How to Know What Tools of Continuous Improvement to Use in My Company

por Elizabeth Padilla Elizabeth Padilla | Dec 16, 2021 2:25:38 PM

continuous improvement tools casa sauza

As my coworker Leonardo mentioned in past blogs, the best continuous improvement method “provides many benefits that help us be more efficient, and to transmit this efficiency to the client.” But how do we know what tools to implement?

Having too many improvement tools to choose from is one of the biggest challenges to overcome––as is resistance to change, finding the discipline to rigorously follow a methodology, and having a vast knowledge of the diverse methodologies that can potentially be used.

But we cannot let this discourage us. We must obtain an advantage and strengthen our team with multiple skills and knowledge, to achieve a common purpose:

"IMPROVEMENT"

Let’s return to the topic of this blog:

How to know what tools to use in our company?

This is a difficult question to answer, but I will tell you how we have answered it here at Casa Sauza, in hopes that it will guide you to what you are looking to achieve in your company.

Do not be surprised, improvement cannot only be applied in the workplace, but also in a personal regard. It is also possible that this blog inspires a vision to ultimately implement something similar to our strategy at Casa Sauza.

When we first began to implement TPM (Total Production Management) at Casa Sauza, work teams, called “pillars,” were created to take full advantage of the diverse talents of our employees.

The pillar of “Focused Improvement” is in charge of determining what losses should be focused on in each area to achieve the ultimate goals and objectives––from floor operation to administrative areas. This pillar is also in charge of deciding which methodologies to use in order to achieve expectations in the most optimal way.

Each of the tools mentioned below is managed by difference colleagues of the company. These colleagues are the “Champions” of these tools, respectively, due to their mastery with its utilization, and they are in charge of transmitting their knowledge to the rest of the members in the company.

What follows is a list of the improvement tools that we use in our company:

  • Cause and effect analysis
  • Pareto chart
  • Root of the cause analysis
  • Web diagram
  • Line graph
  • Histogram
  • ”Why?” “Why?” “Why?” analysis
  • SMED
  • 6 GENS
  • 12 steps
  • Infinite cycle
  • AMEF
  • P-M analysis
  • Statistical processes control
  • PDCA
  • Poka yokes
  • Value stream mapping
  • 5S’s
  • Standardize work
  • Set-up reduction/SMED
  • Kanban
  • Heijunka
  • Makigami
  • Jidoka

As you can see, we use Lean, TPM and 6 Sigma tools. Although, usually, our starting point is the Deming PDCA cycle, which is also part of the Infinite Cycle deployment, the basic tool for Quality Maintenance is the TPM approach.

It is important to mention that Casa Sauza takes on multiple options when implementing different systems and tools in order to unify activities in an efficient way. We integrate everything into our Sauza Operating System (SOS) which also includes improvement tools.

In the following blogs, we will discuss these general as well as particular methodologies, and how to know when to apply which one.

Come and visit Casa Sauza and see for yourself how the modernization of our production processes delivers the purest tequila that you will find in the market.

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