As a global leader in appliance manufacturing, Electrolux's commitment to continuous improvement demanded a robust audit system. However, their paper-based audit process created barriers: improvements couldn't be effectively tracked, teams worked in isolation, and valuable insights were lost in the shuffle.
By digitizing their audit process with KaiNexus, Electrolux now completes improvements faster, maintains real-time visibility across all teams, and ensures no audit findings are lost. Teams across the organization have full confidence in their audit data, with 4,000 audits and 6,000 improvements tracked annually.
In 2017, as part of Electrolux's continuous improvement maturity journey, Sandro Casagrande, EMS Global Methodology & Documentation Leader, recognized the need to digitize their audit process. After careful evaluation and a pilot phase in Europe, Electrolux chose KaiNexus as their digital transformation partner.
"We operate in a complex manufacturing environment where precision and collaboration are crucial," explains Casagrande. "After evaluating KaiNexus, particularly its collaborative Boards feature, we knew we had found the right solution to elevate our audit process to the next level."
Here are three ways KaiNexus helped Electrolux increase visibility, save time, and enhance audit accuracy and traceability.
Before digitization, Electrolux struggled with siloed information and limited visibility into the current, and past, audits done across departments. Team leaders faced challenges in maintaining oversight of audit processes and their resulting improvements.
With KaiNexus, it's now possible to check on the status of the audit and the connected improvements in real-time. Department Leaders have confidence in knowing the auditing status and results are up to date, without the need for dedicated meetings.
"What previously required extensive searching through paper trails and emails is now instantly accessible," shared Casagrande, "Our team leaders can effortlessly monitor multiple teams through a single Board, ensuring no improvement goes unnoticed. The visibility and connectedness of the work together - metrics, charts, audits, & improvements - was absolutely the best appreciated part of KaiNexus across the organization."
Hours spent previously chasing people down for updates were now accomplished in just a few minutes by using KaiNexus. As a result:
Meetings are more focused and productive
Many status update meetings have been eliminated entirely
With a 96% engagement rate, it's clear that teams across the organization found have value in utilizing KaiNexus to support their audits
Time required to complete improvements have significantly decreased
"The efficiency gains have been transformative," Casagrande explains. "What previously took hours of tracking down updates now takes minutes. More importantly, we're seeing improvements implemented faster than ever because nothing falls through the cracks anymore. Ultimately it comes down to the fact that we now have a more efficient way to follow up and monitor the audits and improvements, and as a consequence, more improvements get completed in a much faster time."
With approximately 4,000 audits and 6,000 improvements annually, maintaining accuracy and traceability is crucial for Electrolux's continuous improvement efforts.
Previously, if someone needed to find information or data on a past audit, their only choices were to dig through their emails or try and connect with the individual who worked on it. This caused a lot of wasted time and frustration, and sometimes, they ended up empty-handed. Since it wasn't always clear which improvements were connected to which audits, it was challenging to attribute impact.
"Every improvement is now clearly linked to its originating audit, creating an unbroken chain of accountability and progress. This systematic approach has significantly increased our completion rates simply because everything is tracked and visible," shares Casagrande.
Drawing from their successful implementation, Electrolux shared three essential recommendations for organizations embarking on a similar digital transformation:
1. Clarify Processes First
Before implementing any new platform, ensure you have answers to these critical questions:
What devices will users need to access the system?
When and how frequently should they be accessing it?
What specific tasks should each user group focus on?
What language requirements exist across different teams?
Prioritize Meaningful Shop Floor Training
Success depends on frontline engagement. Focus on:
Clearly communicating why the new system matters to daily operations
Demonstrating how it will make jobs easier and more efficient
Providing additional support for team members who need it
Ensuring training materials are accessible and relevant to all users
Create an Implementation Plan
A comprehensive preparation phase is crucial for success. This includes preparing things such as:
Document all technical requirements and specifications
Create a detailed rollout timeline with clear milestones
Start small by rolling out to pilot programs first, and learn
Establish clear metrics for measuring success
"These three elements were fundamental to our success," concludes Casagrande. "By taking the time to get these aspects right, we achieved not just implementation, but true transformation of our audit process."