Key takeaways
- Start by mapping your existing workflows to identify bottlenecks, then implement changes using methodologies like kaizen or plan-do-check-act.
- Measuring success with clear key performance indicators, such as reduced maintenance costs or increased production output, helps teams demonstrate ROI and sustain long-term gains.
- Using a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) like MaintainX helps teams more easily standardize improved processes and track performance across sites.
Despite industry-wide challenges like the rising cost of downtime and the skilled labor shortage, certain brands continue to experience monumental growth.
While a range of factors contribute to their success, many of these companies have something important in common: a commitment to process improvement. These organizations take consistent action to eliminate waste and streamline standard operating procedures.
Read on to see how process improvement can directly increase profitability, the methodologies that work best in manufacturing and industrial environments, and steps for building your own improvement plan.
What is process improvement?
Process improvement refers to the business practice of pinpointing, evaluating, and modifying business processes to yield better outcomes. The primary goal of process improvement is to reduce human errors, wasted resources, and inefficient ways of doing things to enhance productivity.
You may have also heard related terms like business process re-engineering, business process management (BPM) (the systematic approach to making workflows more efficient), and continual improvement process (CIP).
The practice doesn't require reinventing procedures that are already working. Rather, it involves periodically evaluating standard operating procedures to identify more efficient ways to increase productivity without sacrificing safety compliance and quality control.
Benefits of process improvement for manufacturing operations
By systematically refining how work gets done, maintenance and operations leaders can strengthen the business’s bottom line.
- Reduce unplanned downtime: Improved maintenance processes help you shift from reactive repairs to proactive strategies. This leads to more predictable production schedules and significantly reduces costly equipment failures.
- Lower operational costs: By eliminating wasted steps, optimizing parts inventory, and improving labor efficiency, you significantly cut maintenance and operational expenses. This allows your team to achieve more with your existing budget.
- Increase production capacity: Every hour you save in downtime gains you an hour of production. Streamlined processes mean your equipment runs more reliably, increasing your plant's throughput and revenue potential without capital investment in new machinery.
- Improve safety and compliance: Standardizing procedures helps your team perform tasks correctly and safely every time. This also simplifies compliance audits and reduces the risk of costly violations.
79% of teams saw the amount of unplanned downtime stay the same or increase over the past year, and 39% say the cost of downtime is rising.
Process improvement techniques
Here are some of the most commonly referenced, proven process improvement techniques manufacturing facilities use to optimize their operations.
1. Kaizen
Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy often translated as "change for the better" or “continuous improvement.” Instead of pursuing big, costly, occasional overhauls, kaizen encourages companies to focus on small, frequent improvements. Everyone in the organization should be responsible for these improvements, from frontline workers to management.
When used in conjunction with a total productive maintenance strategy, kaizen reduces equipment downtime, increases productivity, and curbs unnecessary spending.
2. Plan-do-check-act cycle
Plan-do-check-act (PDCA) is a model published by W. Edwards Deming, who is often referred to as "the father of quality control.”.
Following the PDCA system is straightforward. The process involves identifying your workplace problems (plan), implementing your chosen solutions (do), evaluating their effectiveness (check), and modifying your future plan based on the data (act).
3. Process mapping
Process mapping helps users visualize process improvements. You may also hear this called a process model, functional flowchart, process chart, or process flowchart.
Teams construct process maps in several different ways, but the important thing is to visually illustrate every potential decision involved in the process from start to finish.
The mapping process involves identifying the problem, brainstorming its activities, and plugging the sequence of steps into shapes (i.e., ovals, rectangles, parallelograms, etc.). Directional lines connect the sequence of events to indicate what happens first, second, and so on.
4. Six Sigma
Six Sigma includes a set of process improvement techniques developed Motorola Engineer Bill Smith. The practice borrows its name from the statistics methodology of representing units of standard deviation as "σ" or "sigma."
Six Sigma supports process improvement through data-driven decision making with two methodologies:
- Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMAIC) for existing processes
- Define-Measure-Analyze-Design-Verify (DMADV) for new process creation
This practice involves relying on data to inform maintenance scheduling as opposed to assumptions and anecdotal evidence.
5. Total Quality Management
Total Quality Management (TQM) involves identifying, reducing, and eliminating operational errors to ensure customer satisfaction. Like kaizen, TQM also has ties to Japanese manufacturing best practices.
TQM differs from other philosophies because it focuses on workplace culture rather than supply-chain defect reduction.
The eight core TQM principles for manufacturing operations are:
- Customer focus: Prioritizing end-user satisfaction in all decisions
- Leadership: Management commitment to quality initiatives
- People involvement: Engaging frontline workers in improvement efforts
- Process approach: Viewing operations as interconnected systems
- Systematic goal setting: Data-driven objective establishment
- Continual improvement: Ongoing refinement of operations
- Factual decision-making: Evidence-based choices over assumptions
- Supplier relations: Collaborative partnerships for mutual benefit
6. 5S model
The 5S Model is another process improvement technique that draws from Japanese philosophy. 5 S’s are: sort, straighten, shine, standardize, and sustain. In simple terms, it's an organizational plan of attack for maintaining a clean work environment.
The idea is to throw out unnecessary items, ensure everything has a place, and create a sense of order for more efficient workflows. Many businesses use 5S as one element within a broader methodology known as "visual control,” a business management technique that involves using visual signals, as opposed to written instructions, to increase efficiency.
7. Cause-and-effect analysis
Cause-and-effect analysis involves using a fishbone diagramming method to identify the likely causes of a workplace problem. These diagrams, which resemble the skeleton of a fish, reveal potential roadblocks in work processes.
The process starts with writing the problem, then the overarching factors that could be contributing to the problem. In a manufacturing facility, these factors may include inventory management, machine operators, and equipment maintenance.
The analysis continues by drilling down to uncover potential influencing factors within each category until you’ve identified all potential causes and sub-causes.
8. Value-stream mapping
Value-stream mapping is a Lean-management method for outlining the series of events between product design and final delivery to the customer. The goal of value-stream mapping (VSM) is to maximize productivity (without compromising quality standards) and minimize waste.
VSM illustrates critical task steps, quantifies time expectations for each stage, and finds opportunities to remove redundancies. It captures how your process actually works today, warts and all, and the improved version you're designing toward, once waste is stripped out.
VSM splits activities into three buckets:
- Value-adding: Steps the customer would actually pay for
- Non-value-adding but necessary: Things like regulatory inspections or setup that don't add value but can't be eliminated
- Waste: unnecessary waiting, excess inventory, rework, unneeded movement
9. Kanban
Kanban is a process workflow visualization that helps teams strategize about how to mitigate potential bottlenecks.
You'll see kanban boards (physical or digital) illustrating workflows with cards (kanban means "signboard" in Japanese) that signal when it's time to start the next task. Kanban makes problems visible, so if a card sits too long, that's an instant signal something's off. Kanban exposes inefficiency immediately, which gives teams something concrete to kaizen around.
Creating a process improvement plan
Teams can start developing an effective process improvement plan with the following five steps:
1. Outline
Write down the specific processes you want to fine-tune and break them into overarching categories (i.e., inventory management, maintenance, shipping) before mapping out every step involved within each process.
Though time-consuming, getting a handle on exactly what is happening within each operational area is essential to everything that comes next. The more information you can catalog about each task, the more effective your recommendations will be.
2. Assess
After mapping out your processes, take a closer look at each step to determine if employees are executing them as efficiently, cost-effectively, and safely as possible.
Some of the most common problems teams identify at this stage include over-allocation of resources, employee scheduling, and product delays. Addressing the root cause of each problem is essential, so a root cause analysis can also be helpful to get to the bottom of things.
3. Reconfigure
Reconfiguring your processes to prevent future issues requires involving frontline employees directly in the redesign. Their insights ensure improvements are realistic and achievable.
Beyond looping in the larger team, here are some other guidelines for effectively reconfiguring your manufacturing processes:
- Create clear workflows: Organize procedures into step-by-step processes with no room for misinterpretation
- Add visual aids: Attach PDF manuals, diagrams, and checklists for clarification
- Set realistic timelines: Base completion expectations on actual capacity
- Use digital tools: Use CMMS software to assign checklists and automate scheduling
4. Review
No initiative is complete without a plan to track, evaluate, and tweak ongoing processes. Consider scheduling periodic reviews of process improvement measures. Track relevant key performance indicators (KPIs), talk to team members, and course-correct workflows as needed.
5. Communicate
The easier communication between team members is, the better your results will be.
Implementing a user-friendly messaging app can help keep everyone on the same page throughout the day. Look for an app that includes private messaging, group messaging, and work order comments for the best results.
Streamline process improvement with a CMMS
Committing to continuous improvement requires thoughtful planning, scheduling, and progress tracking. But with the right tools, it’s more manageable than it sounds.
MaintainX streamlines process improvement with a centralized platform for standard operating procedures, team messaging, clear reporting, and automated preventive maintenance scheduling.
Companies using MaintainX report decreasing equipment downtime by 32% and improving on-time delivery by 44%. If you’re ready to see if MaintainX could be a fit for your team’s processes, book a tour today.
Process improvement FAQs
What are the main process improvement methodologies for manufacturing?
Manufacturing teams often rely on kaizen, Lean (including 5S and value-stream mapping), Six Sigma, PDCA, and total quality management. Each targets waste and variation differently, and many facilities combine several. For example, they might use Kaizen for daily improvements alongside Six Sigma for data-heavy defect reduction.
What is the difference between process improvement and continuous improvement?
Process improvement refers to refining a specific workflow to reach a defined outcome. Continuous improvement is the broader, ongoing discipline of repeatedly applying those refinements across the organization over time, so gains build on one another rather than stopping after a single project.
How do you measure process improvement success in industrial operations?
Track metrics tied to the process you changed, such as mean time between failures, planned maintenance percentage, cycle time, scrap rate, or monthly maintenance cost. Comparing these before and after a change shows whether the improvement delivered real value.
How often should maintenance teams review their processes?
Most industrial teams review core processes as part of periodic operational audits, while tracking key metrics continuously. Reviews should also happen whenever equipment, staffing, or production demands change significantly.
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