Transforming Organisational Excellence with CI — Chapter 4: CI in Action: Case Studies

8 min readSep 1, 2024

Unless you benefitted from Continuous Improvement (CI), you will likely be among the many doubters I know. Instead of forcing one to believe, it’s better to share success stories. I hope you see how this situation relates to your challenges and solve them progressively.

Welcome to Chapter 4, where I want to share stories about how organisations successfully apply CI methodologies to enhance efficiency, solve complex problems, and achieve remarkable and sustainable results. Two of my three examples might already be familiar and commonly heard. As for the other one, you might have yet to hear about where the problem it started solving ended up being the company’s cash cow.

Let’s get started.

Toyota — Pioneering Lean Manufacturing

Toyota pioneered Lean Manufacturing, a methodology focused on minimising waste and maximising efficiency. This approach has transformed Toyota into one of the world’s largest and most successful automotive manufacturers and influenced countless industries beyond automotive.

Not knowing the Toyota Production System (TPS) is almost impossible if you are in the lean domain. Thus, there are methods which you will already be familiar with, even if you are outside this field.

Just-In-Time (JIT) Production

Just-In-Time (JIT) production aims to produce what is needed when it is required and in the amount needed. Its fundamental principles include Inventory Reduction, Pull System, and Continuous Flow. It focuses on reducing excess inventory, minimising waste, and allows the team to align to customer demand.

Producing more than required locks up one’s cash flow and causes indirect issues, such as increased storage costs and consuming certain products’ shelf life.

Key Principles of JIT

Inventory Reduction: Toyota minimises the costs of storing large inventory quantities by producing parts and vehicles only as needed. This reduces storage costs and decreases the risk of parts becoming obsolete.
Pull System: In a pull system, products are produced based on customer demand rather than forecasted demand. Each stage signals the previous stage when more parts or materials are needed, ensuring a smooth production flow without overproduction.
Continuous Flow: Ensuring a constant production flow means that work-in-process items move through the system without delay. This reduces bottlenecks and improves overall efficiency.

Real-World Impact

During the 1970s and 1980s, as Western automotive manufacturers faced challenges with high inventory costs and production inefficiencies, Toyota’s JIT system gave it a competitive advantage by reducing inventory levels and streamlining production processes. Toyota was able to produce high-quality vehicles at lower costs, responding more flexibly to market demands.

For example, when Toyota implemented JIT in its Georgetown, Kentucky plant, they reported significant improvements in productivity and quality. The plant became known for its efficiency and ability to produce vehicles with fewer defects compared to other manufacturers. This success story highlighted the effectiveness of JIT and cemented Toyota’s reputation as a leader in manufacturing efficiency.

Toyota’s JIT system is a prime example of how focusing on reducing waste, improving efficiency, and responding to customer demand can lead to substantial operational benefits.

Kaizen & Standard Work

Kaizen and Standard Work are integral to Toyota’s success because they embody the company’s commitment to continuous improvement and operational excellence.

Kaizen encourages every employee to contribute to incremental changes, embracing the CI mindset that enhances efficiency and quality, while Standard Work ensures that these improvements are consistently implemented and maintained.

Together, they create a culture where innovation, consistency, and ongoing refinement drive Toyota’s ability to produce high-quality vehicles efficiently, keeping the company competitive and responsive to market demands.

We can only expect a great outcome if we implement these “CI Mechanisms” in totality. All the various aspects of CI Tools serve specific purposes and have synergised the company to achieve what we see today.

Is it still relevant?

Many wonder whether the TPS is still relevant today, as people seek everything AI. The answer is a definite ‘YES’, and one needs to adapt to suit each circumstance and context instead of simply pasting and expecting things to work.

While we leverage technologies to complement our work.

Can we not have Standard Work and expect Repeatability and Reproducibility?
Can we expect the current technologies to be relevant in the next ten years without adopting Kaizen to keep on improving?
Can we produce as fast as possible without market demand, even when we have the speed to do so?

Apple—Commitment to Continuous Improvement

Apple leverages CI and innovation to achieve and maintain industry leadership. While Apple is often celebrated for its groundbreaking products, its success is also deeply rooted in its commitment to CI principles, which permeate its product development, manufacturing processes, and customer experience. Apple might not have been the first to launch the product, but they improved it to wow the consumer.

Apple’s Commitment to Continuous Improvement

Product Development: Apple applies the principle of Kaizen by incrementally improving its products with each new iteration, improving performance, design, and functionality based on extensive user feedback.
Manufacturing Efficiency: Through partnerships with manufacturers like Foxconn, Apple has implemented lean manufacturing principles to streamline production, reduce waste, and improve quality.
Supply Chain Optimisation: Apple’s supply chain is one of the most efficient in the world. Apple continuously optimises its supply chain to reduce lead times, minimise inventory costs, and ensure timely component delivery.
User Experience and Customer Feedback: Apple is well known for its focus on user experience, which is enhanced through continuous feedback loops. The company uses customer feedback to improve its products and services.

Example: The Evolution of the MacBook

A specific example of Apple’s CI in action is the evolution of the MacBook line of laptops. I wrote this article on the Macbook Pro I started using in 2020. Over the years, Apple has made numerous small but significant changes to the MacBook’s design, performance, and features:

Design: Apple continuously refined the MacBook’s design, making it thinner and lighter while improving durability. The introduction of the unibody aluminium design in 2008 resulted from CI streamlining manufacturing processes and enhancing product quality.

Performance: Each new MacBook model typically features incremental processing power, battery life, and display quality improvements. For instance, the switch to Apple’s M1 chip in 2020 marked a significant performance improvement, driven by the company’s continuous efforts to innovate and optimise.

User Experience: Apple has also focused on improving the user experience with each iteration. The introduction of the Retina display, the Force Touch trackpad, and the Touch Bar are features that resulted from ongoing improvements and innovation based on user feedback and technological advancements.

I benefited from the improvement in reliability, performance, design, and ease of use of the touch bar’s functions.

Winning Formula

Apple’s success is not just a result of groundbreaking innovation but also a solid commitment to CI. By applying CI principles across its product development, manufacturing, supply chain, and customer experience,

Apple ensures that it not only meets but often exceeds customer expectations. This integrated approach to CI and innovation enables Apple to stay at the forefront of the technology industry, consistently delivering highly desirable and technologically advanced products.

It’s not always about drastic change but the ability to consistently make changes to improve things, playing a long-term game.

37signals—The Birth of Basecamp

In the early 2000s, 37signals, a small web design firm based in Chicago, faced a significant challenge. As they took on more projects, they needed help tracking client communications, deadlines, and project details, an issue the company faces.

The tools available then needed to be simplified or more complex for their needs. Rather than continuing to use inadequate tools, they created their solution — something simple, effective, and tailored to their workflow.

The simple intention of solving their problem resulted in the development of Basecamp. This project management tool eventually redefined the company and became one of the world’s most popular platforms. Based on the estimation of their user accounts, Basecamp earned them an estimated annual recurring revenue of USD 145 million.

Basecamp: From Internal Tool to Flagship Product

To solve their problem, the team focused on creating an intuitive and easy-to-use tool, emphasising simplicity and functionality. After implementing Basecamp internally, they quickly realised that other companies could also benefit from it. In 2004, they launched Basecamp to the public, and it rapidly gained popularity among small businesses and teams looking for an efficient way to manage projects.

Basecamp’s success marked a pivotal shift for 37signals. The tool quickly became the company’s flagship product. Over time, 37signals transitioned from a web design firm to a software company, focusing on developing and improving Basecamp and other software products.

CI at the Core

When running a workshop or sharing on CI, I always like to use this example to highlight that solving one’s problem might lead to the potential of solving another’s problem and getting paid. CI can impact the company’s bottom line.

User Feedback and Iteration: 37signals strongly emphasises listening to user feedback. They continuously gather customer insights to understand their needs and pain points. This feedback loop allows them to make incremental improvements to Basecamp, adding new features, refining existing ones, and simplifying the user interface.
Lean Development: The company adopts a lean development approach, focusing on delivering value to customers with minimal waste. They ensure that Basecamp remains easy to use and avoids the feature bloat that plagues many software tools.
Kaizen and Continuous Refinement: Like Toyota’s Kaizen philosophy, 37signals focuses on minor, continuous improvements rather than massive, disruptive changes. They release updates and new versions of Basecamp regularly, each one building on the feedback and lessons learned from the previous iteration.
Root Cause Analysis: 37signals employs Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to dig deep into the underlying causes when they identify potential areas of improvement or issues. They can implement more effective and lasting solutions by addressing these root causes rather than just the symptoms.

Power of CI

The story of 37signals and Basecamp is a testament to the power of Continuous Improvement. By identifying a problem within their operations and creating a solution that could benefit others, they transformed their company and established themselves as leaders in project management software.

Basecamp moved to create an email service, Hey, launched in June 2020. Hey, it's a fresh take on email. It was developed with the same principle as Basecamp, addressing frustrations associated with traditional email services by making things simple and focusing on user experience.

Summary

Chapter 4 shows how continuous improvement (CI) methodologies have driven success in various companies, from Toyota’s pioneering of lean manufacturing to Apple’s commitment to innovation. These case studies illustrate the transformative power of CI in improving efficiency, reducing waste, and delivering exceptional results.

The example of Basecamp exemplifies the tremendous impact that solving one’s problem could have on the organisation by helping others solve similar problems.

Whether by adopting Kaizen, leveraging Just-In-Time, or creating products like Basecamp, these companies demonstrate that CI is crucial to achieving sustainable growth and maintaining a competitive edge in today’s fast-paced market.

In the next chapter, I will share how you might implement CI in your organisation.

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