{"id":1928,"date":"2013-02-19T14:57:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-19T14:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/archives\/1928-continuous-improvement-and-3d-printing.html"},"modified":"2022-10-05T17:27:07","modified_gmt":"2022-10-05T21:27:07","slug":"continuous-improvement-and-3d-printing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/continuous-improvement-and-3d-printing","title":{"rendered":"Continuous Improvement and 3D Printing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shapeways Operations Manager Hugo Ploegmakers shares his thoughts on how continuous improvement and Kaizen principles apply to 3D printing.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In our continuing challenge to improve the service we provide at
\nShapeways, to improve quality, lead-time and drive down cost (making 3D
\nprinting more affordable for our customers), we are fully embracing
\ncontinuous improvement as a methodology<\/a>. In short: continuous
\nimprovement means that you never accept the status-quo, everything can
\nbe improved, and everybody is involved in the improvement process.<\/p>\n

Just
\nrecently, I read this Wired article on how improving 10x is easier
\nthan improving by 10%<\/a>, about how reaching for the moon, which is a Bold
\nAudacious Goal, opens possibilities you wouldn’t have seen when aiming
\nfor less.<\/p>\n

How does this rhyme with the lean methodology, which
\nwe’ve embraced at Shapeways? Does this contradict with the small steps
\nof ‘continuous improvement’? I don’t think it does. Bold Audacious Goals
\nare a requirement to make lean a success!<\/p>\n

Improvements comes in
\ntwo different shapes. One, a continuous stream of small improvements:
\nthe many changes we make to our production process each day in our
\nfactories in New York and Eindhoven. Two, the less frequent but huge
\nbreakthrough projects (e.g. our new back-end tool: Inshape<\/a>). The picture
\nclearly shows how the combination of continuous improvement processes
\nand breakthrough projects makes us twice as fast! Only when successfully
\napplying both, we can improve as quickly as needed and make our
\ncommunity happy.<\/p>\n

Bold Audacious Goals trigger breakthrough, which
\nis needed to remove the boundaries for continuous improvement before we
\nreach them. They accelerate continuous improvement: it
\nmakes every tiny problem worth solving.<\/p>\n

Are you a continuous
\nimprover? Or is ‘breakthrough’ your style? Can you do both? We continue
\nto also look for new team members who want to join the teams in
\nEindhoven and NYC.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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