Manufacturers are constantly adding
certifications, ISO 9001, Quality System, ISO 14001
Environmental Management System, OHSAS
18001 Safety Management System, CAPA, Certified
Auto Parts Association, ISO 16949,
Automotive Quality Certification, AS 9120 and Aerospace quality
certification just to name a few. Each
of these certifications addresses different aspects, yet they all
share the same common emphasis,
Continuous Improvement.
Continuous Improvement is the central
theme in manufacturing. ISO, Lean, 6 Sigma and so on,
all focusing on organization’s
efforts on continuous improvement. Since the Asian manufacturing
explosion in the 1950′s, continuous improvement has become the
cornerstone of manufacturing.
Manufacturers monitor and measure
everything, allowing them to discover any unanticipated results.
Everyone rushes to determine the reason for the unexpected results or
root cause then determines how to fix it then change policies and
procedures to ensure it doesn't happen again. The quality systems
provide a framework for the improvement process and the discipline to
ensure improvements are maintained. This system works. Everyone is
focused on improvement. Current performance is only acceptable for an
instance than expectations are raised, getting better without end.
My question is, “Why don’t other
industries embrace continuous improvement like manufacturing?”
Manufacturing is one of the oldest
trades. So maybe, manufacturing has been around longer and is more
developed?
In retail and service industries the
focus is customer satisfaction. That’s great, but it focuses more
on isolated circumstances and not patterns of events. I see
management at retailers dealing with upset customers, one on one to
satisfy them. What I don’t see is the effort to analyze what
happened in the system. I don’t see the effort to find a way to fix
the root cause so it doesn't happen again. I don’t see the
focused discipline to maintain the changes. What I don’t see is a
system with a standard. Do you have a favorite store that always
seems to have long lines at a certain time of day? Does it happen
over and over? Where is the continuous improvement? Where is the
root cause analysis and corrective action to see it doesn't happen
again? I’m not picking on retail. It’s the same story in
service organizations and other industries.
Continuous Improvement should be for
every industry, and maybe even for every person. I’m sure
my wife could write-up several
non-conforming behavior forms on me, know the root cause and offer
corrective actions for the future. Can you imagine your spouse
walking around with a stack of corrective actions for you to address?
Okay maybe not that far, but as individuals we should be focused on
continuous improvement such as education, knowledge, being a better
parent, friend or
spouse. Everyone should want to
improve.
So when you hear people talking about
manufacturing like the stereotypical sweat shop assembly line, think
about it. Manufacturing is one of the most developed and constantly
improving industries in the world. It must be. Manufacturing has
been part of the global economy long before other industries knew the
global economy existed. I know retailers have competition. Stand in
any retailer’s parking lot and I bet you can see their competitor
across the street. Manufacturing faces world-wide competition. Not
local or national, but global compaction. Manufacturers face
competition from countries with lower labor costs and government
assistance in key industries. Without continuous improvement
individual manufacturers would not exist.
I have no doubt that manufacturing has
one of the most developed business models of any industry. My only
question is “When is everyone else going to catch up?” Excuse me
now, I need to get to the store where I’m sure they will only have
one register opened for the long line of customers, or I need to call
the technical help line and sit on hold for 45 minutes…just like
yesterday and the day before that.
