FICCI

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CE
FICCI CE
Continuous
improvement

The ongoing improvement of

products, services or processes
through incremental and
breakthrough improvements
FICCI CE

Steps to continuous improvement

According to ISO, the application of this
principle involves:-

I. Employing a consistent organization-

wide approach to continual improvement
of the organization’s performance.

II. Making continual improvement of

products, processes and systems an
objective for every individual in the
organization.
FICCI CE

Steps to continuous improvement…contd.

III. Establishing goals to guide, and

measures to track, continual
improvement.

IV. Providing people with training in the

methods and tools of continual
improvement.

V. Recognizing and acknowledging

improvements.
FICCI CE
Guidelines for institutionalizing continuous improvement
• Find out your strengths and weaknesses
through an organizational assessment.
Focus on weak areas. ( You must have
done this in the preceding section )
• Keep doing regular PDCAs ( Plan Do
Check Act ).
• Make continuous improvement process a
team effort and ensure that everyone
involved has the opportunity to take
ownership of the process.
FICCI CE

Guidelines for institutionalizing continuous improvement

• It is critical to build partnerships

with key customers, suppliers and
stakeholders for effective and better
results.
• Instead of focussing your attention
on too many issues, it is important to
set priorities and focus on vital few
issues.
FICCI CE

Guidelines...

• To get early results, it is good to work

with enthusiasts and those who are fully
supportive of the continuous improvement
process.
• Strive for some small tangible early
successes and make the most of these
through recognition and publicity.
FICCI CE

Guidelines...

• Make sure to provide the relevant

information and resources to every one
who needs them for continuous
improvement.
• Celebrate achievements and make it fun.
FICCI CE
Focus on top priority issues

The initial assessment will help you to

determine the priorities based upon the
current status of the organization. Your plan
should address only those high priority issues
which you can tackle now with the time and
resources available. All the other
unimportant improvement activities can be
set aside to enable your efforts to be focused
on vital few.
FICCI CE
Top priority issues

• Customer relationship and focus

• Employee relationships and involvement
• Process improvement
• Information systems
• Measurement and tracking
• Awareness raising and education
• Supplier relationships
• Creation of support infrastructure
FICCI CE

Dealing with setbacks and failures

Whenever the continuous improvement
process has failed or falls much short of
the targets, it is often due to something
very important missing from your plan. It
could be due to the following reasons :-

• Lack of top management involvement and

support
• Lack of tangible goals
• Complacency due to past success
• Incorrect assessment
• Lack of prioritization
• Non application of tools