Exploring improvements of a continuous improvement capability assessment model at a petro-chemical company

Abstract

The purpose of the research was to identify improvements which can be made to the Continuous Improvement (CI) capability assessment model applied at a petro-chemical company in order to improve capability assessment results. The study was conducted in Mpumalanga at a subsidiary of an international integrated energy and chemical company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. To achieve the purpose of the research, the study was conducted in 5 stages namely: (1) developing a theoretical framework for Continuous Improvement (CI) capability assessment from the literature. This was achieved by reviewing the concept of CI and CI capability assessment, and it resulted in the identification of thirteen CI enablers and twenty-six enabler assessment areas which contribute to building an inclusive CI process. (2) Assessing the importance of CI enabler assessment areas identified through the theoretical framework, by means of statistical analysis of the data from a survey at the petro-chemical company. A survey was carried out to assist the researcher in identifying the key assessment areas from the twenty-six that were identified. Results indicated that all the twenty-six assessment areas are critical, (3) using the theoretical framework and results of the survey to identify gaps, which exist within the current Continuous Improvement assessment model, (4) determining what improvements need to be made to the current CI model based on the results of the gap analysis and (5) making recommendations on how to improve the CI model to the petro-chemical company. The results of the gap analysis indicated that, (1) six enablers were adequately assessed; (2) two enablers had missing assessment areas as part of the assessment and (3) five enablers were not assessed by the petro-chemical company model. Thus in order to improve the company’s assessment results it was recommended that the identified missing CI enablers and CI key assessment areas should be incorporated into the company model.