Evaluation Of A Simulation Which Demonstrates How ' Lowering The River Can Reveal The Rocks '

Erosion is a process where natural forces like water, wind, ice, and gravity wear away rocks and soil. Erosion occurs at the Earth’s surface, and has no effect on the Earth’s mantle and core. Water erosion is the removal of soil particles by heavy rainfall or running water. “While the causes of erosion by water are generally natural, water erosion is usually caused by rainfall and runoff on a slope” (GEI Works Erosion Pollution). “The process of water erosion usually occurs on stream and river banks, sea shores and seaside cliffs” (Reference.com).

Continuous improvement is a quality philosophy that assumes further improvements are always possible and that processes should be continuously re-evaluated and improvements implemented. It is also the seeking of small improvements in processes and products, with the objective of increasing quality and reducing waste. It is believed that an organization must constantly measure the effectiveness of its processes and strive to meet more difficult objectives to satisfy customers.

This commitment in quality improvement must be continuous for the company life time because as with any continuous improvement system, too many people view the concept as (once and done) incremental improvement is acceptable. Too many organizations let their Lean Six Sigma disappear slowly due to lack of interest and/or attention. On the other hand, there are some organizations that continue to be industry examples of how to successfully use Lean Six Sigma as a journey of continuous improvement. [4]

“Lean is a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste (non-value-added activities) through continuous improvement by flowing the **product at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection.” Lockwood [24].

CarMax continuous improvement has made them focus on the change within the organization. Anytime a new technology comes out; they make it their mission to be aware and proactive in making it available to the customer. CarMax organizational change helps them keep their competitive edge for their customers. The organizational change within CarMax enables employees to learn new skills, new opportunities, and allow them to exercise their creativity in a way that ultimately help the customer.

Continous improvement is the process of relentlessly trying to find ways to improve and enhance company's products and

As the name of the book mentions “Goal: ongoing improvement” but it just does not explain the goal and ongoing process to improve the system but also talks about the theory of constraints. Constraints which we face in real life situation. The main character in the book is Alex Rogo who is the manager of manufacturing plant. His plant is one of the few plants which company operates. Alex’s plant was not making enough money to sustain on its own. Orders were getting delayed often and the throughput was reduced which was eventually taking plant towards the financial losses. Management was very upset with the performance of the plant. They would have to shut it down if plant kept loosing money in future. There was a pressure

For this discussion board assignment I have chosen to further research the key term of continuous improvement. My main reason for wanting to do further research into this topic is out of a general curiosity and interest of mine as well as how it is relevant to my current job. Ever since learning about the Toyota Production System (TPS) and lean manufacturing a year ago while taking another class at Liberty University, I have been continuing to learn as much as I can about it. I think that lean manufacturing is so interesting and has a lot of value for manufacturing as well as many other fields and even in my daily life. Continuous improvement is a big part of lean manufacturing, so that is why I chose to write about this topic.

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement, by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox was written in 1992. It was an attempt to bring highly technical theories around ongoing process improvement to the reader in a non-technical way. The Book is filled with many “aha” moments that lead to a heightened awareness and provide a comprehensive framework for real goal attainment.

The team is continuously changes the system with small steps on the way to improvements. Step by step changes are used in this methodology to avoid failures rate due to resistance of employees.

Continuous improvement consists of incremental initiatives and innovations to achieve best practices. All expectations and objectives should be deployed to stakeholders clearly. Providing encouragement and implementing incentive plans should help in developing a culture of continuous improvement.

It is clear to see that throughout the project the tasks and progress were monitored very closely. The project is heavily dependent on the resources provided by its shareholders and in turn they rely on regular updates to reassure them on their investment. In the construction and building industry the methods and application of project management tools are very reliable and well tested. Therefore, it could benefit the project if the it was managed with detailed and defined practises and also follow standards set and agreed upon on a international level.

2. Umble, M Michael; Umble, Elizabeth J; "How to apply the Theory of Constraints' five-step process of continuous improvement ", Journal of Cost Management; Boston; Sep/Oct 1998

However, Chase et al (1998) identified lean themes as total visibility; respect for people; flexibility; continuous improvement (kaizen); synchronisation and balance; responsibility for the environment and a holistic approach. These two are similar as one must have respect for people while specifying value by putting their needs into consideration, the value stream needs to be identified and made to flow continuously and this can be achieved through synchronisation and balancing, the pull system depicts the flexibility approach and lastly both emphasize continuous improvement.

Numerous process improvement methods exist and have been proven over the years. A common tool mentioned in the last section Six Sigma is highly popular in organizations. Yet the most simple and effective process to date has been considered the Deming cycle (B). The Deming cycle “is a simple methodology for improvement that was strongly promoted by W. Edwards Deming. It was originally called the Shewhart cycle after its founder, Walter Shewhart ”(B). The process is a 4 cycle system Plan, Do, Study, Act. The first stage of the process is the planning stage. Assessing the inputs required of a system in relative comparison to the outputs play an implement role in customer satisfaction. It’s imperative to understand the libations of both the customers and suppliers. The next stage of the process is the do stage this is where any sample analysis would be done. The “do” stage is primarily for gathering data which comes into use in the Study Stage. The study stage is about interpreting data in a language that is understandable for the purpose of the main objective. Lastly, after analyzing the data and determining the strengths, opportunities, and weakness it’s time to evaluate how to improve the processes in place to meet your objective. The Deming Shewhart Cycle is both effective for short-term and long-term continuous improvement. Learning is a process that allows us to build on our knowledge base from our mistakes. Deming 's Cycle is just one of the