Continuous Improvement:
A Never-Ending Story!
Continuous improvement has been part of managers' vocabulary for several decades, and the topic remains highly relevant today. Indeed, recent events have sparked a renewed interest in the concept. Organizations no longer want to find themselves in situations that made them vulnerable and are fully prepared to make the necessary efforts to improve their business processes and anticipate any new eventualities. Continuous improvement is a business practice to rediscover and one that is here to stay.
To understand the foundations of this important concept, I met with Karim Mahrady, Industrial Engineer and Vice President of Operations at Era Consulting Group.
In life as in his work, Karim likes to look forward and constantly question ways to improve the elements he encounters. His engineering studies have guided him well on this path. Isn’t this discipline all about examining how to do things better? It was during his studies that Karim was introduced to the fundamentals of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), a tool for the continuous improvement of both internal and external business processes.
He has been working in the ERP industry for several years now, and through this experience, he will explain to us how to adapt the concept of continuous improvement to our businesses. Here is his story.
The launch
At the beginning, our startup company is made up of one or two people. Its members know everything inside out: prices, customers, suppliers, etc. The sharing of information and interactions between participants are direct and simple.
Gaining speed
As the company gains speed and grows to 4, 5, and 6 employees, sharing information becomes more complex. Roles and responsibilities must be assigned to each person. Task allocation and the implementation of processes involving people and machines are necessary to handle an increased volume of sales, purchases, production, or management. The volume of interactions intensifies.
An ongoing story: growth
And it is in the pursuit of this growth that SMEs emerge, along with the need for a structure to support all interactions and the implementation of continuous improvement processes.
Without the implementation of concrete processes, each person’s efficiency can be affected by multiple entries or communications of the same information, creating a risk of incorrect information. A drop in quality may be reflected in the products or services offered to customers, such as errors in product manufacturing, forgetting to purchase raw materials, or excessively long delivery times.
The history of companies and their interactions
Every organization operates through processes that involve interactions between people, data, machines, and communication channels. By optimizing these flows of multiple interactions, companies will improve their processes and achieve new levels of efficiency.
To help us fully grasp the concept of continuous improvement, Karim tells us the story of a company and its evolution over time. Let’s pay close attention to the transformation of interactions.
" Without integrated and structured processes, SMEs expose themselves to the risk of time loss, duplication of activities, and errors. "
- Karim Mahrady, Era Consulting Group -
In a growth context, a single repository for all data accessible to everyone, along with well-defined processes, becomes imperative to avoid the pitfalls mentioned above and to make way for mature systems conducive to continuous improvement. A happy and never-ending story.
The maturity of companies in their interactions
The CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) model, shown in Figure 1, is a reference model—a structured set of best practices—designed to understand, assess, and improve business activities. It provides us with a clear representation of the different maturity levels of processes in our organizations and the direction we should take to establish continuous improvement within them.
Figure 1. CMMI : Capability Maturity Model Integration
Level 1 in Figure 1 represents the story of our small startup company. Each transaction is simple, unique, and unpredictable. It is getting to know its market.
As we climb the ladder of growth and maturity and interactions multiply (levels 2 and 3), we see the repetition of certain tasks emerge along with the need for process structuring and standardization. These stages correspond to the story of our company as it begins and continues its growth.
“A tool like an ERP can help us establish our processes,” our expert tells us. “Implementing an ERP system is a golden opportunity that allows us to begin our ascent toward reaching the highest levels of maturity in our organizations,” he adds.
Implementing an ERP system initially allows the organization to review its current processes and identify weaknesses and inefficiencies in each process.
It thus allows access to higher maturity levels—level 4 for measurement and ultimately level 5 for innovation. From level 4 onward, the established processes enable us to measure and minimize repetitive tasks, and move to level 5 to free up human resources so they can focus on innovation!
The ERP system will allow us to:
- Transition from unstructured data to structured data that is easily accessible and usable by everyone.
- Identify and assign roles and responsibilities to each individual or department.
- Automate repetitive, non–value-added tasks and create optimal processes to free up resources.
" Leave all repetitive tasks to machines to free up your human resources. They will become the driving force behind your innovation and your quality assurance on the path to continuous improvement."
- Karim Mahrady, Era Consulting Group -
True story
Let’s illustrate the maturity process with a true story—a real-life example we can all relate to: the evolution of a price request and quotation process.
The following images show how we can improve this process by implementing ERP and eCommerce systems to gain in efficiency, quality, and capacity.
Figure 2.1: Initial process, low maturity level.
At the first level of maturity, there is no database—in other words, all the information exists in someone’s head or in some random file. What does the quotation request process look like in this case? Let us tell you.
Mr. A receives a price request. Since he doesn’t have the information, he sends an email to his colleague, Ms. B, who knows the pricing well. Diligently, Ms. B interrupts her work, prepares a file with the required information, and quickly sends it back to Mr. A. He is then finally able to prepare his quote and send it to the client. This process can repeat several times a day and, let’s admit it, is prone to errors.
Figure 2.2: Improved process
At the second level, by implementing an ERP system with a quotation module and centralized price management, Mr. A no longer needs to rely on his colleague. Instead, he can consult the prices directly within the system, enter the quote, and send it to the client. The data, fully standardized within the system, significantly reduces the risk of errors, makes Mr. A completely autonomous, and allows Ms. B to focus on her core tasks without interruption.
The ultimate level would be to also free up Mr. A by setting up an online portal, allowing the client to check prices on their own and place orders autonomously. Meanwhile, Ms. B and Mr. A could review ERP data, analyze it, identify areas for improvement, and work in innovation mode rather than simply in clerical mode, as they did in the beginning.
" The ERP acts as a framework and support for innovation, a true backbone for continuous improvement. "
- Karim Mahrady, Era Consulting Group -
THE END, but not just yet
You might have seen it coming from the start. Like the story, this article will have no end. Because the end is you! You hold the destiny of your company in your hands. It’s up to you to write it.
Take advantage of the current slowdown to step back. “Look at the forest rather than the tree,” our expert suggests, “assess your needs, initiate your improvement processes, showcase your internal expertise for innovation, and reach new levels of maturity.”
Of course, Era Consulting Group can help you and support you in creating your story, where you and your team will be the heroes! Ready for the next chapter?