This book enables enterprise business leaders - from CEOs to supervisors - to understand what "Continuous Improvement" is, why it is probably the best answer to improved business performance in years, and how to put it to work in the unique environment of a specific organization. The book examines what is at the core of "Continuous Improvement" and delves deeper into the elements and constituents necessary to take an organization to the next level to ensure its continued, long-term existence. It provides guidance to enterprise management and to professionals engaged in the implementation of a "Continuous Improvement" initiative and enables them to structure and manage its implementation successfully. It also provides tools to quickly assess where an enterprise business stands in terms of strategic management and "Continuous Improvement".
This handbook provides a comprehensive and detailed framework for the implementation of "Continuous Improvement" and Lean Six Sigma in a professional project management environment. For this purpose the book brings together Lean Six Sigma and the PMBOK standard for project management. It provides an integrated approach, which can be used for both transactional and manufacturing businesses to better define ways to reduce costs, enhance processes ,and achieve faster implementation and new product or service development. The reader is guided carefully and reliably through the detailed procedures introduced in this book using a comprehensive, conceptual and practical well-balanced approach.
How does a company go from being two days away from filing bankruptcy papers to unparalleled performance in the Aerospace business? The answer can be found in this fascinating story of Aerostructures, a Chula Vista, California-based designer, manufacturer and supplier of major components and assemblies to all the major commercial aircraft manufacturers and to the world's airlines. In 1993 Rohr Industries, as it was known then, was in trouble. Business financials, income and cash flow in particular, were rendering the business unsustainable. The way the business was being run was archaic, organizational structure was cumbersome, and morale was low. Customers were very concerned, and several were preparing to exit.
Two renowned experts in healthcare transformation show how leaders are implementing behavior-driven strategies to ensure quality care and create lasting change. Healthcare is in the midst of a massive disruption. With financial structures in tatters and the future uncertain, this is the moment to begin the revolution. But first, leaders need to learn how to support staff at all levels as they make transformational improvements in care. This book demonstrates that real change is very personal and has to start at the top―whether you’re an executive, governing board member, manager, or physician. A powerful new approach to healthcare leadership, this book showcases executives in health systems around the world as they: Practice behavior-based solutions to organizational problems Learn how to support continuous improvement Be more present in their leadership role Learn how to reflect and assess themselves as leaders Achieve better results for patients Drawing on a wealth of behavioral research, industry case studies, and personal insights from healthcare professionals, the authors explore how change actually happens—from the inside out, top to bottom, throughout the whole organization. You’ll learn how healthcare systems led by people who are compassionate, principled, and engaged can undergo profound and lasting transformation. Find proven strategies for cultivating principle-driven behaviors that can turn the remotest possibilities on the healthcare horizon into a new working reality. This is more than a leadership guide to revolutionizing healthcare. This is about being a force for change that makes life better for patients, caregivers, and all stakeholders. If you want to take the lead in making change happen, start with Becoming the Change.
This new edition of this bestselling guide offers an integrated approach to process improvement that delivers quick and substantial results in quality and productivity in diverse settings. The authors explore their Model for Improvement that worked with international improvement efforts at multinational companies as well as in different industries such as healthcare and public agencies. This edition includes new information that shows how to accelerate improvement by spreading changes across multiple sites. The book presents a practical tool kit of ideas, examples, and applications.
Operational Excellence Handbook is designed for leaders and practitioners wishing to transform their organizations through strategy and culture, and through the application of operational excellence approaches, methodologies, processes, and tools. The handbook contains 70 chapters organized in five sections describing strategy, culture, methodologies, project management, and tools that are helpful to create immediate and sustainable value for your organization. As you travel on your value generation journey, you will wish to select the appropriate approach, methodologies, and tools - based on your organization's current situation, future strategies and goals, resource availability and limitations, as well as urgency and schedule needs - that will provide immediate value. With the purchase of this handbook, the reader has access to a file containing all templates referenced in the book.
Your organizational transformation begins here! Comprehensive, detailed, and easy to read and understand, How to Succeed with Continuous Improvement takes you through a real-life case study of one organization’s journey to a world-class continuous improvement process. Joakim Ahlstrom—one of the world’s most respected continuous improvement experts—serves as your coach. He first helps you decide whether you want to embark on the continuous improvement journey and takes you through the entire process step by step, all the way through generating remarkable business results with his unique methods. In each chapter, Ahlstrom describes a specific stage of the transformation story and provides a clear analysis of each one to help you apply his methods in your own company. In no time you’ll grasp all the concepts you need to know. How to Succeed with Continuous Improvement covers it all, including: How to shift mindsets and behaviors using the often neglected practice of coaching Common pitfalls to help you plan out how you will apply the principles and practices Using “six-legged spiders” and “fishy” diagrams to achieve measurable results Ways to avoid “Watermelon” key performance indicators that often mask the truth Ahlstrom explains rational behind all the methods in the book—the results they produce, and why—and offers practical advice on how to get full input from everyone involved. Ahlstrom concludes the book with a chapter offering a current-state analysis tool and a simple template to apply in your company. If you’re seeking to design and launch a continuous improvement program, How to Succeed with Continuous Improvement is the first book you should turn to—and it’s the last one you’ll ever need! Praise for How to Succeed with Continuous Improvement “Using a story he lived through, Joakim vividly brings to life for us the transformation from a mediocre top-down organization depending on a few internal experts for its survival to a high performance organization of empowered employees engaged in continuous improvement.” –Jeffrey Liker, bestselling author of The Toyota Way “This succinct book packs an enormous amount of wisdom and experience into an entertaining fast read. It gives a clear roadmap for any leader to implement a strong continuous improvement program in his or her unit. Highly recommended!” –Alan G. Robinson, Professor of Management, University of Massachusetts and author of Corporate Creativity and Ideas are Free “The most valuable and lean book I have read about lean.” –Göran Martinsson, Continuous improvement Manager, IKEA “Well written, easy to read, filled with excellent examples . . . If you only plan to read one change management book this year, this is the book you should read.” –Dag Näslund, Professor of Management, University of North Florida “An amazing guide in lean principles, with simple tools for simplifications.” –Susanne Schipper, Continuous Improvement Coach, AstraZeneca “Simplicity is the essence of this great book. Ahlstrom delivers a straightforward and simple approach to support your work with continuous improvement.” –Ronny Ålund, Productivity Management, Volvo CE “This book is a little gem with large content! Unlike many other books on the subject, you only have to read it once because it sticks.” –Johan Valett, Vice President Haldex Way, Haldex “I recommend How to Succeed with Continuous Improvement to anyone who needs a fast and inspiring introduction to continuous improvement.” –Janne Lundberg, Global Lean Innovation Manager, Assa Abloy
A practical approach to business transformation Fit for Growth* is a unique approach to business transformation that explicitly connects growth strategy with cost management and organization restructuring. Drawing on 70-plus years of strategy consulting experience and in-depth research, the experts at PwC’s Strategy& lay out a winning framework that helps CEOs and senior executives transform their organizations for sustainable, profitable growth. This approach gives structure to strategy while promoting lasting change. Examples from Strategy&’s hundreds of clients illustrate successful transformation on the ground, and illuminate how senior and middle managers are able to take ownership and even thrive during difficult periods of transition. Throughout the Fit for Growth process, the focus is on maintaining consistent high-value performance while enabling fundamental change. Strategy& has helped major clients around the globe achieve significant and sustained results with its research-backed approach to restructuring and cost reduction. This book provides practical guidance for leveraging that expertise to make the choices that allow companies to: Achieve growth while reducing costs Manage transformation and transition productively Create lasting competitive advantage Deliver reliable, high-value performance Sustainable success is founded on efficiency and high performance. Companies are always looking to do more with less, but their efforts often work against them in the long run. Total business transformation requires total buy-in, and it entails a series of decisions that must not be made lightly. The Fit for Growth approach provides a clear strategy and practical framework for growth-oriented change, with expert guidance on getting it right. *Fit for Growth is a registered service mark of PwC Strategy& Inc. in the United States
Tracing the author’s decades-long continuous improvement journey, Relentless Improvement: True Stories of Lean Transformations walks readers through vivid shop floor experiences to convey a genuine feel for the environments in which Lean Six Sigma transformations occur. Recounting numerous Lean Six Sigma transformations, it illustrates the spectrum of successful operational tactics. The story starts just outside Detroit, Michigan in the 1970s when the auto industry was booming, and most people in the area worked in the car factories, or in one of the component factories that supplied the Big Three. The complexity and detail of the projects grow chapter by chapter. The book begins by explaining how to manage Lean basics such as applying 5S, shortening product cycle times, and creating standard work. It then progresses to factory Lean Six Sigma transformations. Providing implementation guidance geared to functions on the operational level, the book: Presents stories based on the author’s interactions with company leaders and shop-floor employees in the midst of great change Illustrates real-world plant politics and manufacturing situations using compelling stories Highlights valuable lessons learned at the end of each chapter Using an engaging story format, the book recounts the author’s career experiences to provide you with a real-world understanding of how to use Lean tools. The stories in the book illustrate everything from standard work and takt time to Kaizen events and Total Productive Maintenance. The text also includes accounts of "front end" or administrative processes such as product development and materials handling.
