Continuous Improvement: A "Win ... Win" Process

Abstract

In a rapidly changing business climate. Darwin's theory of sur-vival holds equally true for corporations. It's not necessarily the big and strong who will ultimately survive, but those who adapt the fastest to changing conditions. With long-term survival acting as a catalyst, PanCanadian Petroleum Liniited, in the spring of 1990, embarked on changing its culture. The Company wanted to become less riaid by breakin-down its structure and empowerin2 employees to react quickly to potential business opportunities. To achieve the transformation, Teat-nPro Set-vices Ltd., an Alberta company specializing in Cl implementations, was hired to assist PanCanadian line management in deve[oping a new operating phi-losophy and implementation plan. The initial mandate was to involve the entire Production Division.There are a total of 480 employees within the Production Division, of which 405 are located 'iti five field production dis-58 tricts. A resident Production Superintendent supervises each dis-trict and reports to one of the three Production Managers in Calgary. The majoilty of the production accounting work is done in the head office, which also provides most of the engineerin-, support for the field operations. However. there are two or more engineers in each district reporting to Calgary-based Engineering Super,,isor!,;.The Cl process. which was launched in June 1990, has had a si"nificant impact on how the Company does its business. The intent of this paper is iti bilefly describe the Cl concepts and phi-losophy adopted by the Production Division, followed by a major diSCLIssion of the implementation plan with highlights of what worked wt@ll and what could be improved in similar situations.Also discussed are methods used to overcome problems and an insiL,ht intci some Of Lhe preliminary results. What is Continuous Improvement (Cl)? Cl is both an operating philosophy and a management style whicti alic,ws all employees to participate in, and iniprove, the wav the Crrganizatioji performs its day-to-day business. The process inchanges in leadership, teamwork and the applica-tion ot' prc,blem-solvin,, tools. Supervisors in a Cl work environ-nient hecome less directive and controlling while spendina more tune inspiring and motivating their people in a team environment.To ma@e Cl work, it is essential to create a non-threatenina work cnvii-oniyient where it is safe to question or challen@e work practices ;ind talk openly about mistakes made while trying to make iiiipiovements. The improvement process is further acceler-@tted it-there is a general feeling of dissatisfaction with the status _ quo @,nd a belief that everything can be improved through close observation, data oathering and analysis. 'I'he Cl philosophy developed for PanCanadian was based on the teachings of Dr. Edwards Deming(l) who has been largely credited mith the transformation of Japanese industry. His prob-Icm-solvifig tools were used to help identify waste, gather data and ziiialy@e problems in order to make decisions based on factual inforiiiatic.n. The ph...