Control

Control

For the control stage, a 30 day review period was agreed upon, as a means of bedding in the new state, and finishing off some aspects of the kaizen that were unfinished due to resource constraints. This 30 day period will also allow for new problems to emerge, for stakeholders to reflect on the changes, and see if further improvements can be made.

Part of the control phase will be to further educate and empower the operators to take ownership of the process, to improve the process themselves, within the bounds set down by regulatory/ customer requirements.

Documentation and signage were updated, reflecting the new SOP that exists. This new SOP details every step of the process, how each process is done. This has greatly helped to reduce the variation that used exist between operators.

 All relevant paperwork regarding the new layout was also completed.

Cost Saving

Following this improvement project, analysis of the improved process has also been completed, and verified by the Operations Manager. We believe that we have met our initial goals, and as a result, the required cost savings, on an annualised basis, have been achieved.

Conclusion

Overall, this was an enjoyable and interesting project to undertake. It was a great opportunity to learn, to put theory into practice, to work with a great team. It has helped the company to further move along their lean journey, it can be used as an example of what can be achieved by colleagues.

Undertaking change, whether big or small, is never easy. It requires a lot of patience, small steps, lots of encouragement and communication.

Some of the bigger changes proposed or this cell during the analyse plase have been postponed, as they will require a longer timeline to change, due to quality control issues, other business projects taking priority, availability of personnel.