Employee rationalization and sharing of five-year practical experience

In order to promote the application of Lean Six Sigma concepts in Chinese local enterprises, the Lean Six Sigma Initiative (LSSI), in conjunction with Lean Enterprise China (LEC), is organizing a series of online public lectures through online lectures by a wide range of Lean Six Sigma experts and scholars for the vast majority of lean practitioners in the manufacturing, service and education industries, to systematically explain the principles of Lean tools and methods of implementation.

Production Operation Manager of Ingersoll Rand Taicang Plant

Master's degree in refrigeration from Shanghai University of Technology

Ten years of experience in manufacturing industry, specializing in lean and operation management.

Worked as a value stream manager in Carrier, A.O. Smith, Trane and other world-class brands.

Good at constructing a landable and replicable improvement mechanism and organization system from frontline practice.

This seminar focuses on the long-term practice path and value returns of “employee rationalization system” in manufacturing companies. Based on his five years of experience in promoting lean at the front line, Lu Xiangyang systematically shared how to build the proposal system from a “formal existence” to a cultural carrier that can really stimulate organizational vitality and drive continuous improvement.

1. What is “Staff Proposal” and “Kaizen”?

Lu Xiangyang firstly distinguished the different characteristics and synergistic relationship between “daily improvement activities (Kaizen)” and “formal proposal system”; Kaizen focuses on fast, small-step, site-driven process optimization; while the rationalization proposal system is a structured identification and incentive mechanism of innovation points. Kaizen focuses on rapid, small-step, site-led process optimization, while the rationalization proposal system is the structured identification of innovation points and the construction of incentive mechanisms, which is part of the enterprise's institutional management.

2. Five-year practice data: from sparse to systematic

Taking the data of employee proposals of his company from 2010 to 2014 as an example, he showed the leap from less than 100 to nearly 10,000 proposals per year. By continuously optimizing the incentive system, improving the declaration process, and improving the evaluation efficiency, the proposal system has gradually become institutionalized and process-oriented, and has become an important part of the enterprise improvement culture.

3. The design and evolution of the incentive mechanism

Lu Xiangyang introduced in detail the combination of “classification + points system + instant rewards” in the staff proposal system:

Classification: Classified according to the scope of improvement (safety, quality, efficiency, cost, etc.);

Grading: star rating according to impact and innovation;

Reward: set up a multi-tier incentive model from workshop award to annual star incentive.

This incentive mechanism not only mobilizes the enthusiasm of frontline staff, but also enhances the awareness of coaching and feedback of the grassroots management team.

4. Typical Proposal Case Sharing

In the sharing session, Lu Xiangyang selected several excellent proposal cases, including tool modification, process redesign and quality improvement programs designed by employees. These proposals not only reflect the creativity of employees, but also save considerable costs and human resources for the enterprise in practice.

5. Key Points for Creating an Organizational Improvement Culture

Lu Xiangyang particularly emphasized:

“A good proposal system is not used to ‘manage’ employees, but to let employees see the value of their own change in the organization.”

He suggested four critical success factors:

Real support from management, not verbal encouragement;

Strong support from the system platform, simplifying the filing and feedback process;

Standardized + personalized balance, different departments can set exclusive incentive rules;

Practice-centered, to promote the closed loop from “mentioning” to “doing”.