Continuous Improvement (CI) is another industry term that we suppose is necessary to some degree, yet we get this sneaking suspicion it's a term that is not used very often due to its use to describe different business process improvement strategies such as Lean and Six Sigma under one umbrella. Anyhow, new research from ARC indicates that CI is finally becoming a common practice amongst manufacturers as they stave off competition in a brutal global market. As this Manufacturing.net piece points out:

The market for Continuous Improvement (CI) systems is estimated to grow to $402.8 million by the end of 2010 with a strong compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.7 percent, according to ARC's "Continuous Improvement Systems Worldwide Outlook." Applications for CI systems have "crossed the chasm," and leaders are starting to emerge for the key areas of the market.

ARC's survey of manufacturers revealed that 80 percent are applying one or more CI methodologies, the most popular being Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Total Quality Management (TQM), and Theory of Constraints (TOC). The study examined the market for applications that manufacturers use to bring their programs to a new level of performance including electronic Kanban (eKanban), Statistical Process Control (SPC), Finite Capacity Scheduling (FCS), Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS), Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), TQM, and Value Stream Mapping (VSM).

While ARC says manufacturers are choosing CI systems to boost operational performance in the areas of labor utilization, inventory levels, quality, asset utilization and cost of goods sold, some traditional lean manufacturing proponents disapprove of the use of CI systems and recommend manual techniques as a way to keep employees close to the process.

A good example of getting close to the process is found in a recent story on Oregon Live about a Portland-based company that experienced such explosive growth it almost ruined the company. As such, owner John Stepleton replaced undisciplined growth with a different goal: efficiency. To get there, he's currently applying the principles of Lean. What's different about this lean story however is that Stepleton's company, Research Data and Design, produces data, not widgets.

"I realized after taking the company to the verge of bankruptcy we needed to try something different," Stepleton said. "Lean is the next step in moving things forward again."

"We're very, very early on the curve" of going lean in the service sector, said Steve Bell, president of Steady Improvement, a Portland lean manufacturing consulting firm. "If you walk into any manufacturing organization, you'll find them at least aware of the concepts of Lean, and perhaps beginning the journey. But walk into a service organization and most aren't even aware of Lean."

The pharma sector is also getting in on the CI action, only as this Pharmaceutical Processing piece points out, they're referring to it as PAT:

Through issuing new guidance to the industry in 2003 and 2004, the FDA encouraged the use of new quality measurement tools known as Process Analytical Technology (PAT) that greatly increase the need for data collection, data access and data analysis systems.

So it's not traditional CI, per se, however it seems fair to say it's a direct descendent, as implementing PAT helps ensure continuous compliance with FDA regulations, while offering bottom-line business benefits to manufacturers who can now leverage greater process understanding. Time-to-revenue can be accelerated by shortening the tech transfer time and effort involved in the start-up of new product manufacturing, for example.

Also, a PAT approach encourages manufacturers to re-think their systems strategy both for infrastructure and applications integration. Once an IT or business process system has been implemented and validated within an organization, there tends to be a reluctance to change it unless absolutely necessary. PAT apparently loosens the integration reigns, so to speak, so that firms can feel more comfortable tweaking systems.

At the end of the day, though, PAT sounds a lot like every other tool and/or process that is out to save the day:

As manufacturing companies increasingly recognize the benefits to adopting a PAT approach, they will drive the convergence of technology and application integration to a greater level. This, in turn, will drive more effective, risk-based manufacturing and ultimately will have a direct impact on the economic health of the entire industry.

And from Tekrati comes an interesting piece about manufacturers investing in Supply Chain Management software to a higher degree as it seems to be the logical way to support all of these nutty CI strategies, based on info. from Datamonitor.

Manufacturers are facing numerous challenges within their markets as the number of foreign competitors grows and increasing material costs impact margins. Business strategies such as lean manufacturing and demand-driven supply chains promise to alleviate some of the business pressures, yet can be difficult to implement. For many, investment in technology such as SCM is the most viable path.