I. List behaviours (Bessant et al., 2001) ... 2

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Appendixes

This document provides a summary of the first interview, conducted with three members of the production staff (team leader, paper maker and an operator). The content has been ordered per ability and the corresponding behaviour is mentioned at the beginning of the text, not every part of the summary is linked to a specific behaviour. Furthermore some abilities and behaviours are not present in this summary; this is due to the fact that these abilities and behaviours are not within sight of

production staff. It is therefore not relevant to interview these employees on those subjects. Another reason might be that some behaviours are too similar and that they are left out for that reason.

1 Understanding CI

1.1 The interviewees all agreed that employees at ESKA are still divided, on the one hand there are employees who are actively involved in CI, but there is also still a part of employees who do not take part in improving.

This can also be seen in the performance of 5S, which has been initiated throughout the factory. Some employees do this very well and keep their work place clean and sorted. Others don’t do anything with it; this is not motivating for the employees that do follow the 5S program.

1.3 Employees ‘below’ the paper makers have not been trained in the problem solving method CoThink, an operator stated: “This was the first time I heard about an event map, I did not know they existed.”

Other employees that have been trained in the method are using the method more and more. One employee stated that although the actual method might fade-out over time, the idea of the method (search for root-cause instead of going for the quick fix) is used more and more at ESKA.

The example has been given of an incident involving a broken pallet that occurred that day, the team leader stated: “If such a thing happens two or three times a day, why shouldn’t we make an event map of it? That is where we need to go to.”

2 Getting the CI habit

2.4 An important topic during the interview was feedback on submitted improvement ideas. At this moment when employees submit an idea they receive feedback. This feedback describes whether or not the idea will be implemented or not and why it will or won’t be implemented. However a critique the interviewees expressed is that when an idea will be implemented it ‘disappears’. A paper maker referred to the example of a colleague who submitted an idea for an air-hose to improve the cleaning behind the machine. The idea was found to be worth the effort and the employee received feedback stating that his idea would be implemented. However, it is now 4 months later and the air-hose is not there yet, nor has the employee heard anything about his idea. According to the respondents this does not motivate other them to submit improvement ideas.

3 Focusing CI

The focus of CI at this moment is according to the interviewees on the MTP, however there is no clear

strategy communicated down from top management. Improving MTP can be achieved by improving

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12 several aspects such as improving efficiency, improving quality, etc. safety also is important, but

improving safety might be detrimental to improving MTP, since MTP might decrease due to more elaborate safety precautions. There also tends to be a shoft from end-of-pipe solutions towards more sustainable and durable solutions, i.e. solving the root cause instead of symptoms.

4 Leading the way

4.3 Managers do lead by example; the new operations manager is regularly present in the factory and talks with employees regardless of their position. Furthermore the role of the improvement coach is perceived to be very important to the improvement process. ‘

4.1 For production staff who is working at the machines (paper makers, operators, etc.) it is difficult to find time to improve. This is caused by the nature of the work, the machine(s) demand constant attention, a paper maker stated: “The machine determines your work that day”. However after some shifts time can be made available to devote to improvement. Employees that do not work ‘on the machine’ such as the team leader, making time available for improvements is easier.

4.1 Interviewees see the financial aspects as an obstacle to CI, the team leader stated that when ESKA aims to improve they should also be willing to make the investment. Furthermore the process of acquiring a budget for an improvement projects is very bureaucratic at the moment.

4.4 When faced with problems in need of a solution employees do feel free to experiment to a certain degree. Employees have the freedom to experiment under the conditions that the risks of the

‘experiment’ are acceptable and that there is a good balance between risk of failure and (expected) benefits of the experiment.

4.2 When asked about the appreciation the interviewees receive when an improvement idea has been submitted the interviewees answered that no specific ‘reward’ is given. However they also state that they do not want a reward, and that the feedback given on the idea is sufficient. Even though later on the suggestion of selecting the best idea (for instant each month) and presenting this on ESKA’s intranet was suggested.

6 Shared problem-solving

6.1 Working with employees from other departments is relatively limited; in improvement project groups (EVA’s) employees from different departments are working together, however in the daily work this inter-departmental work is still limited.

6.2 Employees that are involved in CI are paper makers and employees in higher positions, lower functions such as operators and assistant paper makers are not involved much in improvement efforts (such as EVA’s). The reason for this is that they do not have the necessary (process) knowledge to contribute to these activities. An operator stated: “You do hear something (about CI) left and right, but there is no real contribution.”

The ‘lower level employees’ do contribute by submitting improvement ideas; it is well known that the

structure for idea capturing is implemented at ESKA.

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13 8 The learning organization

The team leader stated that when improvements are carried out the results or solutions are not shared within the organization. He gave an example of an event map that was carried out a while ago; an event occurred and an event map was used to determine the root-cause. Later he hears from colleagues that this event map was carried out, but he cannot find the results of the event map anywhere. The results might however be very useful for him in improving operations. The team leader stated: “At ESKA we are very good in doing something and then storing the results somewhere in a folder where no one can find it.”

General

In general the interviewees are positive; they place ESKA in the second level of CI maturity (Bessant et

al., 2001). They think ESKA already made good progress in CI, certainly considering the time that was

used to get where ESKA is now (less than a year). Even though good progress has been made there is

enough to improve on. Furthermore the interviewees ask the question how realistic it is to keep this

pace when it comes to striving for CI, and they have concerns about the durability of CI. History has

proven that the start is relatively easy, but that the difficulty is in continuing.

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VII. Best practices of employee communication for major change (Barrett, 2002)

1. Strategic objectives – In high-performing companies, employee communication reinforces the company’s strategic objectives. There should be a one-to-one correlation between what the company has established as its strategic objectives and what is listed as the objectives for the communications. In addition, the communications must be structured to translate the central strategic messages (from vision to performance or financial goals) to all employees.

2. Supportive management – Top-level and mid-level management must be directly involved in and assume responsibility for communications up, down, and across the organization. In a major change situation as well as for day-to-day operations, communication is not just what the communication staff does. Managers must model the behavior they expect of their employees, the old adage of “walking the talk.” They set the tone for an open or closed flow of information.

Without them, the channels of communications cannot flow freely.

3. Targeted messages – Targeted messages are very simply, information tailored to the audience (i.e., messages in different words for different people when necessary), so that the information is relevant and meaningful, at the same time that it is consistent. Thus, each business unit or division must tailor the important messages to their employees, and if necessary, convert the overall message of the corporate center into the digestible and actionable messages the employees can understand and act upon.

4. Effective media/forums – Effective employee communication uses all vehicles to reach its audiences, but most importantly, it relies on direct, face-to-face communications over indirect, print or electronic media. Thus, interpersonal communication training, meeting management, and facilitation skills are necessary for all managers.

5. Well-positioned staff – The communication staff needs to be close to the most important business issues, involved in the strategic and business planning processes. They must have a

“seat at the table.” Being a member of the senior management team allows the senior

communication officer to understand the company’s strategy and to participate in the decision making. In addition, the communication staff should be seen as facilitators of change not just as producers of publications.

6. On-going assessment – The effectiveness of the company’s communication needs to be measured company-wide formally and frequently against clearly defined goals on an on-going basis and throughout the key stages of any major change. In addition, communication

effectiveness needs to be evaluated as part of each employee’s individual performance appraisal with the appropriate recognition for excellence.

7. Integrated processes – Communication needs to be integrated into the business processes with

communication milestones included in the business plan and as part of the business planning

process. Thus, communication should be placed on the agenda of meetings and built into the

management discussion of strategic objectives and planning.

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15 VIII. ESKA’s Continuous Improvement Strategy

This is the description of the Continuous Improvement Strategy which is the result of the Strategy formulation session which has been held with the Operations Manager in order to draft a first version of the Continuous Improvement Strategy.

Mission To become a ‘Learning Organization’ and deploy fully autonomous CI within 5 years

Vision ESKA wants to achieve fully autonomous Continuous Improvement by continuously improving all processes, on all locations & machines, by all employees who have been well trained in Continuous Improvement tools and problem solving methods

Strategic Pillars

- Improve Efficiency

- Improvement of Improvement - Reduce Waste

- Improve Health & Safety - Minimize Environmental Impact

Improve Efficiency

Measures At ESKA efficiency of the production process is measured by the MTP and OEE.

These measures already exist and are measured continuously. For this Strategic Pillar the MTP will thus be the corresponding measure.

Targets There is some difficulty with setting targets, since this is only possible to do for individual machines due to the nature of the production process, however by formulating the target as: “To improve the productivity of all machines by 10 percentage points” there is no need to state a different target for each machine.

Strategic Initiatives The Strategic Pillar of improving productivity, measured by MTP, can be

achieved through the means of different Strategic Initiatives. Looking at how the MTP measures is calculated, you can see that it is the total (yearly) available production time, minus time lost on breakdowns, scheduled maintenance, production problems and other losses of time. This information shows that when the factors which are subtracted from the available production time are improved the MTP and therefore the productivity also improves. Strategic Initiatives to achieve improved productivity can thus be:

- Reduce production problems - Improve maintenance scheduling - Reduce breakdowns

- Reduce ‘other’ time losses

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16 Improvement of Improvement

An important aspect for ESKA is that not only the production related processes are improved, but also the process of improvement itself. By adding ‘Improvement of Improvement’ as a strategic pillar, the ongoing improvement of Continuous Improvement is safeguarded.

Measures There are multiple measures which can be applied to measuring the Improvement of Improvement;

- Number of improvement ideas generated by employees - Number of Improvement Activities successfully finished - Amount (in €) of savings achieved through CI

- Employee knowledge level of CI methods/tools (through audits) - CI-Maturity model (Bessant et al., 2001)

Targets Setting targets can be done based on the CI-Maturity model, for now the target should be to ‘Achieve the 3

^rd

level of CI-Maturity’. When there is a benchmark for the numbers of improvement ideas generated and Improvement Activities finished, a target might also be to improve this number by a certain percentage.

Strategic Initiatives The first Strategic Initiative to achieve the target of attaining the third level of CI-Maturity is the subject of this thesis; to add ‘Strategic Focus’. Another initiative to ensure that the Continuous Improvement process is improved is to keep improving the educational level of employees. This means that employees have to be trained in CI and problem solving tools and methods.

Reduce Waste

Measures All the waste at ESKA Graphic Board is currently measured, any improvements on the area of waste can thus be directly measured using the data of waste that originates during the production of graphic board.

Targets Setting a target for the reduction of waste is relatively easy, the data on waste of the last few years is easily available. This data can be used to determine a realistic target to reduce waste, this can either be done in weight (metric tonnes) or in a percentage of the current amount of waste.

Strategic Initiatives To reduce waste several Strategic Initiatives can be started, first of all, it might be possible to look extending the re-use of waste. Another option might be to improve the amount of side-trim that is removed during the production process.

Finally, by improving the quality the amount of waste due to rejects can be

lowered.

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17 Improve Health & Safety

Measures There is no single absolute measure for health & safety, but it can be measured using multiple related measures. An example of such a measure, mostly related to safety and commonly used by organizations, is the number of days without an accident or the number of accidents per year. A more subjective measure might be how employees grade health, safety and working conditions.

Targets Due to the lack of a single measure for Health & Safety setting targets can be somewhat challenging. However, a target for safety could be that there are no accidents which result in absence of employees. A goal related to safety could be that there are no exposed rotating or moving components within reach of employees’ limbs.

Strategic Initiatives Strategic Initiatives to improve Health & Safety are dependent on the targets set for this Strategic Pillar. Improving the overall working conditions for employees can improve both the health and safety for employees. Another Strategic Initiative might be to reduce accidents.

Minimize Environmental Impact

Measures Measuring Environmental Impact can be done by different measures, since there is no single ‘Environmental Impact’ measure. A common measure for Environmental Impact is CO

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emissions. Other options for measuring the

Environmental Impact are the use of water, gas and electricity for the plant.

Targets Setting targets can be done by analyzing the environmental performance of the last years. Goals can then be related to the current performance, this can be done either relative (%) or absolute (kWh or m

³

gas/water). An example of a target might be; ‘To reduce the carbon footprint (CO

2

emission) by 10% within 5 years’.

Strategic Initiatives The targets for minimizing Environmental Impacts can be achieved by several Strategic Initiatives. First of all the production process of graphic board requires relatively much heat. This heat must be generated and costs a lot of energy, the Environmental Impact can be reduced by

- Reducing heat necessary during production process - Improve efficiency of heat generation

- Using more sustainable sources of heat/energy - Reducing energy/heat losses

- Reduce CO2 emissions

I. List behaviours (Bessant et al., 2001) ... 2

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Appendixes

Contents

Appendixes ... 1

I. List behaviours (Bessant et al., 2001) ... 2

II. Characteristics that support learning and improvement (Ahmed et al., 1999) ... 4

III. Questionnaire ... 6

IV. Questions to guide interviews ... 8

V. Results of the questionnaires ... 9

VI. Summary of interview per ability ... 11

1 Understanding CI... 11

2 Getting the CI habit ... 11

3 Focusing CI ... 11

4 Leading the way ... 12

6 Shared problem-solving ... 12

8 The learning organization ... 13

General ... 13

VII. Best practices of employee communication for major change (Barrett, 2002) ... 14

VIII. ESKA’s Continuous Improvement Strategy ... 15

Improve Efficiency... 15

Improvement of Improvement ... 16

Reduce Waste ... 16

Improve Health & Safety ... 17

Minimize Environmental Impact ... 17

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I. List behaviours (Bessant et al., 2001)

No. Behaviour

1.1 people at all levels demonstrate a shared belief in the value of small steps and that everyone can contribute, by themselves being actively involved in making and recognizing incremental improvements.

1.2 when something goes wrong the natural reaction of people at all levels is to look for reasons why etc. rather than to blame individual(s)

1.3 people make use of some formal problem-finding and solving cycle

2.1 people use appropriate tools and techniques to support CI 2.2 people use measurement to shape the improvement process

2.3 people (as individuals and/or groups) initiate and carry through CI activities - they participate in the process 2.4 closing the loop - ideas are responded to in a clearly defined and timely fashion - either implemented or otherwise

dealt with

3.1 individuals and groups use the organization’s strategic goals and objectives to focus and prioritize improvements everyone understands (i.e. is able to explain) what the company’s or department’s strategy, goals and objectives are

3.2

individuals and groups (e.g. departments, CI teams) assess their proposed changes (before embarking on initial investigation and before implementing a solution) against departmental or company objectives to ensure they are consistent with them

3.3 individuals and groups monitor/measure the results of their improvement activity and the impact it has on strategic or departmental objectives

3.4 CI activities are an integral part of the individual or groups work, not a parallel activity

4.1 managers support the CI process through allocation of time, money, space and other resources

4.2 managers recognize in formal (but not necessarily financial) ways the contribution of employees to CI 4.3 managers lead by example, becoming actively involved in design and implementation of CI

4.4 managers support experiment by not punishing mistakes but by encouraging learning from them

5.1 ongoing assessment ensures that the organization’s structure and infrastructure and the CI system consistently support and reinforce each other

5.2 the individual/group responsible for designing the CI system design it to fit within the current structure and infrastructure

5.3 individuals with responsibility for particular company processes/systems hold ongoing reviews to assess whether

these processes/systems and the CI system remain compatible

3 5.4 people with responsibility for the CI system ensure that when a major organizational change is planned its potential

impact on the CI system is assessed and adjustments are made as necessary

6.1 people co-operate across internal divisions (e.g. cross-functional groups) in CI as well as working in their own areas 6.2 people understand and share an holistic view (process understanding and ownership)

6.3 people are oriented towards internal and external customers in their CI activity 6.4 specific CI projects with outside agencies - customers, suppliers, etc. - are taking place 6.5 relevant CI activities involve representatives from different organizational levels

7.1 the CI system is continually monitored and developed; a designated individual or group monitors the CI system and measures the incidence (i.e. frequency and location) of CI activity and the results of CI activity

7.2 there is a cyclical planning process whereby (a) the CI system is regularly reviewed and, if necessary, amended (single- loop learning)

7.3 there is periodic review of the CI system in relation to the organization as a whole which may lead to a major regeneration (double-loop learning)

7.4 senior management make available sufficient resources (time, money, personnel) to support the ongoing development of the CI system

8.1 people learn from their experiences, both positive and negative

8.2 individuals seek out opportunities for learning / personal development (e.g. actively experiment, set their own learning objectives)

8.3 individuals and groups at all levels share (make available) their learning from all work experiences

8.4 the organization articulates and consolidates (captures and shares) the learning of individuals and groups 8.5 managers accept and, where necessary, act on all the learning that takes place

8.6 people and teams ensure that their learning is captured by making use of the mechanisms provided for doing so

8.7 designated individual(s) use organizational mechanisms to deploy the learning that is captured across the

organization

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II. Characteristics that support learning and improvement (Ahmed et al., 1999)

External adaptiblity Internal consistency

1 Safe Environment 1 Organizational slack

freedom to trythings and fail built-in resource slack

acceptance of mistakes funds & budgets

allow discussion of dumb ideas time

no punishment for mistakes opportunities

2 Risk taking promotions

freedom to experiment tools

challenge the status quo infrastructure, e.g. rooms, equipment innovation is part of the job 2 Reward

3 Future orientation ideas are valued

forget the past top management attention and support

focus on the long term respect for beginning ideas

drive to improve celebration of accomplishments

positive attitude towards change suggestions are implemented postive attitude towards environment encouragement

4 Openness 3 Training

open/shared communication continuous training

listen better continuous lateral thinking