Quality and continuous improvement
Continuous improvement processes
➢ The continuous improvement process is an ongoing effort to improve products, services
or processes through step by step and sudden processes
➢ The continuous improvement process provides a method which supports in understanding
of improvement process
➢ Continuous improvement connects to each organization’s own goals and priorities
Benefits of continuous improvement process
➢ Increase productivity
By reducing the unnecessary steps in the process, it is possible to reduce the time that
spent on a given task and also, we can do lots of tasks quickly.
➢ Lower costs
This time saving happened as a result of increased productivity will support in reducing
the labor cost. Also, it can use less materials by utilizing your raw materials more
efficiently.
➢ Lower error rates
Continuous improvement processes result in clarifying your processes. When you
clarify how you do something you can reduce the number of errors.
➢ Higher quality
When you improve your process, you will get higher quality products which has
multiple benefits. Such as positive customer experiences and increased reputation of
organization
Quality and continuous improvement
➢ Increased innovation
By improving processes, you will be finding better ways to do something. Sometimes you
will invent a completely new way of doing something
➢ Better working environment
By clarifying the routine work of the organization through continuous improvement
practices we can make things better.
➢ Happier employees and lower employee turnover
Continuous improvement practices can make the employees working in the organization
happier and if employees are in a positive mindset, they will never leave the organization
Examples for common continuous improvement practices
1) PDCA- The Deming Cycle
➢ The Deming cycle is a systematic process aimed at improving services or products by
gathering valuable knowledge.
➢ The cycle has four stages (Plan, Do, Check, Act)
1) Plan – Define a problem and create predictions for causes and solutions
2) Do – Implement a solution
3) Check – Evaluate
4) Act –
➢ If the results are not the expected ones, Go back to the plan stage.
➢ Scale if the results are satisfactory
➢ To be more accurate the planning stage also divided in to 3 steps
• Identify the problem
• Analyze the problem
• Develop the test and think of practical solutions
Quality and continuous improvement
➢ Where to use PDCA
• To improve business processes or develop new one
• To implement quality management – In this process the continuous
cycle allows deep analysis and measurement
• Use to increase productivity
• Manage change effectively
2) Kaizen
➢ As a philosophy Kaizen is about building a culture where continuous improvement
become second nature of all employees.
➢ By involving all employees, the organization creates an environment that encourage
them to identify problems and opportunities
➢ It provides standardized methods of improving the overall business by increasing
efficiency and eliminating waste
➢ By constantly applying kaizen, organizations create discipline and long-term value
Kaizen Principles and methods
➢ Get input form as many people as possible
➢ Allow everyone to feel comfortable to contribute
➢ Never stop improving
➢ Find low cost or creative solutions, use money wisely to further invest in
improvement
➢ If you notice something in wrong, improve it
➢ Accept you will never achieve perfection
Quality and continuous improvement
The standard way to implement kaizen includes the following steps
➢ Encourage people to find problems
➢ Identify relevant ones
➢ Come up with solutions
➢ Test solution
➢ Measure and analyze results
➢ If successful adopt to the solution
➢ Repeat the cycle
3) Six sigma
➢ Six sigma is a process that improves business capabilities by reducing
errors
➢ Six sigmas’ is using statistical methods to eliminate defects and errors in
production process
There are 5 principles that six sigma is based on
➢ Customer’s requirement first
➢ Use data to identify root problem
➢ Be proactive
➢ Get various terms involved through clear communication and training
➢ Flexibility and adaptability are key
Quality and continuous improvement
4) DMAIC
➢ Is a data driven strategy meant to improve existing processes
• Define – Define the problem and customers and processes affected with
the problem
• Measure – Collect data from process to create a baseline for
improvement
• Analyze – Analyze the data to find the root causes of problems
• Improve – develop, test and implement solutions to improve processes
• Control – Control the process to keep this development continuously
5) Theory of constraints
➢ This is a scientific approach to continuous improvement.
➢ This process Seeks complex problems as chains made of linked activities.
➢ In this chain constraint is the weakest link that pushes pressure on entire
system
➢ For an organization to reach a goal its important to focus on a constraint at
a time
The organizations can benefit from this theory because….
➢ It understands additional capacity and prevents unnecessary spending
➢ Provides a good structure for continuous improvement
➢ Identify the weaknesses that make your process slow
➢ It makes the overall organization more prepared
Quality and continuous improvement
Best practices to get your continuous improvement processes right
1) Continuous improvement culture
A continuous improvement culture happens when
➢ there is a good mindset to do innovations
➢ Belief that the things good in today might not be good in
tomorrow.
2) Training and Feedback
➢ Offer training and feedback. By that everyone will be involved
and everyone will support the continuous improvement process.
➢ This method further motivates employees as they are taking more
responsibility
Bringing continuous improvement to the construction industry
➢ Construction industry is adopting to lean principles and now taking aim to
• Eliminating waste
• Improving productivity
• Reducing costs
➢ One of the well-known lean concepts being used to drive productivity is continuous
improvement
Quality and continuous improvement
Methods within lean production used in Construction Industry
1) Value stream mapping
➢ VSM is primarily an exercise doing awareness and observation.
➢ To successfully complete a VSM construction management must
• walk through every process
• Taking note of how each workflow is performed
• Where it fits in to larger picture
➢ Once it is done, each step is analyzed to determine idle time, wastage
and inefficiencies that created
➢ By having such a detailed assessment of value adding and non-value
adding activities, management can take actions to reduce product
waste
2) PDCA
➢ PDCA is another way to improve construction building methods and
processes.
➢ By using PDCA cycle it is possible to change the way processes are
being performed
➢ The first attempt of change is done in a small scale as not to disturb
the overall process
➢ If these change increases productivity the changed process test
repeatedly.
➢ The success of PDCA can be measured using KPI’s (Key performance
Indicators)
