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If you have a business, own or operate a company, then you already know how hard it can be to accomplish the task even in the best of economic conditions. So when the economy is struggling, when every decision can be the one that takes you one step closer to success or failure, it is very imperative to have a plan which separates you from the pack. Part of that plan should involve continuous improvement of all daily processes. It is imperative, indeed almost a requirement to always be improving. Improvement must be made in all facets of the business in order to succeed. From the way the orders flow through the office to the time they leave the dock and are on the way to the customer is all in play. Every process that's involved in the making of your product or service should be examined. This examination should be looking for certain things. The first thing that you want to look for is places that could be improved. Improvement can be large or little. What you really want to start with are the things that are able to be fixed simply and quickly. There are always projects that have been put off, set aside for later that everybody knows should be done and will make things simpler. It’s time to take care of them. Once the easier to identify problems are fixed, it is time to look deeper into the processes. Look at the process from start to finish and map how it works. This will include taking measurements of the time every step takes and how many man hours and machine hours are involved and how far the part moves from beginning to end. This is called process mapping and it's the only way to really see how the process works from the inside out. Once you map how the process works then you're ready to find the areas for improvement. The improvements should be thought out and mapped out as well. You want to know that the improvements will actually improve the process. You need to map out the times and distances and show what the improvements will be before you implement the changes. This is imperative because the changes should be shown to work before they are set into place. You do not want to guess on the improvements, you want hard proof that they will improve prior to moving forward. If you are looking to integrate Six sigma into your business, you can research various Six sigma certification programs on the internet to find the one that will best work with your business environment.
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