Continuous improvement, as used in this paper and industry in general, has a specific meaning as the name of an approach to improvement known and used around the world for decades. It applies to processes in the office, project or anywhere within the organization. The major components of continuous improvement often referred to as an acronym, DMAIC:
- Define the problem.
- Measure what needs to be measured to define, track and improve the problem.
- Analyze the data.
i. Find the core cause(s) of the problem
ii. Diagram the process
III. Model the value stream
- Improve the process.
- Control the process and measure results to assure the improvement is working as planned or discover if it needs further attention.
The paper using case study references addresses the implementation of continuous improvement in an easily understood format.