Continual improvement process

Abstract: The objective of this study was to explore the use of auditing as a tool for continual improvement in the meat industry of Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Participants in the study represented the supply chain and included federal slaughterhouses, federal processors of ready‐to‐eat meat products, government agencies involved in auditing and inspection, and the retail sector involved in the auditing of meat facilities. Using in‐depth interviews, the extent of auditing and its implementation on the continual improvement process were explored. Auditing activities were conducted as required for government recognition, retailer approval, and the facility's maintenance of its Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) programme. Correction of deviations identified during audits led to continual improvement activities. However, only two of the participants described secondary quality management schemes that linked auditing with continual improvement.

Abstract: This book defines, develops, and examines the foundations of the APQP (Advanced Product Quality Planning) methodology. It explains in detail the five phases, and it relates its significance to national, international, and customer specific standards. It also includes additional information on the PPAP (Production Part Approval Process), Risk, Warranty, GD&T (Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing), and the role of leadership as they apply to the continual improvement process of any organization. Features Defines and explains the five stages of APQP in detail Identifies and zeroes in on the critical steps of the APQP methodology Covers the issue of risk as it is defined in the ISO 9001, IATF 16949, the pending VDA, and the OEM requirements Presents the role of leadership and management in the APQP methodology Summarizes all of the change requirements of the IATF standard

Abstract: Innovation, teamwork, leadership, lifelong learning, and sustainable design are key teaching and learning deliverables for capstone design courses and are evaluated as graduate attribute outcomes integral to the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) evaluation processes. Continual course improvement processes require reflection on the success of learning activities, the tools used for teaching, and alignment of learning outcomes, activities, and assessment. Peer evaluation and feedback tools can encourage student learning and leadership development. The method of data collection, the type of feedback and the contextual validity of the feedback may impact students’ development of useful team behaviours and personal strategies for working in team environments. Mixed method successive case study analysis provides insights enabling targeted improvements to learning activities, outcomes, assessment and the student and instructor course experiences. The proposed course level continual improvement process employs a sequential case study method with the intent of identifying improvement actions related to learning efficacy, course experience, and improved graduate attribute performance outcomes. Case study data generation and assessment tools include student self-evaluations, peer and team evaluation and feedback tools, instructor evaluations, observations and reflections, and assessment of student results. These tools provide data for both qualitative and quantitative assessments for each course iteration and inform ongoing course and aligned learning activity development. A community of practice (COP) fulfills the stakeholder engagement criterion (CEAB requirement) for a continual improvement process. At a major Canadian university, instructors with a diverse mix of industrial and academic experience teach chemical process design as a team. The instructors work in close collaboration with practicing professional engineers including industrial technical specialists, entrepreneurs, and academic colleagues with an industrial focus, to prepare unique process design projects and to advise student teams. This community of practice offers students a window on engineering design practice, leadership, and innovation as they transition to the professional community. This paper explores the role of this community of practice in the continual improvement process supporting enhanced achievement of CEAB graduate attributes including student, team and leadership development.

Abstract: This study aims at clarifying how organisational and environmental characteristics affect the timing of adoption and especially the depth of the implementation of the innovation that improves operations management (TQM). While organisational applications of the theory of innovation diffusion usually concentrate on explaining variations in adoption across organisations, this study explains the implementation phase within one organisation. The developed model for measuring depth of implementation adds value to the paper. A model is built based on the theory of innovation diffusion, and subsequently tested on the following dataset collected from a global process-industry company: 1 a longitudinal data of the continual improvement process 2 a survey data from 493 respondents. According to our results, timing of adoption has an effect on the depth of the organisational innovation and the developed model for studying the depth worked well. The organisational characteristics had varying effects on the adoption and on the depth of the implementation. Formalisation assists the innovation implementation while interconnectedness, empowering leadership or position in the value chain did not have an effect.