“We have noticed that the internal communication has improved dramatically thanks to the ‘Improvement Café’; colleagues know where to find each other better than before. They ask each other ‘silly’ questions on purpose, but they are often the best questions. It delivers a fresh look at each other’s methods.”
“We noticed that communication between departments could be improved, we had too much double work. The previously mentioned packaging problem had already been resolved for another customer, so the need for a company-wide internal ‘club’, comprising employees from various disciplines, was great. This is how we got started with the Improvement Café, at the end of 2014. It is now part of the improvement project ‘Forward’, which also includes Lean. Really, they all dovetail perfectly together.”
“The implementation of the improvements doesn’t automatically have to be done by the people from the ‘Improvement Café’, but they do coordinate everything. They participate and coach the implementing team, it is important that the people on the floor are involved too. They often have the best ideas, they also have to implement them: we consider it a waste not to use the talent and knowledge present. The dialogue itself that occurs in this situation ensures that everyone is on board. We always evaluate things retrospectively.”
“The reason why we often tackle projects using the MCB Kaizen form, is that this form employs a so-called PDCA cycle. The form “forces” us to think carefully about what exactly the problem is. You have to conduct an extensive analysis to discover the basic causes, prior to finding the solution.”
“For example a colleague had received complaints about aluminium, many customers don’t realise that it too can corrode. He knew that we were involved with packaging in the Improvement Café, and he asked in the Café how we could tackle this. It resulted in a packaging instruction on the metal and a leaflet for customers that is stickered to the sheets. The customers can read here how to deal with aluminium. We want to inform as many people as possible throughout the chain.”
“Together with the back office we improved the packaging, just like the sagging of pallets or the avoidance of corrosion through the packaging. We still enjoy the benefits of tackling this back then, just through involving people.”
“We’ve also performed a Kaizen for delivery reliability of external production. The goal wasn’t always achieved, somewhere in the process something was out of step and not anchored. We tackled this and now we are far above the standard and that has stayed so. But now the team has upped the stakes even more, that is striving for the perfection that we love at MCB. We have noticed that problems can commonly be traced back to communication problems, often people aren’t even aware of the problems that they’re causing for others. In a Kaizen, all the heads get together and people become aware of their interdependence.”
“At the moment we are involved in ‘Not loaded due to volume’ and ‘Cannot be found’. These are topics for which Kaizens have not been set up in the Improvement Café, but they are being dealt with. Sometimes we don’t tackle an improvement in the Café, like improvements at department level. We stimulate the department concerned to tackle it, we are happy to assist. We can decide not to alter the current approach, but in any case we give the issue due consideration.”
“We invite everyone to come and have a look at what goes on in the Improvement Café, unfortunately many people have not found us yet. But it is an open structure: you can always approach the IC members with your questions, personally, via email or by telephone. We do something with the questions that are posed, certainly now that we are seeing the results. Don’t hold back.”
