Continuous Improvement Digital System

At Ecrimesa Group we have been committed to Continuous Improvement since our beginnings, which has led us to implement a Sustainable Continuous Improvement System. With the recent introduction of FOCUS Smart Productivity, we are taking a step further, digitalizing all processes focused on business improvement.

¿Qué es FOCUS Smart Productivity?

FOCUS is a software that streamlines production management, using lean tools. The function of FOCUS is to digitize daily meetings and activities related to continuous improvement and lean on a single platform, in a secure way, combining off-line and cloud environments.
It is a tool developed by SGS Productivity by Leansis and Sothis, which allows monitoring any production process to analyze productivity according to the objectives set.  

We currently use FOCUS to manage TOP5, TOP20 and TOP60 meetings, i.e. production and management meetings. TOP5, for example, is an agile, daily management and communication tool, which leads to an alignment and focus of the production staff on continuous improvement of results. 

At each meeting, indicators are reviewed and actions are taken. The FOCUS program allows each meeting to have its own indicators, which are configured according to the type of attendees, whether they are operational or economic. 

Automated indicators

The great progress lies in the fact that all indicators are automated. The Industry 4.0 Department has worked intensively on the automation of data collection, calculation frequency and type of graph shown for each indicator. Some of them were already automated, since they came out of the ERP. Others had to be automated using apps or by monitoring data in the facilities.

In addition, the Department has carried out the configuration of FOCUS and has set up screens that reveal the critical indicators for MIM and Investment Casting. TOP5 meetings are held in front of these screens.

One of the great advantages of the system is that it allows scaling. If there is a problem that cannot be solved in a TOP5, it is scaled to a TOP20 or TOP60. In the end, a greater number of solved problems is obtained.

What has been achieved with the digitization of management?

We have automated the data capture of all indicators, thus reducing the workload. Part of the operators’ work consisted of manually taking the indicators.

Problem detection is now earlier and has contributed to a more agile management of improvement actions. They are assigned responsibility, allow for escalation, and more actions are resolved at all levels of the organization. Smaller problems that were previously not managed because the day-to-day was too much, are now being tackled.

The new system involves the entire organization. Operators are more independent and autonomous in solving problems for which they are competent and participate more.

We have achieved more and better documentation. We have real-time data and history at our fingertips, so there is more accurate information to make better decisions.

This project does not end here. In the future, we want to start managing all the KPIs of the company, incorporating even more information to the system.

If you are interested in knowing in detail how we work: