Skip to content
Client area
EN
Request a demo
Automotive industry · programme 02

Speed up continuous improvement

Bring lean and continuous improvement to life on the lines.

Why this programme

Lean can be understood in a few minutes, but it takes months to become a habit. Teams run a virtual production line, measure its output, then improve it round after round. Everyone sees live, on the screen, the effect of an idea on cycle time and inventory.

Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.

W. Edwards Demingstatistician, father of quality managementOut of the Crisis, 14 Points for Management (point 5), 1982

What your teams experience

  1. The virtual line: produce as a team on a simulated line, with its bottlenecks and its waste.
  2. The waste hunt: spot the seven wastes in a projected workshop scene.
  3. The quick changeover: cut a changeover time by reorganising the steps.
  4. The kaizen blitz: each team presents an improvement and its estimated gain.

Each activity opens and closes with a projected cinematic sequence, personalised for your teams. The facilitator sets the pace: nothing moves forward without them.

What the company gains

A shared lean vocabulary from the shop floor to management, improvement ideas that make their way up, and teams that measure their own progress.

Staging written for you

In your client area, a form specific to this programme collects your content: it is built into the challenges and cinematic sequences, exactly as you provide it. The look uses your logo and your colours. Teams are formed on the spot or based on your organisation chart.

Follow-up, up to D+30

Your follow-up dashboard stays with the programme, from the order to the final results.

  • After the session: the session report, with the gap between the opening and closing measures.
  • At D+7: a reminder asks a few key questions again, and the D+7 report shows what has been retained.
  • At D+30: a second reminder, and the D+30 report shows what holds over time.

Follow-up: before, during, after

The sources of this programme

The published research that this programme's games, measures and debriefs refer to. You can check every reference.

  1. Little, J. D. C. (1961). A proof for the queuing formula: L = λW. Operations Research, 9(3), 383-387. 10.1287/opre.9.3.383
  2. Goldratt, E. M., & Cox, J. (1984). The Goal. North River Press (ouvrage).
  3. Bessant, J., & Caffyn, S. (1997). High-involvement innovation through continuous improvement. International Journal of Technology Management, 14(1), 7-28. 10.1504/IJTM.1997.001705
  4. Glover, W. J., Farris, J. A., Van Aken, E. M., & Doolen, T. L. (2011). Critical success factors for the sustainability of Kaizen event human resource outcomes: An empirical study. International Journal of Production Economics, 132(2), 197-213. 10.1016/j.ijpe.2011.04.005
  5. Bateman, N. (2005). Sustainability: The elusive element of process improvement. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 25(3), 261-276. 10.1108/01443570510581862
  6. McIntosh, R. I., Culley, S. J., Mileham, A. R., & Owen, G. W. (2000). A critical evaluation of Shingo's 'SMED' (Single Minute Exchange of Die) methodology. International Journal of Production Research, 38(11), 2377-2395. 10.1080/00207540050031823
  7. Shingo, S. (1985). A Revolution in Manufacturing: The SMED System. Productivity Press (ouvrage).
  8. Womack, J. P., & Jones, D. T. (1996). Lean Thinking. Simon & Schuster (ouvrage).
  9. Liang, J., Farh, C. I. C., & Farh, J.-L. (2012). Psychological antecedents of promotive and prohibitive voice: A two-wave examination. Academy of Management Journal, 55(1), 71-92. 10.5465/amj.2010.0176
  10. Shingo, S. (1986). Zero Quality Control: Source Inspection and the Poka-Yoke System. Productivity Press (ouvrage).
  11. Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69-119. 10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38002-1
  12. Howard, G. S. (1980). Response-shift bias: A problem in evaluating interventions with pre/post self-reports. Evaluation Review, 4(1), 93-106. 10.1177/0193841X8000400105
  13. Shah, R., & Ward, P. T. (2003). Lean manufacturing: Context, practice bundles, and performance. Journal of Operations Management, 21(2), 129-149. 10.1016/S0272-6963(02)00108-0
  14. Deming, W. E. (1986). Out of the Crisis. MIT Center for Advanced Engineering Study (ouvrage).
Further reading (2 references)

Other research we drew on to design this programme.

  1. Bortolotti, T., Boscari, S., & Danese, P. (2015). Successful lean implementation: Organizational culture and soft lean practices. International Journal of Production Economics, 160, 182-201. 10.1016/j.ijpe.2014.10.013
  2. Farris, J. A., Van Aken, E. M., Doolen, T. L., & Worley, J. (2009). Critical success factors for human resource outcomes in Kaizen events: An empirical study. International Journal of Production Economics, 117(1), 42-65. 10.1016/j.ijpe.2008.08.051
Shared foundations (6 references)

The mechanics of all our sessions (team play, the debrief, the before-and-after measure, spaced reminders) and the research that also underpins the other programmes in the same specialty or sector.

  1. Burke, M. J., Sarpy, S. A., Smith-Crowe, K., Chan-Serafin, S., Salvador, R. O., & Islam, G. (2006). Relative effectiveness of worker safety and health training methods. American Journal of Public Health, 96(2), 315-324. 10.2105/AJPH.2004.059840
  2. Tannenbaum, S. I., & Cerasoli, C. P. (2013). Do team and individual debriefs enhance performance? A meta-analysis. Human Factors, 55(1), 231-245. 10.1177/0018720812448394
  3. Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249-255. 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x
  4. Edmondson, A. C. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350-383. 10.2307/2666999
  5. Reason, J. (2000). Human error: Models and management. BMJ, 320(7237), 768-770. 10.1136/bmj.320.7237.768
  6. MacDuffie, J. P. (1995). Human resource bundles and manufacturing performance: Organizational logic and flexible production systems in the world auto industry. ILR Review, 48(2), 197-221. 10.1177/001979399504800201

Before you book

How is a Corporate Solutions experience different from team building?

It starts from a business objective, not an activity: onboarding new hires, preventing a risk, bringing your commitments to life. It is staged for your company, with your content, your figures and your brand. Your teams play in person, on their phones, while a big screen tells the story and a facilitator runs the room. And it is followed up: the session report, then the D+7 and D+30 reminders in your client area.

Do we need to install an app?

No. Participants scan a QR code and play in their phone's browser. No account, no password, no installation. It works on iPhone and Android.

Is there a limit on the number of participants?

No. The platform adapts to your headcount, from a small team to the whole company, in one or several rooms.

Demo

See “Speed up continuous improvement” in action.

Thirty minutes on your premises. You play a challenge and see the report at the end.

Request a demo