Service

Continuous Improvement

With the multitude of continuous improvement methodologies available today, it takes a true understanding of each to ensure your business applies the best approach, or combination of approaches, in any given situation.

Should you focus on reducing variation, removing waste, or both? What are minimum requirements to implement any given methodology? What approach aligns best with your organization’s culture and capabilities? How can you identify the weak links in your system?

While all focus on performance & process improvement, they each bring a different perspective.  While some projects are most appropriate for a specific approach, many lend themselves to a blend, as they each have their strengths & weaknesses.

Partners and employees of PS Solutions group have training and proficiency in various continuous improvement strategies and tactics. We have the knowledge to know which system(s) to apply and the practice to guarantee success.
Our team will build capability within your organization to enable continuous incremental improvements by implementing concepts & tools such as:
  • Kaizen
    • Process Mapping
    • Cause & Effect Analysis
    • Brainstorming
    • Events (workshops)
    • Employee suggestion program (driving employee engagement)
  • Lean
    • 8 Wastes (muda, mura, muri)
    • ​Value Stream Mapping
    • Kanban (queue limited pull system)
    • Heijunka (level scheduling)
    • Poka-yoke (mistake proofing)
    • 5S (workplace organization)
  • Six Sigma
    • DMAIC (method to improve existing processes)
    • DMADV/DFSS (method to design new processes)
    • ​​Statistical Tools & Process Control​​
"The most damaging phrase in the language is 'We've always done it this way!'”
​- Grace Hopper, American mathematician, computer scientist, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral

HOW WE CAN HELP

Kaizen

Philosophy that strives to continually improve all aspects of a business​ through standardizing processes, increasing efficiency and eliminating waste.

Focused on:   identifying opportunities
In order to:    continually improve processes
Resulting in:   standard processes, better performance, eliminating waste

Assumptions:       Teaching people how to spot and eliminate waste in processes leads to Continuous Improvement through many small improvements.

Typically applied to:  physically observable processes that lend themselves to visual analytical tools.

Lean

Flow focused methodology that seeks to remove waste in business processes, by identifying value (value stream) and waste (8 wastes), to drive reduced flow time.

Focused on:   reducing waste
In order to:    improve process flow
Resulting in:   faster throughput, less inventory, better performance, less variation, improved quality

​Assumptions:      Waste removal improves business performance by reducing process flow time. Statistical analysis can be undervalued and avoided.

​Typically applied to:  horizontal flow across the process to understand the process and reduce waste.
​

Six Sigma

Problem focused methodology that seeks to reduce variation in business processes, by finding and eliminating the "root-cause" of the problem, to drive uniform process outputs.

Focused on:   reducing process variation
In order to:    reduce defects (problems)
Resulting in:   improved quality, better performance, reduced waste, faster throughput, less inventory

​Assumptions:      System output improves if variation in all processes is reduced. Figures & numbers are valued for system analysis.

​Typically applied to:  complex or hard to see problems requiring in-depth statistical analysis to stabilize & eliminate variation.