Continuous Improvement Process
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[edit] Overview
Continuous Improvement Process (CIP) is a management process whereby delivery (customer valued) processes are constantly evaluated and improved in the light of their efficiency, effectiveness and flexibility.
Some see it as a meta process for most management systems (Business Process Management, Quality Management, Project Management). Deming saw it as part of the 'system' whereby feedback from the process and customer were evaluated against organisational goals. The fact that it can be called a management process does not mean that it needs to be executed by 'management' merely that it makes decisions about the implementation of the delivery process and the design of the delivery process itself.
Some successful implementations use the approach known as Kaizen (the translation of kai (“change”) zen (“good”) is ”improvement”). This method became famous by the book of Masaaki Imai “Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success.”
- The core principle of CIP is the (self) reflection of processes. (Feedback)
- The purpose of CIP is the identification, reduction and elimination of suboptimal processes. (Efficiency)
- The emphasis of CIP is on incremental, continuous steps, avoiding quantum leaps. (Evolution)
The elements above are more tactical elements of CIP, the more strategic elements include deciding how to increase the value of the delivery process output to the customer (Effectiveness) and also how much flexibility is valuable in the process to meet changing needs.
[edit] Further reading
- Imai, Masaaki (1986), Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, ISBN 0-07-554332-X
- Imai, Masaaki, Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense, Low-Cost Approach to Management McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (March 1, 1997) ISBN 0-07-031446-2
