The Twin Pillars of CMII
by Leo Clark
The second pillar is continuous improvement which is made possible with the CMII model. Steve Easterbrook is fond of saying, "Let's put our feet on the desk and think of what needs improving." But most people are overwhelmed by fires that need stomping at work. This fire fighting devours the time, resources and desire to improve anything.
Some organizations equate fire fighting to continuous improvement. Like Deming said, "Putting out a fire does nothing to improve your house." Like Vince Guess says, "You can't have robust improvement until you have consistent conformance." So together, these two are saying, "If your house is on fire, that is the wrong time to put in new windows."
With CMII certification, organizations learn how to achieve consistent conformance and prepare for continuous improvement. I am fortunate to have spent nine years teaching process improvement and Statistical Process Control to over 200 companies in many divergent industries.
Planned upgrades during 2000 will include such process improvement metrics and measures.
Continuous improvement is where the big money is hidden. Most companies are unable to pursue or even see those opportunities due to the fires and the smoke. Implementing CMII serves to snuff out the fires and bring visibility to the real opportunities. It enables management to use the freed-up intervention resources to pursue those opportunities. The first pillar within the "II" serves to eliminate waste. The second goes for the big money. The Two Pillars in CMII
People always ask, "What's the difference between regular CM and CMII? For me, the answer is obvious. It's those two Roman numerals at the end. That "II" is very significant. Let me explain.
Those Roman numerals stand proud and tall at the end of CMII. That makes sense because the Romans were a proud people. They had proud Emperors, proud gladiators and certainly very proud architecture.
Roman buildings are noted for the fact that some still stand erect after thousands of years. Those buildings stand because of the pillars that gave strength to the design.
And in CMII, those two proud Roman pillars also give strength. They are the twin pillars that make CMII unique from any other methodology.
The first pillar is consistent conformance. The CMII model is designed to provide consistent conformance. As a CM process owner, your job is to implement a process that has no choice but to guarantee good output. CMII provides that business process infrastructure.
With CMII fully implemented, your organization would have no choice but to make good product the first time and every time. That equates to "zero defects." The need for intervention resources is thereby eliminated.
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