The document outlines critical success factors for sustainable process improvement. It recommends (1) eliminating unnecessary steps and complexity to streamline processes, (2) logically arranging all relevant steps and activities so they make sense to operators, and (3) keeping workplaces clean and well-organized. It also stresses involving all key players in redesigning processes, critically evaluating value-adding activities, and focusing on system improvements rather than individual blame when things go wrong.

1. Sustainable Process
Improvement;
What are the critical success factors?

2. What to do:
1. Eliminate as many as possible steps, actions,
interfaces, complexity etc.
Anything that adds no value:
-get rid of it,
-so it can’t be in the way
-does not need any attention!

3. What to do:
2. Make sure that all the relevant steps, activities,
data etc. are logically arranged:
-available in the right moment and place.
Every action that needs to be performed should
be making complete sense to the one that needs
to take it.
Step into the position of the ‘operator’ and
check whether the right thing to do really makes
sense from his or hers perspective. (The right
thing seems to be a natural thing to do).

4. What to do:
3. Make sure all the ‘workplaces’ (what or
where ever that may be) are absolutely ‘spick
and span’ ;
- clean,
- well-organized,

5. What to do:
4. Make sure players in the process have
sufficient overview on what is going on,
- make it ‘visible’ at a glance what should be
done,
- how and when.
Use visual techniques where ever possible.

6. What to do:
5. If something goes wrong: Do not focus on the
person!
Focus on the question:
Why did it make sense for this person to do the
wrong thing (if he would have had a choice, he
would have done the right thing wouldn’t he?)
So whenever things go wrong: adapt the system, to
make it more ‘logical’ to do the right things!

7. How to do this:
1. Design the process together with all key
players that have to perform in the process;
only in this way you will get all crucial
information and understanding from the
team members to implement the new
process

8. How to do this:
2.Be very VERY critical when discussing what is
value adding and what not (thus what should
be enhanced and what should be eliminated).
Typically most of the non-value adding
activities are considered to be ‘necessary’…
and thus they remain annoyingly present…

9. How to do this:
3. Adding people, space, investments,
complexity is NEVER a solution.
Simplification does.

10. How to do this:
4. Use the power of ‘human intelligent decision
making’;
-allow decision making within the operation,
-based on clear decision criteria,
-based on reliable data.

11. How to do this:
5. Use the power of human pattern recognition:
the less cluttered the process,
the easier it is to detect anomalies in the
field.
Allow people to respond to such in a way
that makes sense.

12. How to do this:
6. Always check:
What would be the normal situation at this
point in the process?
What could be different, and what would
make sense to the ‘operator’ to do in such
circumstance?

13. Conditions:
1. Allow ‘operators’ to be responsible for the
correct outcome of the process by providing
solid designed processes and conditions to
fulfill the tasks within them.

14. Conditions:
2. Do not focus on individual players, however
focus on the whole system.

15. Conditions:
3. It is the management that is responsible for
providing a system where players can
perform

16. Conditions:
4. Only the players in the system can provide
the inside knowledge about what they need
to perform