Ständiga förbättringar i praktiken : konkreta exempel från verkligheten

The authors of this thesis have interviewed three companies that all together submitted more than 15 000 suggestions for improvement in 2010. The aim of the thesis was to find examples of how companies work with continuous improvements in practice. The thesis began with a literature study on continuous improvement as a base. The literature study focuses on the implementation of continuous improvement, success factors and why implementation fails. After this, we interviewed a quality manager and operators in three companies, except in one company were we couldn’t interview an operator. After this, the result were analyzed and compared to the literature study to find practical example that correspond with literatures success factors. Based on Sörqvist (2004) key factors in Continuous Improvement we categorized the success factors from all firms. The key factors are management commitment, anchoring, structure and feedback from results and progression. From each category an example from a company that had a clear and simple approach within each categorization were chosen and described more detailed. In management commitment, all companies worked very similar, this is why all three companies exemplify this category. All the improvements that employees feel they can implement without help is up to them to implement. In this way they become involved and feel that they own the working method. In anchoring Continuous Improvement Coca-Cola showed an easy way to working with this. A new initiative is a new internal blog. The blog is all about continuous improvement where the employees on a daily basis can read of continuous improvement in a more relaxed form. Within the structure we use Cloetta as an example of a practical working method. Cloetta uses an improvement board for suggestions. The employees use a card and write down the suggestion. The proposals are then discussed at the next meeting of improvements, if the suggestion is decided to implement an action plan is created and the card is moved to the next step on the board. St. Jude Medical stands for the example of feedback of results and progression. This thanks to the work with its CI-board. CI stands for Continuous Improvement, and this group is created specifically to develop and give feedback of continuous improvement at the company. The CI-board is a centralized group and acts as a coach group in improving matters for St. Jude Medical's internal customers. A support function that can be of great importance for a company's middle managers who then feel the support from an internal, but in the same time external, expert in continuous improvement. All three companies worked long term with continuous improvement and decided new, higher goals. The weakest point in all three companies was the dissemination of "best practice" in which none of the companies felt they had a good system for.Validerat; 20120322 (anonymous