Process improvement

Solution area 3: Process improvement

Achieving practical transformation through the implementation of process improvement techniques is crucial for enhancing, optimizing operations, and achieving operation excellence to deliver tangible outcomes.

- LiB not only offers improvement tools or programs but also provides a hands-on approach to finding the best solutions for your business.
- Our dedicated team works closely with all stakeholders to ensure satisfying results, practical transformation, and a path to operation excellence.

Why company initiatives fail to reach their maximum potential:

If your organization is facing operational challenges, there exists an opportunity to enhance process improvement and efficiency:

The production process continues to rely on the same workforce, with minimal changes, despite significant decreases in production volumes.
The production process lacks continuity in both space and time, calling for streamlined process improvement strategies.
Inspection processes are conducted randomly, rendering it difficult to accurately measure the percentage of items inspected compared to the total.
Communication between departments is slow, with responses taking at least 1 to 2 days.
Each department generates numerous regular reports, primarily focused on recording data for retrospective checks.
There is insufficient time for continuous project implementation due to ongoing routine tasks.
Inefficient project management results in delays, inadequate problem resolution, and a failure to achieve desired outcomes, highlighting areas for impactful process improvement.

Capabilities in Process Improvement

Capability 1: Labor optimization

LiB’s approach to labor optimization centers around solving issues within impactful processes that involve a significant amount of labor. By conducting thorough analyses of frontline issues, LiB identifies the appropriate strategies and tools to address challenges at each point in the organization, with the ultimate goal of achieving realistic results.

Capability 2: Indirect labor optimization

Indirect labor optimization aims to improve and address issues within various support functions that may often be overlooked during improvement initiatives. This approach helps minimize unnecessary labor usage, leading to an overall reduction in the workforce for the company. Consequently, this approach yields better results compared to solely optimizing production processes.

Capability 3: Workflow visualization
Capability 4: Digital twin
Capability 5: Digitalization

Process Improvement Case study

Case: Unlock cost reduction and profit increase by implementing process improvement.

Industry:

Food manufacturing

Issues in Process Improvement:

One of the company’s main challenges is its heavy reliance on a large workforce in its production process. This has led to the presence of non-value-added labor in various areas of the company. For example, the company has employees who are engaged in repetitive tasks, production lines that experience frequent interruptions, and even the production of products that do not contribute to the company’s profit without its awareness. Therefore, it is necessary to expedite the development of the production process to enhance efficiency and effectively utilize production resources.

Main Results of Process Improvement:

During the quick win phase of the project, we were able to reduce labor utilization by more than 37% while maintaining the same level of production quality. Additionally, there is no need for further investment in production line improvements. When considering the entire project plan, we anticipate annual savings of over 24 million baht.

In this particular case, we were approached by a company operating in the food processing industry.

Their main production process relied heavily on a large workforce. LiB conducted a thorough analysis and identified areas within the production process where non-value-added activities were present. These included unnecessary job movements or redundant inspection tasks, leading to excessive labor usage. LiB was entrusted with facilitating the improvement of the production process to enhance efficiency and ensure cost-effective resource utilization.

LiB’s approach consisted of three main steps. First, we meticulously analyzed and eliminated any unnecessary activities from the production process, ensuring that these eliminations did not impact other areas or necessitate modifications to the production process itself. For instance, we successfully eliminated redundant inspection tasks without compromising other production activities. Second, we focused on designing a more efficient production process by exploring new methods to enhance production efficiency. This involved the creation of tools that visualized the sizes of items, aiding in quicker sorting and incorporating suitable technology for process automation. During this process, the focus was on ensuring the cost-effectiveness of these investments. We developed detailed implementation plans and continuous improvement strategies to meet project timelines. Finally, we employed a specially designed optimization program to analyze the optimal workforce required at each point in accordance with the production plan.

As a result of LiB’s interventions, one of the quick win examples successfully achieved a remarkable reduction in labor utilization. The number of employees required was reduced from 16 to a mere 10, resulting in a reduction of over 37%, without compromising the production quality. Moreover, no additional investment costs were incurred to improve the production line. When considering the entire project, the expected annual savings amount to over 24 million baht.