CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT IN BRITISH MANUFACTURING

Continuous improvement (CI) - sustained, focused, company-wide incremental innovation - is increasingly recognized as a powerful potential source of competitive advantage. Experience -particularly but not exclusively in Japan - suggests that major gains in quality, flexibility and cost saving can result from CI programmes, and as a result there is increasing interest in adopting this approach. However, although simple in concept, CI is difficult to implement and maintain since it requires extensive organizational change and development. This paper reviews experience with CI and outlines some of the key areas in which effective management of such innovations needs to be concentrated