What is continuous improvement?

Continuous improvement is an ongoing process of analysing every aspect of the business and identifying areas where service, process or product can be slightly altered or entirely overhauled to reach better outcomes.

At Specialized Signs, we integrate a collaborative approach throughout our team. We actively encourage input from team members at all levels and across all departments to share their ideas. Instead of waiting for a monthly meeting, we discuss great suggestions as soon as they are raised. We evaluate the pros and cons and create an action plan promptly.

Once a trial is initiated, we monitor its impact across various metrics to determine whether it is achieving the desired results. When we identify the key factors driving success or improvement, we may expand successful trials to more departments or similar processes.

Is process improvement always successful?

Absolutely not! Failure is a natural part of making progress. However, the lessons we learn from failed attempts are invaluable; they prepare us for the next stage and help us better understand the limitations of our current processes. Often, significant advancements arise from smaller failures.

The key takeaway is to be decisive and confident that the metrics you are analysing truly contribute to the company’s growth. A process change that saves money but incurs higher labour costs may not be as efficient as anticipated. It’s essential to evaluate whether such a change truly represents an improvement.

What has Specialized Signs accomplished this year, and how has it made improvements? These are just a few examples of our continuous improvement successes and challenges this year.

We have transitioned to a paperless system for our maintenance checks. Instead of using clipboards and printed paper that required scanning and filing, we now utilize an iPad with a single tabbed spreadsheet that contains all maintenance registers. This spreadsheet is centrally shared on OneDrive, allowing real-time access from any device within the company. This change has saved administrative time, reduced paper waste, prevented loss of data, improved traceability, and allowed us to enter extensive details in each entry.

We have been using Trello since shortly after Specialized Signs was launched to schedule job installations. Recently, we expanded its use beyond product output to track various aspects of our business, including ordered stock, quote requests, and rework. This change has streamlined many processes and provided better traceability compared to the various systems we were previously using.

We also attempted to create a Trello board for our stock list but quickly realized it was an unnecessary step. We decided to stick with our reliable Excel file and continue to improve our organization and maintenance processes within that program.

Our new site is quite large, which means we have a lot of cleaning to do. Our prep department needs to be dust-free for vinyl application, and this was becoming a significant challenge. In a lighthearted suggestion, we considered getting a Roomba iRobot cleaner, and this idea was quickly implemented. As a result, we have saved hundreds of man-hours and significantly reduced rework in this department.  

We not only focus on the production and financial aspects of our business when considering continuous improvements; we also ask ourselves how we can enhance the work environment for our employees. Following the success of our games area, we have recently installed a fully functional gym on site, which is freely accessible to all staff members to support their personal development outside of work. This facility has been well-received by the team and will undoubtedly contribute to business growth through a fitter and healthier workforce.

Continuous improvement fosters organic and sustainable growth, where failures no longer pose a threat to a company’s success. While big ideas can be challenging to generate, we can all think of small changes that would directly enhance our department. When everyone contributes these small improvements, the results can accumulate rapidly.