01 Mar 2024
In a poll posted on our Linkedin page, we checked with followers if they knew what Continuous Improvement was. 49% of our followers agreed that continuous improvement refines operations and boosts efficiency, 23% opted for cultivates innovation mindsets, 15% agreed that Continuous Improvement is made possible when teams come together to crush inefficiencies, and lastly, 13% concurred that it’s based on data-driven strategy shifts.
In a nutshell, Continuous Improvement (CI), or Kaizen in Japanese, which means ‘change for the better’, is a process that recognises how small changes can make a huge impact. It’s a continuous journey that has an overall goal to make positive changes over a period of time in order to create improvement in all processes. So, why CI? This methodology encourages employees to develop effective ways that can improve efficiencies of business’ operations by exploring opportunities that trims down excess waste.
LEAN Awareness Roadshow 2024
At Averis, we practise LEAN methodology so we conducted a LEAN Awareness Roadshow in pursuit of building a culture of Continuous Improvement. Aside from giving employees the opportunity to explore the world of CI and Kaizen, we also got to recognise employee contributions to various LEAN projects within our organisation by celebrating key achievements that were accomplished in the past year.
During the event, each department shared updates on how their respective teams did when implementing LEAN into their day-to-day operations.
Before we proceed further, allow us to provide an overview of Just-Do-It (JDIs) and other commonly used terms in LEAN Methodology. Just-Do-It (JDI) refers to speedy solutions for current tasks at hand, focusing on minor enhancements, individual contributions, or small team efforts. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) represents a type of business process automation technology where the software is able to replicate human actions within digital systems. It takes on activities like data entry, extraction, and report generation, handling high-volume, repetitive tasks that were traditionally performed by humans. This way, humans get to free themselves from mundane tasks and focus on higher value tasks. Non-RPA tasks, however, still heavily depend on human intervention which requires analytical thinking. Service-level Agreement (SLA) is a promise between a company and their customers where the company is expected to meet certain targets.
Now that we’re all caught up, let’s get back to it! Here’s how each team did.
- Information Technology – Improved efficient gains through technology from various technology-driven solution projects which resulted in a significant reduction of hours per month in non-value-added and repetitive manual processes. The team also partnered with our customers on two projects, to improve processing time.
- Human Resources – Improved efficiency in end-to-end HR Staffing processes that include hiring, change job, and termination, via RPA and Workday enhancements. The team also collaborated with the Finance and Accounting department to streamline the process of updating in Workday.
- Finance and Accounting – Collaborated in two projects alongside our customers to help in improving work efficiency by reducing report processing time.
- Shipping Documentation – Improved efficiency of Bill Submission for customers by using RPA solutions, helping the team meet daily SLA requirements.
No Hard Work Goes Unnoticed
We took the opportunity to award these teams for a job well done in adopting tools that enhance work efficiency in their daily operations at the quickest turnaround time. A total of 109 awards were presented to individuals who successfully completed the assigned Kaizen Projects, aimed at enhancing Quality, Productivity, and Cost (QPC).
Lim Ser Yong, our Head of Shared Services, emphasised the significant improvements made in simplifying tasks, while acknowledging room for further enhancement. He also noted that robotics are the future and having the opportunity to gain experience through these CI projects will shine a brighter light on future career prospects.
We were also fortunate to have André Pillmann, Head of Shared Services at Averis Americas, share his insights on the pivotal role of continuous improvement in our daily operations.
Once again, congratulations to all deserving team members. We truly value your hard work!
It’s great to be in the midst of a continuous improvement culture. It allows us to think outside the box and it encourages us to work smarter, not harder.
If this type of work culture is what you’re looking for, be a part of our team and build your career with us. Find out more at: https://averis.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/averis