Opportunity Improvement Planning
There are 3 key steps to building your Manufacturing Improvement plan:
1. Prioritise the opportunities – based on value, and difficulty to achieve. Then allow for the factors that determine when the improvements can be realised: for instance, waste benefit is normally realised immediately, but efficiency benefit can (but not always) take time to crystallise a benefit. You will then be able to generate a value return forecast.
2. Identify training requirement – having already identified which tools you need to achieve the outlined benefits, build the training plan that allows you to deploy those tools in the timescale required to achieve the expected benefit. The costs of the training can then be added in to the value return forecast.
3. Plan the Sustainability actions concurrently – considering the factors that are needed for Sustainability. Before sustainability is an issue, we need some improvement to actually sustain – so the timeframe for this can take place concurrently with the rapid improvement activity. Critical elements need to be substantially complete around the same time that rapid improvement activity is expected to show results.
NB: Some continuous improvement activity will have more impact than others, so ensure that you use your understanding of the criticality of the maturity of these elements to ensure you only work on the key elements, and de-prioritise activity that you can afford to do later. Only in this way can you ensure you maximise your rate of return.
You are now ready to add together the associated costs to your forecast to produce a fully mapped out, costed and forecast return to show the business.
If you would like clarity on any of the above steps; or perhaps you’re just worried about whether the business has the internal capability to pull the plan together as quickly as you want it and you can see the benefit of a guiding hand from people who have travelled the journey before, then contact us to find out about the options for supporting Opportunity Planning.
However, if you are sure of your your plan, and it covers the key steps above, then move on to the implementation step – which is delivering the appropriate improvement tools and sustainability techniques, and actually making the improvement happen.