Bottoms up!

When Heineken started a programme to increase the efficiency of its packaging line by 20%, it found that the most effective improvements were made from the bottom. The idea behind this strategy was that it would give people at all levels in the plant access to reliable, accurate and up-to-date management information. Moreover, by focusing on the results of their work rather than on just doing their job, they would have the means and motivation to keep benchmarking their performance against the agreed targets. Where necessary, this would enable them to take immediate action to get back on track.