Part of Culture of Excellence is knowing where you stand. And, of course, that includes us as Gwynt.
We again recently helped several clients with continuous improvement and then asked about our approach and the results achieved. Although the companies were vastly different, one thing came out clearly: changing behavior requires commitment and you do it one step at a time.
Culture of Excellence has become an important issue at many companies in recent years due to a challenging job market, pressure on margins and sustainability goals. This is also reflected in the growing number of job openings for continuous improvement employees. Moreover, within more and more companies, employees are Lean, Six Sigma or Agile trained. Yet many companies continue to struggle to achieve desired results and performance. Changing behavior in an organization is difficult, and implementing a culture of continuous improvement does not happen overnight. Employees are sometimes skeptical, and behavior change needs structure, time and attention. We see the same with our customers.
Value Stream Mapping is seen as very valuable. We usually start with a quick scan to identify improvement potential. We try to get as complete a picture of the situation as possible and we do that through interviews, observations, workshops and Value Stream Mapping.
“Value Stream Mapping already gave us a lot of insight into the process. Good to see visually how many steps there are in the process. So you can see how many unnecessary things you are doing and how much waste there actually is.” Another client mentioned another important aspect, namely engagement: “During the sessions, the pain points come out clearly and so you already create involvement from the people on the floor.”
The quick scan is followed by the implementation phase. In this project phase, we use working groups where employees from different departments work together to make the improvements. A correct approach all our clients found: “The implementation of the workflows also involves the shop floor well again. That is very good.”
We always start with the basics and that also determines the prioritization of projects. In most cases, this starts with good consultation structures. In this, the implementation of S&OP is often an important first breakthrough. “We built the bridge between sales, operations and production. It has been a very valuable approach to start working together constructively and that you identify things in processes as a result that helps you to keep improving continuously.”
In this way we realize one of the 6 principles, namely tight interplay. This principle provides the framework for purposeful and decisive consultations. “People are more aware of what other departments need and in what form. There is more structure and information behind it.”
The beauty of a clear consultation structure is that results are achieved quickly. “A great result we were able to quickly realize was a concrete guideline on inventory management. This gives us a handle on when we can order things and when we can’t. If we now hold long stocks then that is a conscious choice. In this way we were soon able to reduce our stock”.
By the way, improving forecast accuracy requires quite an effort in practice. That said, the step is very important because the forecast is an essential component in the alignment between sales and operations.
After the basics are in place (such as regular meetings, clear roles and responsibilities, and KPIs), the focus can be placed on realizing customer value and continuous improvement. While this may sound obvious, it is not at all obvious in practice. Employee involvement, a clear approach and good communication are crucial in this.
“We all have to believe in it, some links find it difficult and those are still holding off a little bit.”
“In the beginning there was some skepticism in implementing the improvement program, but just with Gwynt’s approach and guidance that has drained away.”
With a clear structure, sufficient time and attention, behavior in the organization can be changed. We see time and again that “everyone a little better every day” then really becomes visible in culture and behavior. Something our clients also recognize. “The noses are in the same direction and we now know how to approach things together. This way we are really changing things.”
In short, real structural change is not easy. An external view with a clear approach in which experience and insights come together is then often a very hard condition for success. “Without you we would not be where we are today. “
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