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POV: Operational Excellence Through Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement is a journey, and as with most things worthwhile, needs to be an integral part of an organization’s everyday life. It can only come from people, motivated and committed, learning what they can learn, solving problems that they can solve, and implementing solutions that they develop.

Definition

The venerable quality guru W. Edwards Deming defined continuous improvement simply as “improvement initiatives that increase successes and reduce failures.” Sounds simple, right? In concept it is simple; it is the execution that requires perseverance. The need for continuous improvement is present in every industry, but mandatory in technology industries such as PCB manufacturing. Continuous improvement cannot be defined as putting together an ad-hoc group to put out a fire. Crisis management is not continuous improvement; crisis prevention is.

Philosophy

The underlying philosophy, which ensures the success and growth of an organization, is that every facet of the operation must continuously improve. This means that instead of having one specific objective that once met signals the end of progressive effort, employees at every level of responsibility must always strive to perform better next month, than last month. Such a never-ending plan defines excellence as continuous improvement. This philosophy must permeate the entire organization, not just manufacturing. Tremendous benefits can be achieved in the areas of customer service, sales and marketing, quality, and engineering, but are often overlooked in a continuous improvement program.Read the full column here.Editor's Note: This column originally appeared in the July 2013 issue of The PCB Magazine.