Continuous improvement that stays on the shop floor

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Continuous improvement software: the EZ-GO app on a tablet at the line

Your operators see every day what could work better. With the EZ-GO app, they report a problem or share an idea right at the line. Every action has an owner and a status. And when an idea works, it becomes the new standard for every shift.

Where improvement gets stuck today

The production floor at Confiserie Napoleon

In manufacturing, continuous improvement rarely fails for lack of ideas. The problem is what happens after someone shares one.

An idea goes on a whiteboard, into a suggestion box, or into an Excel list that one person keeps up to date. Problems are reported by phone or in the shift handover, and then they depend on someone remembering them. The operator who shared the idea never hears what happened to it. After two or three times, he stops sharing.

And when a fix does work, it often works for one shift. The next team does not know about it, the instruction on the line still shows the old way, and three months later the same problem is back.

What changes with the EZ-GO platform

Your operators stop sharing ideas when nothing happens to them

In the EZ-GO app, an operator reports a problem or suggests an improvement on the spot, with a photo if that helps. The action is linked to the process it is about, so nobody has to guess later what it means.

The person who submits the action stays the owner. He can follow the status and see what happens to his idea. That is the difference between a suggestion box and a real conversation with the people who run the line. Ownership grows when operators also help find the solution, not only report the problem. Read how to involve operators in lean initiatives.

Actions get lost between shifts and departments

The owner of an action can involve the person(s) whose assistance is needed, for example a team leader or a maintenance technician. They get an email, and every action has a due date. Notes and communication stay inside the action, instead of in emails and phone calls. Everyone involved sees the same information, and you can track every improvement from report to result in one overview, instead of an Excel list.

A fix works for one shift, and then it fades

An improvement only counts when everyone works the new way. When an action shows that the way of working must change, you update the work instruction or checklist in the EZ-GO platform. The next time an operator on any shift opens that task, he sees the new standard.

Work instruction with photos in the EZ-GO app

You cannot see whether improvements still hold after three months

Checklists and audits in the EZ-GO app show whether the new standard is followed on the line, not only on the day you introduce it. Every action, solution, and change is recorded, which also helps during audits. Read more on the Audits and compliance page.

The report in the EZ-GO app gives insight into the defects and improvement ideas reported from the shop floor, and whether these actions are resolved on time. For deeper insight, you can build a dashboard with the EZ-GO reporting pack and Power BI, for example to see who reports the most, who is involved most often in solving actions, how many actions are overdue, and what the average resolution time is.

How it works in the EZ-GO app

Continuous improvement software for the frontline only works if operators actually use it at the line. That is why every step takes place in the same app operators already use for their checklists and work instructions.

Report
An operator sees a problem or has an idea. He creates an action in the EZ-GO app, adds a photo, and links it to the process.
Involve
The owner involves the person or people whose help is needed. They get an email.
Follow up
Notes and messages stay in the action. The submitter follows the status.
Make it the standard
If the way of working changes, the work instruction or checklist is updated, so every shift works the same way.
Check
Checklists and audits show whether the new standard holds.

These steps follow the logic of the PDCA cycle: plan the fix, do it, check whether it works, and act by making it the standard. Read how the EZ-GO platform supports each step of the PDCA cycle on the Kaizen and gemba page. Read more about the PDCA cycle.

Works with the method you already use

You do not have to change your improvement program to use the EZ-GO platform. Whether your plant works with lean, TPM, or World Class Manufacturing, the platform supports the daily work on the line that makes the program work, from the daily start meeting to the weekly improvement meeting.

The EZ-GO platform is built for continuous improvement in food manufacturing and other regulated production environments, where every change to a standard has to be clear for every shift.

Read how the EZ-GO platform supports Kaizen and gemba, Daily management, and Operational excellence across multiple sites.

Why we built it this way

“As a continuous improvement consultant, I saw the same thing in every factory. We made an improvement, it worked, and when I came back a few months later, it was gone. Not because people did not care, but because nothing held the new standard in place. That is the problem we wanted to solve.”

Robert Bouwman, co-founder of EZ Factory

What it means for each role

Operators

Your idea does not disappear in a box or on a whiteboard. You report it in a few steps at the line, and you can see what happens to it. When something changes, you see the new way of working in the instruction on the line.

Team leaders

You have one overview of all open problems and ideas in your team. You no longer collect them from conversations, notes, and emails. And you can show your team that their input leads to changes.

CI and lean managers

Improvements no longer depend on you following up every action yourself. Every action has an owner and a status, and changes end up in the standard. More on the Lean or CI manager page.

Plant managers

You see where problems come from and whether improvements hold. Customers using the EZ-GO platform have seen 25% less unplanned downtime, 20% less waste, and a payback period of 6 months.

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Frequently asked questions

What is continuous improvement in manufacturing?

Continuous improvement in manufacturing is the ongoing work of finding small problems and better ways of working on the production floor, and making the improvements part of the standard. The people at the line often see these problems first. Continuous improvement software helps collect their input, follow it up, and update the standard when something works.

What is continuous improvement software?

Continuous improvement software helps factories collect problems and improvement ideas from the shop floor, follow them up, and turn good ideas into new standards. The EZ-GO platform is a connected worker platform that does this in the EZ-GO app, which operators use at the line.

How do operators share an improvement idea in the EZ-GO app?

An operator creates an action in the EZ-GO app, describes the problem or idea, and can add a photo. The action is linked to the process it is about. The operator stays the owner of the action and can follow its status.

What happens after an operator reports a problem?

The owner of the action involves the person or people whose help is needed, such as a team leader or maintenance technician. They get an email, and notes and messages stay inside the action. If the solution changes the way of working, the work instruction or checklist in the EZ-GO platform is updated, so every shift works the new way. Checklists and audits in the EZ-GO app then show whether the new standard is followed.

Does the EZ-GO platform replace our improvement method or our other systems?

No. The EZ-GO platform supports the daily work behind methods such as lean, TPM, and World Class Manufacturing. It is not a QMS, MES, or ERP. It connects with tools such as SAP PM, Ultimo, and Power BI.

Your operators already know what can be better

Give them a way to share it, and make sure good ideas become the standard. In a short demo, we show you how the EZ-GO platform works on your shop floor.