Getting a taste for it

Hungry, curious, courageous – just as you would describe a tiger in the jungle, that is also the approach when it comes to the improvement mentality at DMK. The program was launched in the plants two years ago, aiming to optimize work processes, strengthen employees’ sense of personal responsibility and their willingness to help shape the company. “I am very satisfied because we have established a feedback and error culture that also makes our colleagues running the machines feel heard,” says Matthias Schrader, TIGER program manager. He adds that the program promotes collective intelligence because everyone gets involved. All that has helped optimize daily processes through a series of many small steps, enabling DMK to save a total of around 30 million euros.

Using all the knowledge won, project manager Raoul Augsburg has been implementing the TIGER Office program in the administration since the summer. “We want to improve in many areas, as work processes mean overtime is piling up,” says Augsburg. “We are reducing stress and mental overload.” This relieves the burden on employees and gives them more space to make further improvements to the workflow, he says. Expanding digitization is also an important tool to bear in mind when it comes to rethinking processes. “We all need to talk to each other to find out where time is being wasted and then seek solutions.” Communication is key to this, he says, because often, it is the small things that wind up having a major effect. Two DMK employees from Production and Purchasing describe how the approach is already delivering benefits in their areas.