The book ‘De Fabriek van de Toekomst… nu! – Duurzame productiviteitsverbetering voor kmo’s’ (The Factory of the Future… Today! – Sustainable productivity improvement for SMEs) mostly deals with the first and hardest phase of the road to innovation: the ME phase.
This book mainly focuses on the smaller, industrial companies: the SMEs. They are very important for the Flemish economy as the driving force behind innovation. But they are also very hard to reach as a target group:
- First off, they often do not have time to busy themselves with innovation and strategy because of a poorly structured and hectic working environment
- They have limited to no expertise in productivity-increasing methodology
- They have limited funds to purchase external knowledge
The result is actually quite shocking: people miss the chance for more money and profitability is under pressure. Punctual actions and short interventions also have limited effect. The question then is how companies (and SMEs especially) can realise sustainable improvements that lead to innovation.
To answer this question, the ERIP method was developed and tested. Learning while doing is the motto! Four SMEs in Flanders and 24 SMEs in Western Europe came before you. Their experiences and successes illustrate every facet of the successful method.
This booklet is written in such a way that it offers a handy guide to introduce continuous improvement in your company. This do-it-yourself guide can be ordered through the order form below.