InnosupportLeonardo Project
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4.7.6. Case studies

Case study 1

A firm’s (working in house appliances) experience in organizing quality circles can be summarized as follows:

A first quality circle has been created in the assembly workshop. The circle comprised of 12 workers, under the supervision of a foreman. They met one hour every week. After one year, they achieved the following results:

  • 25 improvements at the working places (posts)
  • 17 product modifications
  • 5 proposals for improving the safety
  • 10 simplifications of administrative forms used in the workshop
  • Improvement of a machine tool. The costs were approximately 100 euros, and the benefits of about 70000 euros.
The quality circle functioning was the following:

Propositions were made during the meetings, they were then discussed and taken to the engineers. At the beginning the proposals were not seriously considered. Then they imagined a form with three columns (like below). In 15 days the management has to return the form with the third column filled in. The form had been displayed in the workshop.
 
Problem
Solution
Measures to be taken for applying the solution
…..
…..
 
 
In order to obtain better results, the members of the circle also followed courses on: team working, use of board platforms, methods to improve innovation (brainstorming, Ishikawa diagrams, Pareto diagrams, mind-mapping, statistical analysis etc).

In order to assure the success of quality circles, some ideas have to be considered:
  • they have to be  supported by the management
  • they have to be supported by people with academic degrees
  • they have to be accompanied by campaigns of dissemination and increased visibility
  • they have to be helped by a support team (eventually outside bodies that can inform, train, organize)

Case study 2

Starting with March 2003, in the Romanian Bank for Development - RBD - (member of Groupe Société Générale), a program called “innovation” started. The aim of the initiative was to maintain a permanent flow of ideas and communication between the person/team that had the idea and an Innovation Committee in the RBD Central Headquarters. More, annually prizes are granted for the best and most innovative ideas.

The program functioning:

The program will evolve in stages:
  • Initiation: all the departments and groups will designate a correspondent responsible with innovation (Innovation Correspondent – IC).
  • Transmission: all the ideas/innovations will be centralized using an common e-mail address. The person responsible for the sending the idea is the IC. Here a person/group will centralize the ideas and a first selection will take place. Ideas can also be sent through regular mail.
  • Selection: Ideas that passed the initial selection are further analyzed and one verifies if they respond to a read need/problem, if they are feasible. All the people that sent ideas will receive confirmation of receipt of the idea(s)/innovation(s).
  • Assessment: Ideas will be scored (marked) in accordance with a predefined grid.
A central Innovation Committee will be created at a central level. This committee will meet every two months and its main role will be to evaluate the ideas/innovations. Also the committee will analyze the feasibility of the idea(s) and will approve the process of putting it into practice. 

The first three ideas will receive important prizes: the first prize: a trip to Paris (3000 Euros), second prize 1600 Euros and the third prize 1000 Euros. 

One has to mention that every employee has the right to participate to the program. The above case study involves a large organization, but a simplified version can be envisaged also for a SMS.

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