Ben van de Plas on improving

Ben van der Plas is an improver and piano tuner. Is that a strange combination? Not for Ben. A well-tuned instrument is crucial for a pianist to make the most beautiful music. It’s similar for organizations that want to perform their best.

Ben, how did you come to this combination?

“I had been working so long with improving organizations and factories that I needed to take a new step about six years ago. I decided to follow my dream to become a piano tuner. But my old passion was still there too. Now I’m happy to work part-time as a business consultant at KSL Solutions and part-time piano tuner at bengoedgestemd.nl.”

There are striking similarities in my work. You see that a beautiful end product doesn’t happen overnight. The pianist or management can only perform optimally when the instrument is well-tuned. The opposite is also true: an instrument can be perfectly tuned, but when it’s not played well, the music doesn’t sound good – and the audience will walk away. Optimal performance is only done in conjunction.”

An optimized end product is made just like the most beautiful music: only with a well-tuned instrument and a skilled pianist.

How did you start with continuous improvement?

“My first job was at Philips in manufacturing. The Philips company was always a front-runner. In a time when improving wasn’t common, we already used improvement techniques that are widely used today. They had yet to develop fully, but the start was there. 

What Philips did very well back then was to involve everyone in the process. Too often, improvement is something initiated in departments or boardrooms. Philips was different. As a production manager, I was allowed to share my results monthly in the boardroom. Where are we on cost reduction, what quantity is produced there? Every month, we talked about where we were, what we had done, and where we wanted to go. It was a very effective approach to keep improving.

What Philips did very well back then is to involve everyone in the process

“Also very effective were the Philips worldwide improvement competitions. Each improvement team could sign up and was allowed to show their results. Our team made it to the global finale once, and I still remember how motivating that was.”

So, the seed was sowed at Philips. How did you continue at other organizations? 

“The improvement gene was in my blood for sure. I took other organizations by hand with the idea that things can always improve. I use various techniques, like WCM, TQM, LEAN, and TPM, with education and coaching if necessary.

Only a true culture change allows you to keep improving autonomously. As a consultant, you primarily have to keep in mind: I will be leaving soon. Does the organization have the tools to keep improving? That’s the most significant risk right there, the process sinking back over time.”

Why is that?

“Someone needs to keep taking the role of stimulator. Management has to keep pulling the strings. If you don’t, the production manager will quit. And the employees often dislike doing something different from manufacturing, so they’ll also quit. Before you know it, you’re back to square one.”

How do you motivate people to keep going?

“Results work best. When people know what it will do for them, when they know that things can be different, done faster, or done smarter, then it becomes more fun.

Telling people how to do their job doesn’t work; they know better. But if you use measurement data to show that it's red, and they can make it green, you'll get somewhere together. Measuring, setting targets, coming up with solutions from all levels – that’s when you work together on continuous improvement.”

When people understand that things can be different, faster, smarter, that’s when the fun starts.

How do you initialize that process?

“I always start with 5S - organize, structure. Then we show the most significant losses. Yes, they know what those are; that’s what I hear. But we’re measuring them anyway. Often, those losses turn out to appear somewhere else or smaller or bigger than expected. Those are real eye-openers.

It’s important that people understand OEE in this process. How is information calculated, and what can I do with those numbers? And how am I supposed to prevent loss when I’m already doing valuable work in the manufacturing process all day? OEE shows how much it saves when you can make up for ten minutes in specific process steps. It’s a huge motivation to start doing things differently.”

How does Cierpa Software help with that?

“Software like Cierpa OEE gives you insight, and you can react quickly. You always know last week’s status but also today’s status. Is there an incident? Then, you can instantly work on solutions. Actions that you can easily plan in Cierpa Kaizen. You don’t have to be afraid of doing something wrong or that keeping track of the software takes too much time because the cockpits are very easy to use.

It’s also great that you can compare multiple plants inside the organization. Do you see a line performing better with a new machine, a different raw material, or a better maintenance plan? Then you can take that knowledge to the other plants.”

How does your experience at Philips still influence your approach?

“Involve everyone in the process. Down to the nitty-gritty detail. Listen to the people. As management, don’t interfere with the solution. Management is responsible for tuning your instrument and knowing which keys you need to keep hitting - nothing else. That’s how you make beautiful music together.”