Continuous Improvement Seek Perfection, Embrace Scientific Thinking, Focus on Process, Assure Quality at the Source, and Improve Flow & Pull The Shingo Model Series

In this third book of the Shingo Model series, Continuous Improvement focuses on five of the Shingo Guiding Principles: seek perfection, embrace scientific thinking, focus on process, assure quality at the source, and improve flow and pull.

Each chapter in Continuous Improvement is designed to enhance your comprehension of one or more aspects of the Continuous Improvement dimension of the Shingo Model and to increase your understanding of how the dimension interrelates with and complements the other principles in the Shingo Model. Ultimately, this explanation grounds the technical science of continuous improvement with a powerful social science that focuses on people development. It is this combination that creates the opportunity for improvement to be truly continuous.

Because tacit learning is critical to deepening your continuous improvement knowledge, "Reader Challenges" are included throughout the text to encourage you to apply what you have read within the context of your own organization. This hands-on practice is necessary to understand the interrelatedness of principles, systems, and tools that are inherent in the Shingo Model.

The Shingo Institute recognizes that "the transformation from traditional philosophy and practices to organizational excellence does not occur without the courage, creativity, and persistence of everyone in the organization?from executives to managers to team members on the frontline."

Chapter 1: Continuous Improvement and the Shingo Institute Chapter 2: The Continuous Improvement Dimension Chapter 3: Seek Perfection Chapter 4: Embrace Scientific Thinking Chapter 5: Focus on Process Chapter 6: Assure Quality at the Source Chapter 7: Improve Flow and Pull Chapter 8: Theory in Practice Chapter 9: Improvement Systems and Behaviors Chapter 10: Where Do I Go From Here?

Larry Anderson is a bronze, silver, and gold certified lean practitioner (AME, Shingo, SME) with more than forty years of operational excellence experience. Larry is certified as a facilitator for all Shingo Institute workshops. He has a deep understanding of Shingo Model principles and application gained through more than eighteen years of work with the model. He has conducted more than twenty assessment site visits, many as the senior examiner/team lead and has performed numerous application desktop assessments. He has also participated in the Shingo publication review process and assisted two Shingo Institute Medallion recipients. Larry earned a BSME degree from Texas Tech University, is a registered professional engineer, serves as a Shingo representative on the lean certification oversight and appeals committee, and is president of the AME Southwest region.

Dan Fleming, director of consulting services at GBMP, is a Shingo Prize recipient and a certified Shingo Institute workshop facilitator. He is Lean silver certified and brings more than thirty years of experience in operations and engineering to GBMP, including more than twenty-five years of hands-on experience learning, leading, and teaching the principles and tools of the Toyota Production Systems and continuous improvement. He was the lead developer of GBMP’s highly regarded Lean in Healthcare Certificate course, a comprehensive program that was one of the first of its kind in healthcare. Dan has been a valued speaker at regional and national conferences. Prior to becoming director of consulting services, Dan was a continuous improvement manager at GBMP for fourteen years, working with a wide range of organizations including healthcare, electronics, medical device, pharmaceutical, equipment manufacturers, food processing, machine shops, contract manufacturers, and warehouse and distribution. Dan holds a BS in electrical engineering technology from Northeastern University.

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