In September 2019, CI leaders and practitioners from various organizations attended the TRACC Alliance in Hangzhou, China where they identified strategies and best practices that are shaping China Manufacturing 2025. They discussed technological investments and competencies that need to be developed within organizations. We caught up with some of them and asked them about their CI journey insights and the benefits of a TRACC implementation within their organizations.
What have you achieved since you began implementing TRACC in your organization?
“The most obvious improvement is the change in our people. TRACC is an improvement from the bottom up, from the individual’s capabilities to everyone’s sense of ownership and belonging. The other change is performance improvement. Quality issues and abnormalities in the production process have declined. On-site improvements such as 5S means the site is now more orderly, everything is in good working order, and overall efficiency has improved.”
– Lin Changwu, Site Facilitator, Production Director, GDXL Precise Machinery Co., Ltd
“We have seen some great improvements in 5S, thanks to a pilot project, and performance efficiency has improved over the last two years. These improvements have had a relatively large impact on the development of the company.”
– Wu Zhiping, Quality Control Director, Kunshan Huihuangfujing New Material Technology Co., Ltd.
“Employees’ problem-solving abilities have improved. In the past, problems were recurring because of inefficient root cause analysis. Now we can find the root cause of a problem using tools such as 5Why, which reduces the number of recurring problems and saves time too. Another improvement is the way we create order and arrange all items using the principles of 5S. Staff solidarity and ownership has also improved significantly.”
– Qin Zhiwen, Production Director, Foshan Dison Packaging Co., Ltd
“Over the last two years, we’ve saved about 8% in terms of loss and waste. In terms of efficiency, working hours have increased by 20%. After the implementation of 5S, the arrangement of clean and tidy items has greatly improved in all areas of the company. Teamwork has also improved. Team leaders who were previously reluctant to speak in meetings now communicate through SBT meetings. They’ve developed the ability to analyze and communicate more effectively, which has brought good results.”
– Liang Guixin, General Manager, Dongguan Zhengxin Packaging Co., Ltd
“TRACC has given us many opportunities to learn and grow, and make great changes in our organization. TRACC gave us a systematic approach to continuous improvement. Our individual skills have improved. We now use structured tools, conduct improvement projects and have successful employee management methods. Another improvement is more team collaboration and training, and SBT meetings where everyone participates. Everyone is working towards a common vision.”
– Sun Yugong, Inner Facilitator, Foshan Sanshui Chengyuan Packing & Color Printing Co., Ltd
Which improvements have impressed you the most?
“The way my overall skills, as well as my team leadership skills, have improved. To take a simple example: We used to struggle with solving systemic problems. We could only focus on a specific problem and then solve that. Now people have the skills to solve all kinds of problems using various tools and techniques. As soon as employees were upskilled in problem-solving, their confidence levels also increased.”
– Lin Changwu, Site Facilitator, Production Director, GDXL Precise Machinery Co., Ltd
“Employees’ enhanced capabilities, such as improved problem-solving skills, have impressed me. Also the concept of change management. Top-down management has always been an imperative, but now employees are more empowered and offer suggestions for improvement. This allows us to do our jobs even better.”
– Wu Zhiping, Quality Control Director, Kunshan Huihuangfujing New Material Technology Co., Ltd.
“The biggest one for me is the encouragement of and communication with our employees. Previously, we tended to criticize, whereas now we coach employees and provide them with incentives. This has resulted in more cooperation and good suggestions for improvement coming from employees.”
– Qin Zhiwen, Production Director, Foshan Dison Packaging Co., Ltd
“Since I started managing the company, I’ve felt that management has often been the cause of bottlenecks. Through the TRACC implementation, we’ve learnt new ways of managing by creating our own vision and goals. We’ve seen some positive changes as a result.”
– Liang Guixin, General Manager, Dongguan Zhengxin Packaging Co., Ltd
“In the previous management style, we had less structured tools and there were many recurring problems. Our individual capabilities and communication skills have also improved.”
– Sun Yugong, Inner Facilitator, Foshan Sanshui Chengyuan Packing & Color Printing Co., Ltd
TRACC is a digital integrative improvement solution that helps leading manufacturing and supply chain organisations achieve sustainable results through best practice and work process improvement.