Succeed with preventive maintenance by engaging machine operators
Published: 04 May, 2021
New Tork productivity guide provides five steps to using “kaizen” to create a sustainable competitive advantage
Tork, an Essity brand, is launching a new guide to “kaizen” that aims to help businesses implement a culture of continuous improvement. Kaizen is the Japanese management theory which advocates that all employees be engaged in the improvement of a business. It offers important learnings for industries looking to increase productivity and is further supported by a new study among machine operators.
Equipped to Improve - A guide to improving productivity, is available to download here and contains five concrete tips on how to easily implement a continuous improvement culture in order to create a sustainable competitive advantage.
In developing the new guide, Tork worked with kaizen expert Jonas Svanäng. Jonas learned and studied kaizen firsthand from improving Toyota’s factories and has applied the same learning in more than 100 organisations internationally. Today Jonas is regularly invited to share his thoughts on kaizen and Operational Excellence at international conferences.
“The goal of kaizen is to establish a culture of continuous improvement by changing behaviors. When your company adopts a kaizen mindset where employees are given the opportunity to influence their workplace, it will lead to more motivated employees,” says Jonas Svanäng, a kaizen expert.
Machine operators usually work closest to the zones where problems or unnecessary obstacles arise (in kaizen’s language, Muda, which means business/process waste). They therefore play an integral part in preventing and improving productivity within the business.
Recent research from Tork shows that 89% of machine operators believe that “continuing to improve our preventive maintenance routines is important in my company” and 87% agree that “preventive maintenance reduces breakdowns of machines and lost production time”.*
“We want to help companies improve preventive maintenance routines, especially those moving towards autonomous maintenance, by contributing with smart and innovative products that can improve efficiency and reduce waste. Because we know small changes as part of continuous improvement initiatives can have a significant impact on quality, cost and delivery,” says Jenny Turner, marketing director for industry for Essity’s professional hygiene business.
Tork offers a wide collection of professional wiping cleaning products as part of the Tork Performance system, to help optimise autonomous cleaning routines in industrial environments. The system includes both a variety of wipers/cleaning cloths and dispensers that are robust and offer a range of unique mounting options which allows them to be placed within easy reach of the operator. As many as 89% of machine operators agree that “having robust, professional industrial wiper dispensers placed exactly where I need them would support efficient cleaning and preventive maintenance”.*
To learn more about how to implement a kaizen way of working including important tips to help you get started, please visit www.tork.co.uk/equippedtoimprove and download Equipped to Improve - A guide to improving productivity.
*Source: Tork machine operator research, Psyma (July 2019)
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