Plant Services - September 2007 - (Page 82) BOILER ROOM A case for change It’s the collective result of getting the details right, quantifying them and doing them better each time C ontinuous improvement begins with an acknowltakes 18 to 24 months and can be achieved only when at edgement that change is needed to survive and least 28% of the workforce is involved in the process. prosper. While the plant floor and some middle Excellence is seemingly paradoxical, requiring both susmanagement might acknowledge the need for change, the tainability and continuous improvement. Sustainability imtop echelons, in their rarefied perches above the real world, plies standardization and repeatability, while improvement rarely embrace change, even positive change. Educating the implies change. You avoid the paradox if you realize that workforce, from the CEO on down, is critical to change excellence isn’t static. The bar is always rising, so sustained and might begin with exposure to effective processes at a peak performance requires continuous improvement. conference, in a magazine or through networking. RegardMicro-processes are individual actions, such as how an less of source, education must be followed with training invoice is processed, how repair parts are stored, and how that exposes available possibilities. That begins the culture a work order is closed. Because the founding assumption of change process and produces a core group that can continue the excellence model is that excellent micro-processes result the transformation. in excellent performance, it’s critical to estabAfter training, make a thorough assessment lish benchmarks for your micro-processes and of your processes, practices and performance monitor them to ensure continued excellence. A concise, to establish a foundation for the future. EvalExcellence isn’t perfection, so sometimes detailed uate corporate and operational factors that performance is substandard. When lapses ocprogram plan can limit performance. This assessment can cur, use root cause analysis to determine why is your most be difficult to perform in-house. However, the failure occurred. While monitoring and it must be completed before moving forward evaluating micro-processes, ensure that toimportant with your continuous improvement process. persuasion tool. day’s process is better than yesterday’s and will Make management and workers aware that be better tomorrow. It’s a cultural quality that improvements are possible. They believe that must be embraced from the top and reinforced “we’re different and our problems can’t be solved.” Compathroughout the organization. Continuous improvement adnies are different in terms of products, constraints and comdresses tomorrow’s problems today. Envisioning the future petition. But, where it really matters, they’re identical. is a common exercise that drives continuous improvement. Success of the transition depends on a thorough, complete If your organization supports long-term thinking, then it’s and disciplined assessment. Follow each step and document easy to implement continuous improvement. your findings. Avoid shortcuts and don’t introduce bias or Excellence doesn’t occur by chance, nor does it depend prejudice regarding your work and that of others. upon superhuman efforts by a select few. Continuous imWhile justifying the program to management is difficult, provement models generally follow a serial or tiered series convincing the workforce is almost impossible. Manageof functions, philosophies or processes that must be implement has a built-in resistance because few companies can mented to assure success. Experience has shown that a serial afford to invest money and labor to improve effectiveness. implementation is not always the right approach. However, A concise, detailed program plan is your most important it is critical that all transformations start with a foundapersuasion tool. It must have well-defined ROI milestones, tional level comprised of management support and proacinclude stakeholders in the process, list specific tasks and detive leadership. This ensures that management commitment liverables, have a logical activity sequence, and clearly define is available to prevent the organization’s internal defenses roles and responsibilities. Each task should include a clear from completely derailing the efforts. definition, a deliverable, responsibility assigned to a specific individual, and a start and end date. Task descriptions E-mail Contributing Editor R. Keith Mobley, CMRP, MBB, principal should include required tools, skills and support. Change consultant at Life Cycle Engineering, at kmobley@lce.com. 82 www.PLANTSERVICES.com September 2007 http://www.plantservices.com/voices/boiler_room.html http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com
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