06250280 - Principles of Continuous Improvement

Operations management is faced with this delicate balance: delivering quickly and satisfying the customer. Can the management and project management methods inherited from the industrial revolution respond to this reality? Are the V-cycle and its tunnel effect adapted to this new context? How can we eradicate waste in operational processes and drastically improve lead times? How can we cope with unexpected events? And how can we adapt quickly and effectively to transform constraints and hazards into opportunities? This course will explain the Lean Management approach and the DMAIC principles of problem solving to improve operations management and customer satisfaction.

By the end of the course, students will understand the concepts of added value and process and be able to apply a problem-solving approach to improve customer satisfaction.

Estimation of private study (outside of contact hours): 2-4 hours

TARGETED KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS 

Understand and specify the Needs and Demands of an internal or external customer
Express a problem, set up a project team and launch a customer satisfaction-oriented improvement project
Describe a process in a transversal way, measure its performance and establish it factually
Identify the root causes of customer, user and company dissatisfaction
Identify improvements for customer satisfaction, process fluidity and organizational performance. Implement them operationally and sustain their use by customers and users.

COURSE OUTLINE

Module 1: Lean, the Customer, Value and Non-Value Added
The origins & principles of Lean Management

• The Productivist vision vs. the Customer Satisfaction vision
• Customer approach based on Value, Need and Demand

The 5 pillars of Lean

• The value
• The value chain
• Lead time flow
• Pull system
• Continuous improvement (Kaizen)

The 7 wastes of Lean

Module 2: The process approach
Describing a process and making it visible

• Procedure vs. process
• Process mapping
• The Gemba Walk

Module 3: Finding the root cause of a problem
Root cause research tools

• Ishikawa diagram
• The 5 whys
• Pareto diagram
• Gemba Walk

Visual Management

• Making errors visible as soon as possible: 5S 

Module 4: Sustainable problem solving
Finding a solution

• Brainstorming to find an impactful solution as a group
• Murphy's analysis

Practical application: the card game and process-based problem-solving via the empirical, scientific and collaborative approach to problem-solving.

• Formulating a problem 
• Confirming a problem
• Finding root causes
• Identify an improvement
• Sustaining improvement

Final exam

RECOMMENDED TEXTS AND PUBLICATIONS

“Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk (Plus fort que les dieux)” de Peter L. Bernstein
« Les stratégies absurdes – Comment faire pire en croyant faire mieux » de Maya BEAUVALLET, Editions du Seuil, 2009
« Vous allez commettre une terrible erreur » d’Olivier SIBONY
« Un peu de désordre = beaucoup de profit(s) » de Eric Abrahamson, David H. Freedman
« La faillite de la pensée managériale : Lost in Management 2 » de François Dupuy

Individual grade

Written test, 1h
MCQs + Open questions

Other grade
Working group during class, 1h

TEACHING METHODS

The training program alternates continuously between :
- THEORY :
o Detailed review of concepts and tools,
o Explanation of how to use the tools,
o Possible perspective on company issues.
- PRACTICE :
o Numerous video or pictorial examples to support concepts and tools,
o Illustration through hands-on exercises during the course.

The dynamic, interactive pace of the course, with a definite focus on the pleasure of learning, will enable participants to grasp and apply the concepts covered. Participants will be continually referred to a bibliography to deepen their understanding of these concepts.

The pedagogical approach is based on two pillars:
o Gaming, or encouraging creativity and the emergence of ideas
o Sharing, to encourage listening and acceptance.

NATURE OF MATERIALS
Materials are provided in Moodle in PDF format.

TEACHING INNOVATIONS AND USE OF TECHNOLOGY
Use of a file-sharing environment to carry out group work and exchange with all learners during the course.

ADVISED PRIOR READING

« Systeme Lean » - Broché – 6 décembre 2012 - James Womack, Daniel Jones
« Le système qui va changer le monde : Une analyse des industries automobiles mondiales dirigée par le Massachusetts institut of technology » – 22 février 1993 - de Daniel Jones, Jim Womack, Daniel Roos
« Le but : Un processus de progrès permanent » de Eliyahu M. Goldratt, J Cox