pursue the digitisation as a way to streamline their core processes. Notwithstanding this, people and processes are still important to companies, no matter how much automation and associated digitization is achieved. Information bombardment and overload, enabled by the internet, has made it extremely difficult for managers and executives to implement a sustainable CI program.

The amount of information that is readily available, most of it confusing or contradictory, has clouded the landscape. This has led to inertia amongst leaders in how to proceed with a CI program that would benefit the organization immediately, and be sustainable, so it would survive the eventual turnover of the executive leadership.

For me, the driver to write this book has been the witnessing of a significant number of CI programs being launched in Australia and South-east Asia that had the best of intentions at the outset, failed at even the softest of measures of success, but that were salvaged to provide some perceived return on investment. Why is this happening? Well this book will look into some of the critical factors that have sent many a well-intentioned program down the path to failure. Equally importantly, I will show you a simple outline for a successful CI program, irrespective of the size or type of organization.

The book is written on the assumption that the reader will have, or is about to be involved in a CI program of some sort and has some background or level of understanding of this topic. I am cognizant of the immense amount of information that is readily available on this subject. My aim is to provide a way forward for the reader, an understanding of what typically can go wrong in implementing a CI program, and what actions can be undertaken to maximize its success.

The book will initially look at what’s involved in a successful CI program, both from a structural viewpoint through to the type of outcomes that should be expected. I will also provide some context by introducing case studies of successful companies that have developed and maintained a successful CI program. Once I have established what a successful CI program should be, I will then critically analyse the mistakes that are often made by large companies when rolling out a CI program. There are a number of common factors that exist that need to be highlighted together with the consequences of these factors.

Finally, I will examine the building blocks for creating a successful program, the order in which the various activities are commenced and what needs to happen at both a ‘grass-roots’ level and at an executive level. I will provide an easy to follow structure that will provide the best chance at a successful implementation of a CI program.

The aim of this book is to provide a simple how-to guide in an easy to read style—with the use of jargon and academic concepts kept to a minimum. This book draws on personal experience that has been gained from over fifteen years in various CI programs. Some of this time has been spent as an internal change agent and also as an external consultant to various programs throughout Australia and South-East Asia.

Background

Continuous Improvement (CI) is nothing new to the corporate arena. Companies such as Toyota have been committed to CI for well over 60 years. CI can be expressed as a culture of sustained improvement targeting the elimination of waste in all systems and processes of an organization¹. There are many other definitions of what CI is and they are all relevant. What needs to be clarified, however, is the difference between Process Improvement (PI) and CI. These terms are quite often used interchangeably and often in the wrong context. PI is not CI. PI is an organisational development concept in which a series of actions are taken by process owners to identify, analyse and improve existing business processes within an organization to increase profitability and/or performance often through reducing costs and accelerating process cycle time. Invariably PI is a tactical program involving a select number of people who are charged with this responsibility, whereas CI is a strategic program usually involving the entire workforce.

Toyota’s CI program—known as Lean—is part of the Toyota Production System (TPS), which was created in the aftermath of World War 2. Since then, many different variations of CI have made their mark on the corporate world, all with different names. For example, TQM, Six Sigma, ITIL and Lean Six Sigma. I will say more about the similarities and differences between these programs below. My point here is that the large number of programs and variations on programs is itself an issue for businesses wanting to implement CI. Each decade seems to herald another version of CI for corporates to embrace en-masse with the assistance of nattily dressed consultants. The end result is virtually the same for many companies—a couple of early wins and not much else to show for the efforts that have been employed.

Armies of consultants are engaged to deliver what is initially promised as a panacea for all the issues that the company faces in terms of cost containment only to find that the results are far from what was expected. As a result, a flurry of finger pointing ensues that does nothing more than result in the departure of the sacrificial lamb and another re-organization of the company.

Although, as I have suggested, the plethora of CI programs and