Global CI digitization and standardization at MSA Safety
With more than 40 locations on six continents and 5,000 employees, MSA Safety has been at the forefront of safety innovation since 1914, protecting workers and facility infrastructures around the world, across a broad range of diverse end markets. These markets include the fire service, commercial construction and industry, the military, and the global energy market.
Recently, the MSA Continuous Improvement Team faced difficulties in managing a growing number of improvement initiatives. Largely relying on conventional spreadsheets, the team began searching for a more efficient solution.
Objectives
MSA Safety sought a CI digitization platform due to the impracticality of managing increasing idea flow and projects with Excel.
The project goals included:
- boosting idea generation
- ensuring transparency
- standardizing processes globally, aiming to scale from 20-30 improvements annually to more than 350
eKaizen was selected for its user-friendly interface, global scalability, and cost-effectiveness.
Solution
In implementing the platform, key stakeholders included MSA’s global and regional CI leaders, the company’s vice presidents of operations in the MSA’s Americas, APAC and EMEA regions, plant managers and CI plant leaders, ensuring comprehensive buy-in across all locations.
As the MSA Safety team required a high level of visualization, the decision was made to integrate eKaizen with PowerBI. This initiative had a significant impact on user engagement and it helped to accelerate the CI management process.
As an example, all employees (whether they work at the shopfloor or in the office) now have the ability to submit ideas via a web-based submission form or via QR codes.
Results
- eKaizen facilitated a significant increase in idea generation, surpassing target goals and exceeding 350 submissions annually
- It enhanced employee engagement – not only in manufacturing but also in sourcing and logistics functions.
- MSA Safety uses eKaizen to reach their 5% productivity increase, with some departments achieving double-digit percentage gain.