Open guides
15 short guides to the ideas behind process improvement, each with an example from work most people know. They are open to everyone, and the same guides sit inside the tool.
The figures in the examples are illustrative and do not come from real organisations.
Processes and value
Every piece of work is a chain of steps that ends with someone who wanted something. Seeing the chain is where improvement starts.
About 4 minutes.
Waiting
In most processes the work spends far longer sitting still than being worked on. Cutting the waits is usually the cheapest win.
About 4 minutes.
Rework
Work done twice costs twice, plus the waiting around it. Rework hides behind words like chase, correct and resubmit.
About 4 minutes.
The eight wastes
Lean thinking names eight kinds of waste. Once you can see them, you will find them everywhere, in offices as much as factories.
About 5 minutes.
Flow and pull
Work moves faster in small, steady streams than in big batches. Less work in progress means shorter waits for everyone.
About 5 minutes.
Variation
No process gives the same result twice. Learning to tell everyday wobble from a real change is a quiet superpower.
About 5 minutes.
Control charts
A control chart shows results in time order with limits worked out from the process itself, so you can tell noise from a signal.
About 5 minutes.
Process capability (Cpk)
Capability compares what the process actually does with what the customer needs. Cpk puts that comparison into one number.
About 5 minutes.
DMAIC
Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control: a five-phase route for problems whose causes are not yet known.
About 6 minutes.
PDCA and Kaizen
Plan, do, check, act: small cycles of change, run often, by the people who do the work. Kaizen means continuous improvement.
About 5 minutes.
5S and visual management
Sort, set in order, shine, standardise, sustain: a tidy, visible workplace where problems cannot hide.
About 4 minutes.
Value stream maps
A value stream map draws the whole journey, the work, the waits and the information, on one page, with a timeline underneath.
About 6 minutes.
Root cause analysis
Fixing symptoms keeps a team busy for ever. Root cause analysis digs until the cause that keeps producing the problem is found and proved.
About 5 minutes.
Voice of the customer
Customers speak in feelings and stories. Improvement needs requirements you can measure. The voice of the customer connects the two.
About 5 minutes.
Process discovery from records
Most systems already record when each step happened. Read those records and the real process draws itself, detours and all.
About 5 minutes.