Case Study: Continuous Improvement at Precision Engineering Works

This case study focuses on Precision Engineering Works Private Limited (PEW), an engineering company specializing in plastic molding parts for the telecommunications industry. Facing increased competition, employee attrition, and declining market share, PEW requires strategic improvements. The case study begins by identifying the root causes of PEW's challenges using tools like Fishbone diagrams, the 5 Whys, DMAIC, FMEA, Current Reality Trees, Pareto Diagrams, and Force Field Analysis. These tools help pinpoint issues related to competition, employee retention, and declining revenues. Following the root cause analysis, the study proposes a continuous improvement plan spanning from October 1, 2018, to December 1, 2018, aiming to enhance processes, reduce costs, and improve product quality through lean manufacturing principles. The plan emphasizes organizational culture, communication, and the implementation of industry standards. The case study highlights the importance of identifying opportunities, exploring ideas, and using techniques like Failure Mode and Effects Analysis to ensure continuous improvements within the organization to improve the company's performance and ensure its survival in the competitive market.

Running head: Case Study: CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT 1
Case Study: Continuous Improvement in Precision Engineering Works Private Limited (PEW)
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliation

Case Study: CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT 2
Case Study: Continuous Improvement in Precision Engineering Works Private Limited (PEW)
Introduction
Businesses face various challenges in their daily endeavour to make a profit, with
competition being an important challenge. Other challenges to business performance and
profitability include quality demands, maturing customer demands and advances in technology
(Liker, & Morgan, 2006). For a company like Precision Engineering Works Private Limited
(PEW) to succeed, there ought to be a concerted effort to ensure efficient and effective
management of the organization to enable it to weather the competition and adapt to the ever-
changing business environment. Effective project management has been touted as one of the
main ways that companies can make their processes efficient leading to an improvement in their
overall performance (O’Connor, 2008). According to PMBOK (2008), project management can
be conceptualized as the application of appropriate skills, knowledge, techniques and tools to the
activities of a project to the requirements of the project. However, most manufacturing firms are
not easily amenable to the traditional project management systems as they deal with the
continuous process (Kerzner, 2006). Project Management: For that fact, manufacturing
companies borrow project management processes and principles and apply them in the running
of the various departments such as finance, administration, sales, and production (Schonberger,
2007).
However, projects routinely fail to meet their objectives resulting in poor quality services
and low customer satisfaction. The main culprit in projects fail to meet targets are delayed
timelines and cost overruns. To solve the problems associated with ineffective project
implementation, management researchers have proposed lean management, which can deal with
projects involving ambiguity and task uncertainty (Staats et al., 2011).

Case Study: CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT 3
Precision Engineering works Private Limited (PEW) is an engineering company that deals with
the manufacture of plastic mouldings parts used in the telecommunication industry. The
company has over 30 years’ experience in the industry serving the worlds most recognized
telecommunications firms (Checkland, & Poulter, 2010). However, due to its perceived
profitability, the industry has attracted many new entrants threatening PEW’s position in the
market and by extension its profitability. With increased competition, the company is having a
difficult time winning contracts as the erstwhile customers have more choices as some of the
competitors are offering similar services to the one offered by PEW. Also, some of the
company’s experienced workers are leaving and joining the competitors (Mehri, 2006).
This report aims at indicating the identifying the root causes of the problems in the
company after analyzing the firm using appropriate techniques and tools. Further, the report will
include a continuous improvement plan aimed at providing solutions for the identified problems.
The competencies from the employees and the management to effectively implement the
necessary changes (Kerzner, 2006).
Assumptions
We're assuming that your business will run better on the off chance that you formalize
your procedures, and you at that point screen, break down and adjust your procedures to be more
proficient. Also, we often assume the schedule, the effort, the resource pool, the budget, and the
cost constraints.
Identification of the Root Causes of the Problems
Before any attempt is made at finding solutions to the problems an organization faces, it
is prudent to first find the root causes of the problems. Without getting to the root causes of the
issues that are identified, the management treats symptoms which give short-term relief but

Case Study: CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT 4
worsens the problems in the medium and long-term. Precision engineering works private limited
company (PEW) faces various challenges including increased competition, fall in sales and
market share, and hemorrhage of competent and experienced employees. There are problems in
the company which require urgent solutions before they threaten the survival of the company.
Lean manufacturing techniques might be the companies answer to identifying and addressing the
problems that the company faces.
Lean manufacturing involves the production of the biggest variety of highest quality
products using the least possible resources (Pettersen, 2009). Lean Manufacturing involves the
elimination of waste (Chen et al., 2010), Continuous improvement (Proctor et al., 2004),
ensuring zero defects, utilizes pull rather than push principles, uses multifunctional teams, has
decentralized responsibilities, and employs vertical information systems (Mehri, 2006).
Root Cause Analysis Tools
Once a company identifies a problem, it is important to get to the root causes of the problem
immediately before it festers and gets harder to treat. To get to the PEW’s problem, the team
used various tools and techniques. The common Root Cause Analysis Tools Include:
 Fishbone (Ishikawa)
 The five whys
 DMAIC roadmap
 Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
 Current Reality Tree
 Pareto Diagram
 Force Field Analysis
Fishbone (Ishikawa)/Cause and Effect Analysis

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The result of analysis of the problems and all their possible causes present in the form of
a diagram that resembles a skeleton of a fish. The team, composed of the consulting company
and the managers from the PEW company, analyzed the various causes of the problems facing
the company with all of them starting with letter “M” including machine material, method,
management, milieu, and man.
5 Whys
This technique involves the applications of questions in the quest for getting to the real
roots of the problem. The practice involves the art of asking five well thought out questions to
lead from the symptoms to the real deep-seated causes of the problems in question. In the current
case, the team asked five questions starting with the visible problems that we identified including
lack of competitiveness, competent and experienced workers bailing out of the company to join
the competition and falling revenues. The first question is followed by the second one and by the
fifth question the real problem becomes clear.
DMAIC Roadmap
DMAIC stands for Defining, Developing, Measuring, Analyzing, Improving and
Controlling, steps which help consultants and the management team to get to the real causes of
problems to address them and prevent the same from getting worse and making the turnaround
virtually impossible.
Failure Mode and Effect Analysis
In the above- mentioned root causes identification method, the consultants and
management start with the identification of a standard, and it usually contains system blocks. The
investigations start at the by hypothesizing about the possible points in which failure is likely to
occur in the system blocks. The next step involves identifying the impacts of such failure modes

Case Study: CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT 6
in the system block and their severity. After identifying the impacts, the investigator then
analyses the likelihood of the said failure occurring and the means of detecting them. Finally, the
investigator calculates the Risk Priority Number (RPN), which done using the formula
RPN = Severity × Occurrence × Detection
Once the RPN values have been calculated, the researchers consider the various actions
that can be instituted to either minimize the effects of the failure modes or actions that can
increase the detection of the failure modes. It is important to start with the ones with the highest
values and work downwards. The next step involves the recalculation of the RPN values after the
corrective actions, the aim being to ensure that the final RPN values are low as possible (Bruch,
Karltun, & Dencker, 2008).
Current Reality Tree
This system of root cause identification has the capacity of identifying all the problems
within a system all at once. The Current Reality Tree is especially important in analyzing the
problems existing with a complex system with the possibility of many causes of the problem.
The first step in the identification of real causes of the issues using current reality tree method
involves the listing of all the problems and undesirable events in within the system. The next step
involves using the words “if” and “then” to link the problems thus creating a diagram depicting
the problems and their real causes (Almstrom, & Kinnander, 2007).
Pareto Diagram (ABC) Analysis
The Pareto diagram method uses the concept that the majority of the problems have just a
handful of significant causes. As such, the process involves the identification of a small number
of causes using a Pareto Diagram. The investigator using this method looks at the graph and

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determines the factors that seem to occur at a higher frequency and expends all energy in dealing
with these few issues as they are the 20% causes responsible for about 80% of the problem.
Force Field Analysis
This method involves the analysis of the forces which are for or against a particular plan
of change. The use of the Force Field Analysis is especially useful in the process of making
decisions on whether to proceed with discard a plan. The first step in the process is the
identification and description of the plan or the change proposal, and write the title in the middle
of the page. Then, the investigator identifies the forces for change including a need to increase
profitability, outdated processes, and changing demographics, and adds them to the left. The
third step involves identifying the factors militating against the change plan such as fear of the
unknown and government legislation, and placing them on the right column. Draw arrows and
assign scores for each of the factors, and add all the values from each side. The final step
involves decision-making on whether to proceed with the program or to go back to the drawing
board (Joostein, Bongers, Janssen, 2009).
Continuous improvement plan [1 October 2018 to 1 December 2018]
Purpose
Through the continuous improvements, Precision Engineering company aims at improving its processes that wi
reduced prices courtesy of lean manufacturing where fewer resources are used to producer cheaper but high-qua
 an organizational culture that values all people and recognizes the need to always striving to have better serv
 communication, information sharing and critical thinking
 PEW to apply the industry Standards for manufacturing and turn the principles behind the Quality managem
Any consistent change exertion needs in the first place an exact comprehension of the procedure that has been d

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procedure can be in any piece of an organization's the same old thing, yet should have the capacity to be mappe
procedure (Chen, Lindeke, Wyrick, 2010).
This plan aligns with the Standards and outlines activities that continuous improvement in a planned and routine
existing activities to improve systems and practice (PMI, 2011).

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Identifying opportunities
Any ceaseless change exertion needs in the first place an exact comprehension of the
procedure that has been distinguished for development. The procedure can be in any piece of an
organization's matter of fact, however, should have the capacity to be mapped to distinguish the
streams that make up the procedure.
Exploring ideas
The disappointment mode and impacts examination is a method that is utilized to decide
the disappointments inside a specific framework. A ton of organizations utilizes this RCA device
to discover which parts of the procedures are defective with the goal that they can be redressed.
It additionally decides the occasions the disappointment happens, the activities executed by the
association to keep the disappointment from repeating, and deciding territories, where moves
made, were powerful. This apparatus is frequently done each time another procedure or item is
created.
Background
As an assembling administrator is accepting parts from an infusion shaping press, the
administrator can contrast the recently made part with the standard part and check whether there
are any noteworthy contrasts. On the off chance that there are, at that point, there's an issue and it
ought to be amended immediately
Evidence
Precision Engineering works Private Limited (PEW) is an engineering company that
deals with the manufacture of plastic mouldings parts used in the telecommunication industry.
The company has over 30 years’ experience in the industry serving the worlds most recognized
telecommunications firms. However, due to its perceived profitability, the industry has attracted

Case Study: CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT 10
many new entrants threatening PEW’s position in the market and by extension its profitability.
Some of the company’s experienced workers are leaving and joining the competitors
Milestones and deliverables
After an exhaustive writing audit, we discovered that the join utilization of Lean and Six
Sigma is turning into the best philosophy these days and it is ceaselessly ruling all other change
approaches. With the previously mentioned toolboxes of TQM, the approach of Six Sigma and
Lean, organizations can without much of a stretch picked the procedure and toolboxes that will
best suit the business issue and condition for usage.
Intended outcomes
After the RPN values have been calculated, the management considers the various
actions that can be instituted to either minimize the effects of the failure modes or actions that
can increase the detection of the failure modes. It is important to start with the ones with the
highest values and work downwards. The next step involves the recalculation of the RPN values
after the corrective actions, the aim being to ensure that the final RPN values are as low as
possible.
Evaluation process
Results are characterized as medium-term impacts of undertaking yields. Results are
detectable changes that can be connected to extend mediations. More often than not, they are the
accomplishments of the venture accomplices. They are consistently connected to the proposed
effect. Results are the outcomes that connection to the quick destinations as portrayed in the
undertaking report.
Report

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A task is responsible for accomplishing results and adding to the improvement effect.
Since the accomplishment of expansive, long-haul advancement changes relies upon numerous
variables, it is normally unrealistic to credit effect to one anticipate. All results of an undertaking
ought to contribute to the planned effect.
Deciding what to do
This underlying stage enables members to conceptualize the issue to recognize the same
number of conceivable main drivers. In this stage, the group can make circumstances and results
graph which can be helpful amid meetings to generate new ideas.

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Implementation of approved activities
Reference
number/
date
Source of
feedback
Opportunity
for
improvement
Standard/
Indicator
of practice
Action
required
By who
This
number can
be used to
help track
the progress
of this
activity
Who made the
recommendation or
where did the idea
come from?
Describe what
needs to change
Standard:
Practice
indicator:
What are
you going
to do?
Who is responsible for
implementing the changes?
Ref #: 0213 Profits analysis The perception
of the people on
the company
and its products
GAIG
standards As a major
aspect of
this
procedure,
the group
can
distinguish
their
In this last stage, the group
go to an agreement on an
underlying driver. This will
include approving the main
in light of proof, regardless
whether that is utilising
quantifiable information or
emotional proof from interv