Suggestions’ system in a factory
The feedback system or the process of continuous improvement is essential to be implemented and functional in any factory that wants to reduce costs, to be competitive, to have motivated employees and to create that culture of continuous improvement.
The Management is responsible for creating this system, allocating the necessary time and resources so that each employee has access to contribute with suggestions for improvement, regardless of their position and place of work. The system must be transparent, easy to follow, and the stages and roles should be clearly defined in the process.
The steps of an effective, easy-to-implement and follow-up suggestion system are:
Generation and registration.
Generation and registration.
Opportunities for improvement can be generated during the scheduled meetings, but this is not a rule. Proposals can appear at any time during the work, and those ideas must be recorded in a standard form (physical or electronic) containing a minimum of necessary information about the current situation or problem identified, the proposed solution and the advantages or benefits expected in following the implementation. Employees should have permanent access to the forms, and suggestions should be forwarded to the next stage as soon as possible.
Evaluation.
Evaluation.
At this stage, the suggestions are evaluated by a superior and / or a specialist, in order to analyze the current situation, the proposed suggestion and to identify what resources are needed for implementation. Also, at this stage, ideas can be rejected.
The evaluation deadline is very important, and the employee should receive an answer about the evaluation result of his idea.
Implementation.
Implementation.
For the analyzed and confirmed suggestions, resources will be allocated, a responsible person will be appointed, a deadline but also the implementation action will be set and planned. Depending on the resources that are required, the next hierarchical level, the superior of the evaluator, is also involved to provide support and to unblock any obstacles.
Follow-up and calculation.
Follow-up and calculation.
Following the implementation, follow-up is done, the before and after results are compared and the savings that have been achieved will be calculated, involving the finance department as well.
Organizations can also develop a reward system for implemented improvement ideas to further motivate employees to participate in the feedback.
