24 | Regulars / Continuous improvement“Any improvement approach must understand their interdependencies so that performance improvement initiatives have a lasting impact aligned throughout an organization”As our initiatives mature, we understand eliminating barriers to enhancing their culture through the cross-on press with improvements such as speed, set-up reduction, functional process continue to grow. and minimizing change over time are necessary improvements Employees recognize the benefts quickly because that make work life for an operator much more manageable and they participate in a holistic approach to excellence. They advance produce benefcial results. Companies that have matured enough learning swiftly and become very active in success. Additionally, to understand that process shortcuts lead to downstream issues they become appreciative of their newfound converter partner. The understand the need to implement barrier removal actions improvement is no longer limited to pockets of the organization. that help standardize the process. They often move to improve The cross-functional approach to management provides an attention to metrics with process audits encouraging elimination overreaching umbrella for change management, enhancing the and standardization of process variations. Resolving process barriers value chain throughout the organization. The process, including requires reaching across function responsibilities and implementing suppliers, helps fortify relationships with the converters and changes upstream of the shop foor. The beneft to this activity is customers that beneft from the improvements. often 10 times that of simple process techniques barriers. The leadership team is at the epicenter of success, and their There is a way to use all the process improvement tools already involvement is refected in the activity of the cross-functional team. in use by many converters and accelerate cultural changes that They take a complete enterprise view and become the champions yield returns 100 times more benefcial than taking the individual for change, amplifying the top-down-driven and bottom-up approaches discussed. implementation. The result of this conviction is the change in The focus is a Process Value Management approach using alignment from conventional silos.inclusive cross-functional teams driven from the top but highly The newly created horizontally linked value chain drives dependent on a bottom-up implementation approach. It requires a planning, leadership, communication and buy-in at all levels of the holistic view of the organization across all the business processes. organization and all points along the value chain. If an organization The reason this is unique is that, unlike the singularly focused has mobilized any activity in the lean initiatives, ftting the CFT strategies that address specifc areas, the cross-function teams, structure around this effort will revitalize efforts and perpetuate in concert with the tools from lean, Six Sigma, and the theory of work. In a visual factory with daily production boards and SQDIP constraints, accelerate a cultural change that brings a new way of boards (safety, quality, delivery, interruptions, productivity), the acting and thinking to the continuous improvement process. CFT leaders walk GEMBA to validate the ongoing efforts and aid operators and offce workers in reporting progress. Cross-functional approachAs competitive forces increase and resource constraints strangle What is the purpose of the CFT?improvement efforts, business owners and leaders search for an approach to challenge leadership to act much differently to address The purpose of a Cross-Functional Team (CFT) management the threats and awaken current resource participation. Using cross-process is to play a signifcant role in driving improvement functional teams expands stakeholders’ representation in business in the company’s global competitiveness by identifying and improvement decisions. The team prioritizes initiatives, resources removing barriers from a specifc business process. Issues and objectives. They do this quickly by staying true to a hierarchy or barriers exist not only within a functional area but also of metrics classifed as ‘drivers.’between functional areas. Identifed issues must be addressed I was introduced to the process by Dr Phillip Thomas, founder and feedback provided to the supplier of one process or from of the Thomas Group. The cross-functional approach became a the handoff to the customer responsible for the process. holistic organizational catalyst for step changes in performance, Because process steps are related, with each having a supplier eliminating my frustration at the beneft limits of traditional (input) and a customer (output), processes frequently cross functional methods to improve. Companies that adopted the the functional lines.leveraged system achieved lead time reductions of 45 percent The CFT approach to problem-solving is recommended and productivity gains of +30 percent in the frst year. The holistic because it maximizes the subject matter expertise of an approach assures that improvements in one company area do organization. First, the power and ability of a team to solve not have unintended consequences in another area. Before using problems is usually much greater than that of a single cross-functional teams, people report suffering through this individual. Second, the cross-functional aspect of a team adds phenomenon quite often. The best example was working through another dimension of diversity. Team members from outside a silos of engineering quick-to-process cost reduction designs and particular function generally bring objective process viewpoints sales quick-to-process orders that were not completely defned and that can signifcantly impact the team’s ability to arrive at subject to interpretation. The shortcuts upstream required to show creative process solutions affecting that function.the fnancial results of bookings and cost reduction often led to manufacturing problems. The implementation approach of process management transcends the functional silo approach and engages more people Paul Brauss, former CEO of Mark Andy and a as subject matter experts. Tailoring the implementation of cross-past board member of TLMI, is a consultant and functional techniques can be achieved for every size organization. executive coach. See Braussconsulting.com, and The commitment to process focus with driving metrics is universal. buy his book at amzn.to/2NFzXkBThe results celebrated by leadership teams who have committed labelsandlabeling.com